STATEMENT FROM NEW YORKERS FOR CLEAN AIR ON NYSERDA MEMO
“A well-designed cap-and-invest program will cut pollution and protect affordability while making the air cleaner for all New Yorkers. The reported NYSERDA memo is an attempt to sabotage the Climate Act and sacrifice the energy savings and health benefits the Clean Air Initiative would deliver to millions of New Yorkers.
"These figures – not accompanied by any publicly available analysis – appear to reflect modeling of extreme and completely unrealistic program design. It does not factor in design flexibility and cost containment tools that the Administration has previously outlined. We also know cost containment mechanisms work, as evidenced through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and all successful cap-and-invest programs in the US. Further, the memo includes no mention of the cost of inaction that New Yorkers face from volatile fossil-fuel prices, dangerous extreme weather, dirty air, worsening storms, and ever-rising insurance costs.
"With President Trump continuing his full-on assault on our clean air protections, communities across New York cannot afford further retreat. The conversation New York policymakers should be having now is how to swiftly advance a well-designed cap-and-invest program to reduce pollution, improve public health, create union jobs, and deliver energy affordability solutions to households and small businesses that need it most.”