Schumer must halt funds for fossil fuels
COURIER L 30 IFE, NOVEMBER 5-11, 2021
EDITORIAL
OP-ED
At last, we have arrived at
the transition period between
mayoral administrations
at City Hall, with
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s successor
elected and due to take offi
ce New Year’s Day.
Over the next two months,
many will ask what de Blasio
programs will be continued
or expunged by the next
mayor. Undoubtedly, his successor
will consider the fate
of “Vision Zero,” the traffi c
safety program that de Blasio
initiated early on to combat a
surge in traffi c deaths across
the Five Boroughs.
Vision Zero dropped the
citywide speed limit, expanded
the bike lane network,
physically altered roadways
and took other measures to
get drivers to slow down and
save lives.
It worked, for a while — but
the past year has been one of
the deadliest the city streets
have seen in some time.
After 77 traffi c deaths occurred
this summer, the
most in any summer during
the de Blasio administration,
Transportation Alternatives
reported that the city’s currently
on pace to have the
highest number of such fatalities
in the incumbent’s entire
tenure at City Hall.
Why? For one, there are
more vehicles on the streets
these days with mass transit
still struggling to rebound
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
More vehicles mean more
drivers on the streets, and an
increased chance of collision
with other vehicles, pedestrians
and bicyclists.
The other problem, as
other outlets have reported,
has been reduced police enforcement
in traffi c rules citywide.
Any measures taken to
slow down vehicles, provide
safe spaces for bicyclists to
travel and protect pedestrians
are moot points if offending
motorists aren’t punished
for violating new rules and
regulations, or blocking bike
lanes, parking spaces and
crosswalks.
The next mayor should
refocus Vision Zero to not
only include continued street
safety improvements, but also
ensure that the NYPD does
more to enforce the regulations.
The honors system doesn’t
work; we can’t trust that all
drivers will drive safely without
some level of enforcement.
As for drivers who say it’s
unfair to target them and not
errant cyclists and pedestrians,
keep something in mind:
Your vehicle weighs 2,000
pounds and features safety
measures to protect you in a
collision. Bicyclists and pedestrians
have no such protection
— and if you hit them,
they’re going to be seriously
hurt, if not killed.
Driving is a privilege, not
a right. Drive safely, lest you
face the consequences of your
actions.
Refocus Vision Zero
BY ERIC WELTMAN
This week, Governor
Hochul showed what climate
leadership looks like, striking
a major blow against the
fossil fuel industry by blocking
proposed fracked gas
power plants in Queens and
the Hudson Valley. It’s an important
step towards moving
New York off fossil fuels —
and it’s a critical one. Now
it’s Chuck Schumer’s turn to
deliver by ensuring that the
Build Back Better Act contains
bold policies to prevent
climate change.
Schumer’s leadership is
desperately needed. Unfortunately,
Congress is missing
yet another deadline to
fi nalize this vital legislation
even as President Biden prepares
to represent the United
States at an international climate
meeting in Scotland.
Just as Schumer did this
summer, standing shoulderto
shoulder with activists in
Queens to protest fossil fuels
in Astoria, the senator must
now defend policies at the
federal level to move the nation
off fossil fuels.
Most urgently, as the
Senate Majority Leader,
Schumer must stop taxpayer
handouts to the fossil fuel
companies literally fueling
the climate crisis. Senator
Schumer has claimed that
he wants to eliminate these
subsidies. It’s time for him to
back up those words with action,
demonstrate the power
of his convictions, and stand
up to the powerful industry,
as Governor Hochul has
done.
For decades, American
taxpayers have fi nanced fossil
fuel extraction and burning,
providing a fi nancial
lifeline for this destructive
industry. Thanks to federal
loopholes that have been on
the books for years, many oil
and gas companies can deduct
the majority of the costs
associated with drilling new
wells, meaning they pay almost
nothing for fossil fuel
extraction. These subsidies,
in the form of tax breaks and
research and development
funding, total around $15 billion
Chuck Schumer.
REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
a year.
The good news is that the
Build Back Better Act, currently
being negotiated in
Congress, could chart a new
clean energy course for our
nation, creating policies and
programs that will transition
us to renewable energy.
If handled wrong, it also
has the potential to lock us
into decades of backwards
movement on the existential
climate threat. So far,
it’s not looking promising.
House leadership has failed
to meet the moment (https://
www.foodandwaterwatch.
org/2021/09/13/house-waysmeans
committee-advancesegregious
fossi l-fuel-subsidies/),
advancing the act
without removing loopholes
and tax breaks that funnel
billions of dollars to the fossil
fuel industry.
To make matters worse,
the House bill contains billions
of dollars in new subsidies
for industry-backed
scams like carbon capture,
hydrogen and factory farm
biogas. These costly false solutions
would maintain our
reliance on dirty fossil fuels,
fueling climate change
and its deadly effects, including
storms and heat waves
that could claim many more
of our friends, family, and
neighbors.
New York City is highly
vulnerable to dangerous
weather events and health
hazards like extreme heat,
which put elderly and lowincome
residents at risk.
Just this summer, we’ve
faced heatwave after heatwave,
resulting in power outages
threatening our community’s
health and safety.
And Hurricane Ida is not the
fi rst deadly storm to hit our
borough — October 29 is the
ninth anniversary of Superstorm
Sandy, which killed
more than forty people and
caused billions of dollars in
damages.
And so we are looking
to our Senator Schumer to
take the steps necessary to
halt this harm and prevent
further tragedy. Here’s the
bottom line: New Yorkers’
lives are at stake – our lives
are at stake. The survival
of our homes, our neighborhoods
and our communities
is at risk. We need Senator
Schumer to be a hero, our
hero, our champion – and to
deliver on his words by providing
the leadership to move
the nation off fossil fuels and
prevent climate catastrophe.
Eric Weltman is a Brooklyn
based senior organizer
with Food & Water Watch
LET US HEAR FROM YOU. Submit letters to: Meaghan McGoldrick, Edi tor, Courier Life, 1 Metro Tech Center North, Brooklyn, NY 11201, or e-mail to editorial@schnepsmedia.com. Please include
your address and tele phone number for so we can con fi rm you sent the letter. We reserve the right to edit all correspondence, which becomes the property of Courier Life.
/www.foodandwaterwatch
link