On Environmental Conservation
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on Environmental Conservation budget issues. Reinvent Albany advocates for open, accountable New York government.
Today, we are speaking to two issues relevant to the budget hearing on Environmental Conservation:
- Support for the Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act
- Protecting $50 million in RGGI and NYPA funds
We urge the Senate and Assembly to put into your one-house budgets the Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act (A7949-A (Simon) / S3389 (Krueger)), which ends around $336 million in fossil fuel subsidies. While taking steps to mitigate its climate footprint, the State is also subsidizing hundreds of millions of dollars in oil and gas every year. It makes no sense for the State to be subsidizing fossil fuels while also trying to combat global warming.
We urge the Senate and Assembly not to divert $50 million in dedicated Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and NYPA funds (see starting on page 165 in PPGG):
- $5 million of RGGI funds are transferred to the Environmental Protection Fund.
- $20 million is to be transferred generally by the New York Power Authority to the general fund for “energy related activities.”
- $25 million is to be transferred generally by the New York Power Authority to the general fund for the Department of Labor, “including but not limited to the Office of Just Energy Transition and programs for workforce training and retraining, to prepare workers for employment for work in the renewable energy field.”
Because NYPA administers RGGI at its facilities, these transfers lessen the ability of NYPA to effectively implement the program.
Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, please contact Tom Speaker, Legislative Director, at tom [at] reinventalbany.org.