Here’s a chance to protect New York for the next generation
Growing up in upper Manhattan in the era of the climate crisis, my schoolmates and I use an innocent phrase to try and salvage normalcy amid environmental destruction: “the Annual Hurricane.”
Devastating storms like Sandy, Irene, and Ida are a routine aspect of the calendar of childhood events, just like the first day of school, Halloween, and birthdays. As we’ve gotten older, these storms have come along with heat waves that leave us confined indoors during the peak of summer break. I recall a casual summertime walk in Central Park that left me rushing back inside to manage the onset of heat exhaustion.
I believe that my generation of young people, as well as New Yorkers of all ages, deserve to live free from the tumult of increasing environmental catastrophe. This is why I spent Wednesday in Albany lobbying for the Climate,
Jobs, and Justice bill package (CJJP) with over 70 other youth climate activists — we want a livable New York in the future.
The Climate, Jobs, and Justice Package is a three-part plan for New York’s climate future. It would expedite the process of developing renewable energy through the Build Public Renewables Act and raise funds for climate initiatives through the Climate Change Superfund Act, which would require the state’s biggest fossil-fuel offenders to pay significant fees to the state.
In conjunction with other bills such as the Climate and Community Protection Fund, the CJJP will raise money and create programs for crucial projects in transit, housing, education and health care, strengthening our state’s climate and environmental resilience in the process. This is a rare opportunity to take substantial action toward a green New York.
The state Legislature has not passed a significant piece of climate legislation since I was in eighth grade — 2019. Today, I am a graduating senior. If New York wants to continue to lead our nation’s fight against the climate crisis, our legislators must pass all aspects of the Climate, Jobs, and Justice Package.