Program projects state would produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

New York state would launch the most progressive policy in the US to combat the climate crisis and one of the most ambitious in the world under a new plan devised by state legislators.

The program projects that the state would produce 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050.

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The proposed legislation, agreed by the state’s Democrat-run senate, faces a vote by the other house of the state legislature, the assembly, in New York’s capital, Albany, on Wednesday.

New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo who negotiated the proposal with top lawmakers and would have final word over any approved legislation, said it would give New York the nation’s best plan to address the causes of the climate crisis.

“Climate change is the issue of our lifetime, frankly,” Cuomo said on public radio on Tuesday morning.

The bill’s adoption comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing dismantling of environmental protections. Trump has especially hampered efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as announcing that the US will be leaving the Paris climate agreement.

The administration announced on Wednesday that it was finalizing plans to roll back the US government’s only direct efforts, initiated by the Obama administration, to curb coal-fired power plant pollution that is heating the planet.

New York – which alleged in a 2018 a lawsuit that the oil giant ExxonMobil misled shareholders about climate change-related legal risks – joins a handful of states who have decided to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their own, regardless of the federal government’s opposing actions or inaction. Hawaii and California have pledged to generate 100% of their energy from renewable sources by 2045. New York City, Miami, San Francisco and Houston are among the US cities working to fight climate change.

“Today marks a historic day for New York state in the fight against climate change,” said Andrea Stewart-Cousins, state senate majority leader, in a statement. “As our leaders in Washington fail to take action, New York needs to lead in this time of great crises for our planet.”

If New York state reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050, the remaining 15% would be offset through efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as planting more trees.

In order to reach the emissions reductions goals, New York will have to ramp up production of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, while promoting increased energy efficiency.

Environmental advocates supporting the bill said it was a good first step, but that more had to be done; one advocate criticized Cuomo for “watering down” earlier versions of the proposal.

“This legislation would move New York in the right direction, but much too slowly,” said Eric Weltman, senior organizer at Food & Water Watch. “The climate crisis demands that New York do more and faster to move off fossil fuels.”

Opponents of the bill have claimed that it could prompt job loss and increased energy prices.