In an announcement fit for reality television, Donald Trump on June 1 made the historically destructive decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. You would think that in the immediate aftermath, when the urgency and appetite for state leadership on the issue of climate change have never been greater, that New York would finally get its act together, and pass the Climate and Community Protection Act. The visionary climate, jobs and justice legislation has been sitting on the legislative docket for more than a year.

The bill was sponsored by all eight members of the Independent Democratic Conference, who call themselves "pragmatic progressives" who can work with Republican leadership to pass real progressive priorities. By any standard, they failed their own test, and failed New Yorkers at a time when our planet, our health, and our communities are under attack from a hostile federal government.