A New York coalition formed to address climate policy and environmental justice protections is seeking to go beyond major steps California advocates won in a recent landmark climate law that many say will prioritize facility-specific greenhouse gas cuts while continuing the state's cap-and-trade program.
However, unlike the equity groups in California, the New York equity advocates are not directly opposing trading in areas that are disproportionally harmed by pollution.
The New York coalition, NY Renews, was formed late last year and supported a bill with ambitious GHG and renewable energy targets that progressed through much of the legislature this year, though it was blocked from a floor vote in the state Senate.
The advocates expect to try again next year and are also pressing Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to include similar protections in pending revisions to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that states are crafting in a program review to align the effort with EPA's existing power plant GHG rule.
An Aug. 30 letter to Cuomo asks for an aggressive RGGI cap on power sector emissions, with the cap declining 5 percent per year after 2020. That is consistent with the state's economy-wide plan to cut GHGs by 80 percent in 2050, the coalition says.
While the group made this request to Cuomo, one source notes the cap would have to be included in an upcoming draft RGGI model rule, an expected outcome of the program review, since all nine state participants work toward a common target.
The group also wants Cuomo to work with impacted communities to craft a “regulatory definition and subsequent identification of disadvantaged communities that bear burdens of negative public health effects, environmental pollution, and impacts of climate change, and possess certain socioeconomic criteria.”
It is crucial that such communities are identified because the coalition wants 40 percent of the state's RGGI investments to go toward projects that directly benefit such areas. The legislation would also include requirements that 40 percent of any energy-related revenue go to benefit these communities, a second source explains.
The RGGI letter also seeks regulatory actions to maximize both reductions of GHGs and co-pollutants in disadvantaged communities; an equity analysis to be conducted of RGGI and other climate investments on the specific needs of such communities; and a “just transition” process to identify the needs and resources necessary to ensure protections for communities impacted by the shift away from a fossil-fuel based economy.
Further, it wants a prohibition on deploying waste-to-energy and biomass plants as compliance options. New York's compliance plan with EPA's existing source performance standards (ESPS) and the RGGI program “should develop a clearer definition of renewable energy that doesn't allow for false solutions,” the letter says.
Echoing other environmental groups, the coalition also wants a prohibition on trading with states that fail to adopt ESPS compliance plans that cover both new and existing sources. It also urges New York to support the Clean Energy Incentive Program's emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency in low-income communities without allowing for an increase in available allowances.
“A strong and equitable [RGGI] and state implementation plan for the [ESPS] will make our state a model for the nation,” the coalition's letter to Cuomo says. “New York needs to refocus its climate programs to prioritize investments in these frontline communities.”
'The Gold Standard'
The New York legislative effort would go beyond what California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law Sept. 8, which mandates a 40 percent GHG cut from 1990 levels by 2030 while putting a greater emphasis on direct GHG cuts at some facilities, compared with the existing cap-and-trade program.
The New York bill, the New York State Climate and Community Protection Act, requires a 50 percent GHG cut from 1990 levels by 2030, while also mandating that the state achieve 100 percent renewable energy in 2050.
In addition, it requires 40 percent of energy revenue to be directed to disadvantaged communities “to help them thrive through the climate crisis,” the first source explains. It would provide large-scale investment in climate job prospects that are tied to fair labor standards and a “just transition.”
The coalition pushing the bill is comprised of more than 80 groups, including labor, environmentalists, low-income community groups, faith and business leaders. Opposing the bill were the New York State Business Council and the Independent Power Producers of New York.
But the advocates intend to push the bill again next year, hoping to “make New York the gold standard for climate from a grounding of environmental justice,” the first source says.
The legislation, the nation's “most ambitious” climate bill, passed overwhelmingly in the state Assembly and was supported by a bipartisan majority of the Senate. But it was blocked by leadership from coming to the floor for a vote in that chamber, the source says. “We are looking to bring it back in the 2017 legislative session,” the source adds.
While the legislation and RGGI efforts are separate, they are designed to achieve similar goals, and both could be moving forward on a similar time frame next year, the sources say.
“While weighing in on the [ESPS] implementation process in New York is not our primary objective -- that is to pass this bill -- we didn't want to miss the opportunity to weigh in” to make sure that the RGGI process “aligns with the priorities of the policy platform and the groups that back it up” and is “abiding by the principles of justice and equity for communities of low income,” a third source says.
The source adds: “That's what is most exciting about this coalition. The communities in New York who have been impacted first and worst by climate change and economic disinvestment rising up to solve both of these problems together.”
'Take a Stand'
The third source familiar with NY Renews says that the letter to Cuomo is also intended to address “a bit of a disconnect” in how the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approaches environmental justice communities in RGGI and its ESPS compliance plan, compared with other groups, such as regulated entities and environmentalists.
RGGI is holding regional stakeholder meetings in various states on its updated model rule while the New York DEC was conducting individual outreach to equity groups.
“This is an opportunity for the governor really to take a stand on whether or not his administration is going to get behind this push from an equity standpoint,” the source says. Because New York plans to use RGGI as its ESPS compliance plan, “it looks like we recognize that these decisions will have impacts for years if not more than a decade, so it is better to get into the conversation now” from an environmental justice standpoint.
The sources say the state has yet to respond to the NY Renews letter but say the Cuomo administration's efforts to date show the letter's requests are “not out of the realm of possibility,” pointing to a promise by DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos to make environmental justice the top priority.
And while the New York group is seeking to be more ambitious than California groups, the sources note that they are “allies.” They also acknowledge that the California groups have been working together for years to get the legislation passed while NY Renews has been around for less than a year.
At the same time, the coalition intends to continue involvement in the RGGI effort, including urging its requests to be built into the model rule that would “take equity region wide,” the first source says.
The third source says both the RGGI push and legislation might come at the same time next year. The legislation would codify the requirements into statute, which is the “end goal, to make sure they are permanent,” whereas RGGI could be rolled back without legislative approval. “That said, New York is going forward with [RGGI] regulations regardless,” the source says.
The first source says Cuomo has “a real opportunity to . . . fill a leadership vacuum by stepping up” on RGGI. -- Dawn Reeves (dreeves@iwpnews.com)