New Yorkers Call on Gov Hochul to Make Polluters Pay and Invest Revenue in Clean Air Programs

As New Yorkers Face Rising Unemployment, High Energy Bills, and Extreme Weather, This Year’s State Budget Fails to Address the Need for New Jobs, Clean Air, and Affordable Energy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

June 4, 2024

Media Contact: 

Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429

New Yorkers Call on Gov Hochul to Make Polluters Pay and Invest Revenue in Clean Air Programs 

Gov. Hochul has the opportunity to release the regulations for Cap and Invest, generating billions per year to lower energy costs and reduce pollution 

See here for photos and a livestream of the event. 
Albany, NY — Today, legislators, including Assemblymembers Anna Kelles, Al Stirpe, and Claire Valdez; advocates; and community members gathered at  Albany, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation to testify and urge Governor Hochul to release the regulations for the state’s cap-and-invest program. This is the second of three in-person hearings throughout the state this month, giving New Yorkers the chance to advocate for a program that would make polluters pay for their toxic and climate-warming emissions while raising between 6 and 12 billion dollars every year to help lower energy bills, upgrade homes and small businesses to clean energy with modern heating and cooling technologies, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. 

“Each day state leadership stalls on Cap and Invest is another day that corporate polluters remain off the hook, leaving our communities and environment to deal with the damage,” said Assemblymember Al Stirpe (AD 127). “During a time when federal environmental protections have been quashed, it is not an option to slow-walk climate action in New York. If Cap and Invest had been implemented already, the state could have generated revenue to power climate projects across the state and reduce consumer costs. There is no doubt that now is the time for New York to step up by paving the way with a renewable energy economy, investing back into frontline communities, and becoming a climate leader.”

As the Trump administration cuts clean technology rebates and tax credits for businesses and individuals, energy affordability initiatives, and illness prevention resources, New Yorkers are being left with skyrocketing energy bills and fewer options to protect their health. Meanwhile, clean air policies are being slashed by Congress and the President, putting the lives of millions of people with respiratory issues at risk. Now, Governor Hochul has an opportunity to “Trump-proof” the state by releasing the draft regulations for Cap and Invest (C&I) ASAP, allowing New York to start reducing pollution from fossil fuels and providing investments for clean, healthy homes.

Assemblymember Claire Valdez (AD 37) said, “With climate deniers in the White House set on killing environmental protections to line the pockets of oil and gas billionaires, New York must lead the charge on putting people and the planet first. Cap and Invest will hold polluters accountable for their emissions and will power climate projects across the state—putting us on a sustainable path and strengthening the unionized clean energy workforce that working New Yorkers need and deserve.”

Through Cap and Invest, New York can rapidly reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Research shows that families across income groups will pay less to operate electrified homes than the current costs to run on fossil fuels, offering an alternative to the costly gas that every utility in the state has raised rates on since 2022. An ambitious C&I program can help 46% of New York households upgrade to a highly efficient heat pump by 2035, delivering $1,022 in annual energy savings to the median household. Additionally, the revenue can be invested in community-directed projects, such as green affordable housing, rooftop solar, electric buses, and bike lanes.

"Requiring corporate polluters to report on how much they’re polluting is one step to keeping these polluters accountable, but it’s not enough when federal funds are shriveling up and New Yorkers are getting sick, dying, and struggling to pay higher bills and costs from pollution, floods, storms, and heat waves as we speak,” said Eunice Ko, Deputy Director of NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. The Governor has a tool that she’s been withholding that would force polluters to pay, reduce their pollution, and raise billions of dollars every year that would go to New Yorkers’ wallets, our communities, and climate action. Governor Hochul must release all the cap-and-invest regulations if she is serious about preparing and protecting New York from the federal administration and climate collapse." 

For the 1.2 million New Yorkers who are two or more months behind on their energy bills, cap and invest is a common-sense policy to counter economic and political crises, while reducing climate emissions from the most polluting sector in the state: buildings. Had a properly regulated cap-and-invest program already been in effect, state agencies NYSERDA and DEC estimated revenue to be between $3 and $5.1 billion in 2025, with untold benefits to our air and health due to reduced pollution. Now is the time to ensure that the companies that produce carbon pollution are the ones who are held accountable to pay for that pollution, not New Yorkers. Governor Hochul must release the regulations for Cap and Invest now. 

Assemblymember Anna Kelles (AD 125) said, “I stand with NY Renews in calling for the release of the proposed regulations for the Cap and Invest program. Climate change is accelerating, and the cost to New Yorkers to pay for the infrastructure damage alone is in the billions of dollars each year. We cannot afford to continue to pay for the damage caused by the big corporate polluters who are causing it. It’s time to move forward together as a united government to make a program that effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, generates revenue that can be reinvested into the state’s economy, supporting sustainable development and job creation, and prioritizes investments in disadvantaged communities to ensure that those who have disproportionately experienced the effects of climate change experience sufficient benefit to create equity in the program benefits.”

"Cap & Invest is not only vitally important for reaching our reality-based climate targets, it is also a critical affordability policy that will increase energy affordability for the vast majority of New Yorkers,” said Senator Liz Krueger (SD 28), “ And as the Climate Action Council's recommended pathway for achieving CLCPA, its timely implementation is required by law. In the face of the Trump Regime's shameful retreat on climate, New York must use every tool we have to meet our goals while reducing New Yorkers' costs. That's what Cap & Invest will do, and that's why it must be fully implemented."

“As Cap and Invest remains in limbo, so does a sense of climate crisis urgency and concern for affordability,” said Senator Pete Harckham (SD 40). “Our residents and small business owners will benefit greatly from cap-and-invest: there will be reduced energy costs, new investments in clean energy and climate resiliency projects, plus the creation of tens of thousands of good-paying green jobs. The time is right and New York is ready for cap-and-invest now.”

"New Yorkers are burdened by rising energy bills and polluted air— and it’s our most vulnerable communities who are paying the highest price,” said Senator Kristen Gonzalez (SD 59). “Cap and invest is our chance to make corporate polluters pay for the damage they’ve done and use those dollars to build a cleaner and greener New York that actually works for working people. We cannot wait any longer, Governor Hochul must implement this policy now. These upcoming public hearings on cap and invest are essential for New Yorkers to attend and demand the climate justice we’ve called on for years.”

Background 

For the last two years, Gov. Hochul has dragged her feet on implementing Cap and Invest — a policy that would require corporate polluters to pay for their fossil fuel pollution and then invest the proceeds into a fund providing energy efficiency and building upgrades for residents and small businesses, with at least 35% of those investments going to historically marginalized and disadvantaged communities.

At Gov. Hochul’s State of the State address in January, she was widely expected to announce steps to implement the cap-and-invest program, then unexpectedly further delayed it. Instead,  Hochul subsequently announced a draft greenhouse gas emissions reporting rule that would require polluting entities to report on, but not actually lower, their emissions. 

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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 climate, labor, youth, and community groups, and the force behind the nation’s most progressive climate law. We fight for clean energy, good jobs, and a healthier, more affordable New York. Learn more about our Fund Climate Campaign.