For Immediate Release:
April 1st, 2021
Media Contact: Dan Morris. 917.952.8920.
Big Victory for Green Jobs: Climate Activists Celebrate State Budget That Preserves New York City’s Law Requiring Building Retrofits
New York – Tonight, climate activists across New York City are celebrating the victory of a final state budget that protects Local Law 97, New York City’s landmark law that will create thousands of green jobs through retrofits that make buildings more energy efficient. The state budget omits Governor Cuomo’s disastrous proposal that would have allowed building owners to buy renewable energy credits, instead of performing retrofits that will create thousands of green jobs in New York City and help address that climate crisis.
“This is a victory for the communities of New York City that came together to pass Local Law 97 and have been fighting hard to preserve it. We defeated Cuomo’s misguided budget proposal that would have undermined Local Law 97 and New York City’s urgent efforts to address the climate crisis. Let’s be clear: Cuomo’s proposal was bad for our environment, bad for our communities, and bad for our economy. Now building owners must step up and perform the necessary retrofits to meet emissions reduction standards. These retrofits will create thousands of green jobs in low-income communities of color exposed to the biggest climate threats of the future. These green jobs can and should be a key component of our economic recovery from COVID, especially for New Yorkers of color hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Maritza Silva-Farrell, Executive Director of ALIGN, a labor and community progressive organization that co-founded the Climate Works for All coalition and helped lead fight against Cuomo’s budget proposal on Local Law 97.
In 2019, the Climate Works for All coalition was instrumental in the passage of Local Law 97, which requires significant energy efficiency upgrades and improvements to New York City’s buildings. The law was crafted and passed in response to a 2017 report from ALIGN that highlighted the role of New York City’s dirty buildings – especially those owned by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner– in driving climate pollution and greenhouse emissions.
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