The TCCPI Newsletter
Issue #69: March-April 2022
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Greetings!
Welcome to the March-April 2022 issue of the TCCPI Newsletter, an e-update from the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative ( TCCPI). |
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TCCPI is a multisector collaboration seeking to leverage the climate action commitments made by Cornell University, Ithaca College, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca, and the Town of Ithaca to mobilize a countywide energy efficiency effort and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Launched in June 2008 and generously supported by the Park Foundation, TCCPI is a project of the Sustainable Markets Foundation.
We are committed to helping Tompkins County achieve a dynamic economy, healthy environment, and resilient community through a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
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Tompkins County & City Work to Fulfill Green Energy Promises
by Jessica Wickham, Tompkins Weekly, 3/30/22
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Luis Aguirre-Torres, City of Ithaca sustainability director, speaks at a rally held March 25 organized by Sunrise Ithaca. Photo by Jessica Wickham.
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The City of Ithaca and Tompkins County have made strides on green energy efforts in the last several months, but, as local activists can attest, there is still much work to be done.
The most recent news regarding the Ithaca Green New Deal came on March 25, when local climate activists rallied on the Ithaca Commons to “urge the equitable implementation” of the Green New Deal, according to a recent release.
Spectators and speakers called on city government, especially the Common Council, to follow through on the social justice aspect of the Green New Deal, which commits to sharing the deal’s benefits “among all local communities to reduce historical, social and economic inequities.”
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Luis Aguirre-Torres, City of Ithaca sustainability director, said in a later interview there have been many important advancements, especially getting far more people, organizations, and governments involved. Aguirre-Torres explained that from when he started up to November was filled with a lot of planning and organizing, and now it’s time for action.
Work on electrifying the city’s buildings has already begun, including two pilot programs in the works for green, affordable housing. Work is also underway to electrify the city’s municipal fleet, similar to the efforts the county has been taking with its fleet.
As far as the climate justice aspect that last weekend’s rally focused on, Aguirre-Torres emphasized Ithaca’s Justice 50 commitment, which promises that 50% of the benefits of the Green New Deal go to climate justice communities. "Justice 50 is going to be basically the guideline for the entire government to implement climate justice in every program that we have,” he said.
BlocPower, a key city partner, has also been hard at work the past several months. Under the partnership, BlocPower, based in Brooklyn, will work to upgrade 6,000 buildings in Ithaca to run on “modern, all-electric systems like heat pumps,” said Keith Kinch, BlocPower’s co-founder and general manager, in an email.
"BlocPower will provide low or no-interest leases to convert to energy efficient systems to all Ithacans who volunteer to upgrade their buildings, including low-income owners. We are also in the process of partnering with local, green building workers and plan to break ground on construction in the next few months,” Kinch said.
Other local help includes efforts from the Ithaca 2030 District, a collaborative made up of public and private entities committed to wide-scale energy reduction. Peter Bardaglio, executive director of the Ithaca 2030 District, said that the past several months have been focused on growing the district’s membership and continuing to collect data regarding energy and resource consumption among its members.
“That gives them the ability to really track their progress towards the 2030 District goals, which basically means, by 2030, getting to 50% below the baseline that we established for each building in terms of their consumption,” he said. As Bardaglio explained, the Ithaca 2030 District has a similar goal to the Green New Deal, so it was only natural the district would help with the city’s efforts and vice versa.
On the county side, the updated green fleet policy places much more emphasis on electric vehicle options and streamlining the vehicle procurement process. There’s also been considerable progress on greening the facilities.
Terry Carroll, county chief sustainability officer, explained that Johnson Controls, a partner to the county on its facilities project, drew up a three-phase plan to get the county to zero emissions on county-owned buildings, and work is underway to develop a more detailed version of the plan for phase one.
“It’s looking more comprehensively at each building and seeing what exactly has to be done,” Carroll said. “And the hope is … within the next two, three months that we can actually start physical work.”
Another goal for the county is to hire a sustainability coordinator who can “really enhance our work and help us start looking at how we can do more with the community,” Carroll said.
“They’re going to be working with what’s called our business energy advisor program,” he said. “It’s a program that works with businesses that are doing new construction and major renovation to help look at how they can do it in the most energy efficient way possible and hopefully move towards electrification and get off of natural gas.”
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Next TCCPI Meeting
Friday, May 27, 2022
9 to 11 am
Due to the current pandemic, the monthly TCCPI meetings have moved online. Contact Peter Bardaglio, the TCCPI coordinator, for further details at pbardaglio@gmail.com.
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During Earth Week, Advocates Press NYS on Climate Policy
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette 4/21/22
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With the global climate crisis heading to the point of no return, dozens of climate activist groups are rallying ahead of Earth Day, April 22, calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to pass a raft of bills they say are crucial to the local and global effort to fight climate change, global warming, and their ill effects.
The bills include efforts to cut carbon emissions, build green infrastructure, reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, prevent harmful cryptocurrency mining, and create tens of thousands of green jobs, among other measures.
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Climate activists rally on Earth Day 2022. Photo by Stan Hudy, Daily Gazette.
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Advocates and like-minded elected officials argue that the measures are necessary to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and as part of New York’s implementation of the landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which mandates ambitious carbon emission reduction targets and transition toward widespread renewable energy use in New York.
The CLCPA puts the state on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by requiring a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2050. It requires the state’s energy sector to source 70% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
In New York, activists say state legislative action has not been sufficient, prompting a flurry of activity by the Climate Can’t Wait coalition, made up of 43 groups from across the state including Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, NYPIRG, New York Youth Climate Leaders, PAUSE, People's Climate Movement-NY, Sunrise Movement NYC, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice, among others.
Members of the coalition began a bike trek to Albany on Saturday, starting off from Manhattan and making stops in Yonkers, Peekskill, Beacon, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and New Paltz. On Thursday, they will cross the Hudson region and arrive in the state capital on Friday, where other activists will join them to march and rally outside the Capitol building.
The coalition is demanding action on a series of bills that have yet to pass and implementation of measures that have already been approved by the state. Among the bills are the All Electric Building Act, which would ban new gas and oil hookups in new buildings across the state starting in 2024.
There are several other proposals on their agenda:
- To “fully” fund implementation of the CLCPA, activists are also calling for a $15 billion investment to expedite the state’s path to a fully renewable energy economy.
-The Clean Futures Act, which would prohibit the development of new major electric generating facilities that would be powered in any way by fossil fuels.
-A proposed three-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining, which uses massive amounts of energy.
-The Fossil Fuel Subsidy Elimination Act, which would repeal more than $330 million in state tax exemptions for the fossil fuel industry.
-The Teachers’ Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, which requires the New York State Teachers' Retirement System to divest from fossil fuel producers.
“New York has the unique opportunity to lead the nation in creating a healthy and abundant future in which all of us - not just the powerful billionaires and corporations - can thrive,” said Veekas Ashoka, an organizer with Sunrise NYC, in a statement. “The Climate Can’t Wait bill package has given the Governor and Legislature that opportunity to create that hopeful future for us all. It’s our job to demand that they take it.”
The $220 billion state budget approved earlier this month included significant allocations for the state’s climate goals. That includes a $500 investment in offshore wind energy infrastructure and a $400 million Environmental Protection Fund. It also includes the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, set for a ballot referendum this fall during the general election. If approved, $1.5 billion of that amount will be set aside for climate change mitigation projects, including $500 million for electric school buses.
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NYS Climate Action Council Holds Hearings on Draft Plan
by Eduardo Cuevas, Ithaca Journal 4/1/22
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Wind farm in Steuben County. Photo by Peter Bardaglio. |
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The state Climate Action Council is set to host public hearings throughout the state this month for a draft plan that aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Now the state must figure out how to actually meet its goals, while acknowledging the serious and consistent devastation wrought by climate change.
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“You have to be able to steer between two very rocky shoals on either side,” said state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat who authored the 2019 climate law. “One is not moving fast enough and taking the climate crisis seriously,” he said. “On the other hand, moving so fast without public support that people will revolt against the enterprise.”
What's in the plan?
A plan by the 22-person Climate Action Council is set to be finalized by the end of the year. The council also consulted working groups focused on climate justice and worker transitions, as well as advisory panels on industries from agriculture to land use.
The 331-page plan, released Dec. 30, outlines goals to substantially restructure the economy, housing and transportation, all while doing so equitably for communities disparately affected by climate change. Advocates have expressed frustration at how to meet these promises to low-income communities and communities of color.
“We didn’t wear rose-colored glasses,” said Raya Salter, an environmental attorney who sits on the Climate Action Council. “We knew we were not going to be able to stop pushing. And that’s what we have to remember.”
Here's what the law outlined:
- A carbon neutral economy by mandating at least an 85% reduction in emissions below 1990 levels by 2050, with the remaining emissions offset by reforestation and carbon sequestration, among other measures.
- The plan sets metrics to increase 6,000 megawatts of solar and 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2025, a transition to 70% renewable electric by 2030.
- By 2040, the law mandates zero-emission electricity.
The transition is projected to generate up to $120 billion and add 10 jobs for every job lost compared to inaction. Not acting would cost an estimated $90 billion as more extreme weather events and sea-level rise, among other effects of climate change, continue to devastate New York.
How does the 2019 law work?
The plan provides an overview to implement the 2019 law through changes to agency regulations, according to Michael Burger, the executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. This includes strategies for the state to address reducing emissions for building and transportation, which account for more than half of the state’s greenhouse gasses, among other sectors.
As currently written, the plan establishes scenarios that arrive at zero-emissions in power sectors by 2040, reducing statewide vehicle miles traveled, and higher methane mitigation in agriculture and waste, among other metrics. Along the way, the state must account annually for carbon emissions as it meets its targets.
One path includes use of low-carbon fuels for consumption that’s difficult to electrify, although advocates worry this slower transition only benefits the fossil fuel industry.
Climate change and equity
At least 35%, but a goal of 40%, of investments in the plan must go to disadvantaged communities, outlined in census tracts released by the state in early March. The state defines these as lower income communities and communities of color that have historically been disinvested or received disparate shares of pollutants and are at greater risk from the impacts of climate change.
Groups such as NY Renews, a statewide coalition of climate activist organizations, are pushing for the state to embark on an accelerated transition from combustion that uses little to no bioenergy or hydrogen combustion. It also expedites electrification of buildings and transportation.
Doing so, they say, helps communities most in need.
Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of the Brooklyn-based climate justice nonprofit UPROSE, worried that the continued reliance of the Climate Action Council plan on lower emitting fossil fuels won't address long-standing issues in communities of color that often live in closer to proximity to pollutants.
"We are trying very much to honor how the legacy of historical harm has manifested in poor health for our communities and vulnerability to extreme weather events," Yeampierre said.
In a series of 10 public hearings, two virtual, New Yorkers can speak on the plan. They can also provide comments online.
Once hearings conclude, the Climate Action Council will return to finalize a plan by the end of the year.
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Take a step to save money and energy! |
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One Last Thing: Crunch Time on Climate Action in Albany |
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The future of climate action in New York State is at a critical inflection point. The new budget has been approved and the remaining weeks of the legislative session are now focused on policy proposals. At the same time, the draft Scoping Plan issued by the Climate Action Council at the end of 2021 has been undergoing scrutiny at public hearings around the state and only a handful more of these hearings remain.
When the New York Legislature convened in January, environmentalists and climate activists were hopeful that dramatic headway could be made on such issues as reducing the consumption of natural gas, building electrification, cryptocurrency mining, fossil fuel divestment, and investments in renewable energy development.
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Perhaps not surprisingly, the oil and gas industry and its supporters have stepped up their opposition to these measures in recent weeks, spending millions of dollars on ad campaigns and lobbying, money that could be put towards a clean energy future.
The pushback has revealed the obstacles to phasing out fossil fuels even in a relatively progressive state such as New York. A recent Washington Post article highlighted the challenges faced by those who take the ambitious goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act seriously, focusing on the fight over banning natural gas use in new construction.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) included a ban on gas use in new construction by 2027 in her executive budget for the next fiscal year. But, by the time the negotiations came to a close, the proposal was absent from the final budget deal. The ostensible reason for its exclusion, according to a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, was that policy measures don't belong in the proposed budget.
Climate advocates are now pressing state lawmakers to pass the measure as a stand-alone bill before the legislative session ends on June 2. The Renewable Heat Now coalition, in particular, is pushing for passage of the All-Electric Building Act as part of a package of proposals to reduce demand for fossil fuels and compel utilities to plan for a transition to renewable heat.
An organization called New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, essentially a front group for fossil fuel and utility companies and corporate lobbying interests, is mounting a well-oiled campaign to defeat the measure. It contends that banning gas use in new buildings would harm consumers. Among those behind the organization are National Grid, the American Petroleum Institute, the pipeline company Enbridge, and the Business Council of New York State. A recent investigative report concludes that "New Yorkers for Affordable Energy smacks as a classic industry-funded astroturf effort."
The lines couldn't be drawn more distinctly: on one side, the backward-looking oil and gas companies, utilities, and other corporate defenders of the fossil-fuel status quo, and on the other, citizens, activists, and other members of the public who want a decent, bright future where runaway climate change has been averted, mass species extinction avoided, and clean air and water acknowledged as fundamental human rights.
The next few weeks will tell us unambiguously where Gov. Hochul and the state legislature stand. In the meantime, we must make our voices heard in Albany as loudly and clearly as possible.
Peter Bardaglio
TCCPI Coordinator
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Be sure to visit the website for TCCPI's latest project, the Ithaca 2030 District, an interdisciplinary public-private collaboration working to create a groundbreaking high-performance building district in Downtown Ithaca. |
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309 N. Aurora St.,
Ithaca, NY 14850
207-229-6183
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