Merkley, Sanders Bill to Take NY Renews Climate Strategy National

Legislation Sets U.S. Standard on Green Jobs, Climate Justice, and Cutting Pollution

Albany – U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) are set to introduce legislation Thursday inspired by New York’s Climate and Community Protection Act.

NY Renews released this statement:

“Senator Merkley and Senator Sanders are setting the bar for climate leadership in the wake of President Trump’s assault on our lungs, our communities, and our planet. We applaud and thank them for putting an ambitious plan on the table that draws on the work of NY Renews to tackle climate pollution head on, while driving job creation, and reversing a decades-long legacy of inequity for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. We look forward to working with partners across the country to continue strengthening the legislation.

As the senators have noted, low and moderate-income people cannot count on the Trump Administration to put their interests first. We need states to lead now more than ever, and are proud that New York’s Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) serves as a model for this new federal legislation. With national progressive leaders drawing on ideas from his own state on how to set a bold new standard on climate justice, we urge Governor Cuomo to embrace the landmark CCPA.

NY Renews leader Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE will stand alongside Senators Merkley and Sanders for the bill's release, speaking to a reality often missed by politicians: that climate change solutions are coming out of those communities hardest hit by the crisis – low-income and communities of color who want clean air and good jobs, labor unions who want a growing economy and new opportunities for workers, and New Yorkers whose lives and homes have already been affected. They cannot and will not be ignored.

With President Trump dismantling decades of progress, Governor Cuomo is uniquely positioned to lead the country on climate. The opportunity sits right in front of him in the form of a bill pioneered by New Yorkers that garnered a bipartisan majority of support in the Senate last year, and easy Assembly passage thanks to the leadership of Speaker Carl Heastie and Environmental Conservation Chair Steve Englebright. We urge him to step up with Senators Merkley and Sanders, and shepherd this vision for climate, jobs, and justice across the finish line in New York.”

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