Green sweep!

Gov, pols OK deal to ax pollution by 2050

AALBANY — New York is going green.

An ambitious plan to position the Empire State as a national leader in combating climate change is about to be a reality.

Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers reached a deal Tuesday and planned to vote on a sweeping piece of climate legislation that would promote green jobs, end the state’s reliance on fossil fuels and eliminate nearly all man-made pollution by 2050.

“I want New York to have the most aggressive climate change program in the United States of America. Period,” Cuomo told WCNY’s Susan Arbetter. “You know our goal from day one was to reclaim New York’s legacy as the progressive capital that showed the other states and the country the way forward. I think climate change is the issue of our lifetime frankly, and the legacy that we leave our children.”

The new law, a combination of the Legislature’s long-sought Climate and Communities Protection Act and Cuomo’s own version of the Green New Deal, would require 70% of electricity used in the state to come from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro by 2030. By 2040, 100%

of the state’s grid would come from clean, carbonfree sources.

The measure also sets aside a portion of the state climate fund for investment in the communities most affected by climate change and pollution.

“What we need to do in New York is to be first movers. We want to be creating the green jobs here, having the energy investments, the infrastructure in our state,” bill sponsor Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Nassau) told the Daily News. “The states that do that first are going to have a tremendous advantage in a green economy, and we want to lead the way in doing that.”

The legislation also includes standard reporting requirements and the formation of a climate action council and working groups, Kaminsky said.

Another major goal set in the measure is the elimination of 85% of greenhouse gas emissions, using a baseline of 1990 levels, from the state’s entire economy within 30 years.

The amended proposal, renamed the Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act in a nod to the governor’s original pitch, is expected to be voted on either late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

“It would be the strongest climate bill in the country,” Julie Tighe, president of the

Bill pushed by state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Island) would require 70% of state’s power to come from renewable sources (such as wind turbines, top) by 2030, and all of it by 2040.