Much more investment needed to meet our climate goals

Last week, the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a comprehensive report on the impacts of climate change on humanity and our planet. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called the report “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”

Our window to mitigate the very worst impacts of climate change is narrowing. We are already experiencing destructive storms, flooding, droughts, and fires. To protect our planet, preserve our food systems, and adapt, we must take bold, transformational action now.

Three years ago, New York took a critical first step. We passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which requires us to achieve 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and 100 percent zero-emission electricity generation by 2040. The law also mandates that we cut climate change pollutants by half by 2030 and by 85 percent by 2050.

The Climate Action Council established by the CLCPA recently outlined a plan to reach these goals. Estimates for achieving the 2050 goal of a fully net-zero economy range from $10 billion to $31 billion. We will not achieve the substantial infrastructure change in our energy grid, buildings, transportation system, agriculture and other critical sectors needed to meet our climate goals with our current planned investments.

We cannot afford not to act now and invest the necessary funds to meet our climate goals. Based on state Department of Environmental Conservation estimates, the damage done by the state’s climate pollution — 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019 — results in nearly $30 billion in annual damages. Every storm that hits the downstate region, every warm winter reducing tourism in the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes, every flood destroying crops upstate has a significant, direct cost to New Yorkers. Every child and medically vulnerable individual who requires costly medical care and hospitalization from breathing in polluted air is a substantial and unnecessary cost to our state. All those who experience a disproportionate level of air pollution in predominantly Black and brown communities due to our current fossil fuel-based energy production system are a health care cost and a loss of economic productivity. We can reduce all of these costs by prioritizing emissions reductions.

It is significantly cheaper to invest in climate solutions than to stand behind business as usual. I’m calling on my colleagues in the Legislature and the governor to allocate $15 billion for climate, jobs, and justice in this year’s budget. This investment is both reasonable and necessary to meet New York’s climate goals, protect our state from the worst elements of the climate crisis, and prepare our workforce for the important green jobs of the future.

Last year, New York took in nearly $13 billion more revenue than expected. Although it is important to replenish our reserve funds, using some of these gains to reduce our fossil fuel dependency, build up our renewable-energy infrastructure, expand our green jobs sector, and invest in environmental justice communities that will reduce future costs and provide clear social and economic protections is a prudent investment.

Another source of funding is the $1.5 billion we spend annually on tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, prolonging our commitment and dependency on dirty and economically volatile fossil fuels.

Finally, we need to reexamine our economic development investments through the state’s Regional Economic Development Councils. Instead of prioritizing large-scale initiatives averaging about $9 billion annually that are politically motivated and provide little economic return or jobs, we can shift investments to a transparent and comprehensive focus on green-energy manufacturing and infrastructure development. Rather than focusing taxpayer dollars on direct investments in for-profit companies, we should prioritize our communities and build a transition to a fully renewable and stable economy.

I believe a winning social and economic strategy for New York is to listen to the world’s leading scientists, stop funding fossil fuels, and start funding climate, jobs, and justice starting today with the recommended annual $10-15 billion in our state budget.