For Immediate Release:
March 14, 2021
Media Contact:
Dan Morris. 917.952.8920.
Climate Leader Urges New York State Assembly and State Senate to Hold Firm Against Cuomo’s Plan to Kill Thousands of Green Jobs in NYC
New York – Today, Maritza Silva-Farrell, a top climate leader in New York and executive director of ALIGN, released the following statement in response to the one-house budgets from the New York State Assembly and State Senate:
“I’m pleased to see that the one-house budgets from the New York State Assembly and State Senate reject Cuomo’s proposal to gut Local Law 97, a key component of the Green New Deal for New York City. This law requires buildings, the largest climate polluters, to reduce their emissions through retrofits, which will create many thousands of green jobs for New York City residents. The New York State Assembly and State Senate must protect the green jobs in New York City that Cuomo is actively trying to destroy. These green jobs can play a key role in economic recovery after COVID for low-income communities of color on the frontlines of climate change and the pandemic,” said Silva-Farrell of ALIGN, an advocacy organization that helped create the Climate Works for All coalition and enact Local Law 97.
“Cuomo’s budget includes a provision – Part R in the Transportation, Economic Development, and Environmental Conservation FY 2021 (TED) – that would allow buildings covered by Local Law 97 to buy Renewable Energy Credits, instead of performing retrofits that would create thousands of green jobs and ensure energy efficiency upgrades and improvements. As the final state budget is negotiated in the days ahead, it’s crucial that the New York State Assembly and State Senate hold firm against Cuomo’s reckless and harmful budget proposal that would undermine Local Law 97 and New York City’s urgent efforts to address the climate crisis and create good-paying jobs through building retrofits. Retrofits and other energy efficiency improvements to buildings will create thousands of green jobs in low-income communities of color exposed to the biggest climate threats. These 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 Silva-Farrell of ALIGN.
In 2019, ALIGN and the Climate Works for All coalition were 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.
###