Cap and Invest an important step foward for New York
The article “State’s Cap and Invest program unveiled,” Dec. 22, is an example of good news that doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it is — let’s face it — a little boring.
The Cap and Invest program is the fruit of work by members of the Hochul administration who have spent the years since the 2019 passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act figuring out how to finance the state’s transition away from fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel interests, determined to steer the public away from the bold initiatives needed to reduce emissions, have tried to stir up emotions with a scare campaign that emphasizes the costs of renewables. In doing so, they leave out the fact that wind and solar energy are getting cheaper by the year while fossil fuel prices vary with current events. They also ignore how much greenhouse gas emissions are costing us in the form of erratic weather events and poor health, like what was shared in the article “The year of dangerous weather,” Dec. 23.
But now we see the outlines of the plan to make the state’s transition to renewables while protecting consumers. The fees collected from the generators of polluting emissions will go to specific uses such as consumer tax rebates and further development of green energy sources.
The DEC will hold virtual stakeholder meetings in January about this plan. Those who tune in will probably not be subjected to drama, but they will be treated to the edifying sight of public servants quietly doing their job.
Nancy Ramage
Ithaca
The editorial “A bridge to somewhere,” Dec. 15, pointed out the critical need for New York state to continue advancing the final design and then the construction of a new Livingston Avenue rail bridge.
The first action the state should take is submitting an application for federal funding under the RAISE program, a $1.5 billion, highly competitive, multimodal eligible discretionary grant program for surface transportation projects with regional or national significance. The Livingston Avenue Bridge meets the program criteria. The application deadline is Feb. 28.
The second action the state should take is to use a portion of the local match savings it has achieved from additional federal funding of the Gateway Project to complete the
Jim Franco / Times Union final design of the Livingston Avenue Bridge project. Governors Cuomo and Murphy agreed to equally fund 50 percent of the cost of the Gateway Project. The federal share now approaches 70 percent. The savings should be applied to Amtrak, and perhaps Metro-North projects, in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region.
A new Livingston Avenue Bridge is a critical link in the state’s new Empire Corridor Service Development Plan. Upstate communities and Amtrak riders can’t wait for better rail service. They deserve a fair share of the transportation infrastructure spending now.