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We need the Build Back Better agenda to combat climate change
BY JULIE TIGHE AND JEFF
VOCKRODT
Th is summer New York City has experienced
letters & comments
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severe fl ooding events, devastating
and endangering communities, compromising
our infrastructure, and reinforcing
the severity of the climate crisis.
Th e fl ooding from Tropical Storm Elsa
washed out several subway stations and
local highways, stopping New Yorkers in
their tracks. And we’re not alone. Across
the country, wildfi res have been so severe
that the ash caused the sun and moon to
appear red here in NYC.
Th ese major fl ooding and severe weather
events reinforce not only the increasing
intensity of climate change, but also how
our aging infrastructure is unprepared
to deal with these disasters. As global
temperatures continue to rise at alarming
rates, this warming makes weather
events more frequent and intense, which
causes devastating impacts to our outdated
infrastructure. To eff ectively address
the growing climate crisis and jumpstart
the move to a clean energy economy, we
must implement ambitious policies to
tackle climate change and create union
jobs.
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity
to invest in our future. Congress is
working on both a bipartisan $1 trillion
infrastructure package and an even bolder
and more historic $3.5 trillion investment
in line with President Biden’s Build
Back Better agenda.
Th e $3.5 trillion climate infrastructure
package will build more climate-resilient
infrastructure, support the green economy
and create good-paying union jobs right
here in New York. It achieves this by establishing
a clean energy standard to get us to
100% clean electricity by 2035, investing in
our ports to jumpstart off shore wind development,
expanding clean transportation
and supporting the manufacturing jobs
that come with these green technologies, all
while prioritizing climate justice.
Th e billions proposed to repair transportation
infrastructure, including funding
for the Gateway program and mass
transit, can create local jobs and help our
state economy grow. Investments in manufacturing
and clean energy can help revitalize
New York’s manufacturing sector,
which employs about 4.5% of the state’s
workforce, and create good union jobs in
New York’s clean-energy sector, a growing
industry for our state.
Investments in climate infrastructure
can accomplish several goals at once. For
example, by retrofi tting school buildings,
which must remain a priority in federal
infrastructure investments, we can have
a real impact on emissions, make schools
healthier and safer, create good union
jobs and save schools millions. In New
York City alone, where we are advocating
for Carbon Free and Healthy Schools, we
can have an impact equivalent to planting
400,000 trees, address long-standing
facilities issues in school buildings, create
thousands of union jobs and save schools
$70 million every year on energy costs.
Critically, climate justice must remain
central to the plan, including investments
to improve climate-related housing and
health outcomes for low-income and
vulnerable populations, such as greater
access to clean drinking water, lead remediation
in housing, pollution reductions
and retrofi tting public housing to make
it energy effi cient. To build a clean-energy
future that works for all New Yorkers,
we must prioritize communities that have
historically been left behind and overburdened
by pollution.
We thank Rep. Jeff ries for being a climate
champion and pushing these critical
elements of the Build Back Better
agenda forward. Now is the time to make
sure these crucial infrastructure investments
get across the fi nish line. Now is the
time to rebuild our economy and create a
clean-energy future. We can’t wait until the
next superstorm devastates our communities.
We must act now to combat climate
change, invest in resilient communities and
create good-paying jobs for New Yorkers.
Julie Tighe is president of the New
York League of Conservation Voters. Jeff
Vockrodt is executive director of Climate
Jobs NY.
TIME FOR LMDC TO MOVE ON
A cat has nine lives and so does the Lower
Manhattan Development Corporation.
November 2021 will mark the 20th anniversary
for this quasi-independent government
agency. LMDC was formed in November
2001, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Its original mission was to plan the reconstruction
of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly
$10 billion in federal funds to support rebuilding
downtown Manhattan. Anyone can clearly
see that this mission has been completed.
What are the political motivations for
Governor Kathy Hochul, her predecessor
Andrew Cuomo, State Senate Majority Leader
Andrea Stewart Cousins, State Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie and NYC Mayor Bill
de Blasio for continuing to allow this agency
to remain open? Has State Comptroller Tom
DiNapoli or City Comptroller Scott Stringer
conducted any recent audits of this agency?
Aft er 20 years, this agency should have completed
its mission years ago. It is time for the
LMDC to close its doors and move on.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
PROTECTING OUR
POWER GRID
We must do more to strengthen our power
grid against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
event.
Such an event can result from an attack by
terrorists or by another country (e.g. China
may already have the capability), or it can
occur naturally. It could result in devastating
loss of life. Th ere is disagreement on this, but
why take chances?
We should also have a ground-based GPS
backup system (like Russia has), or we could
lose the internet, at the least, in an anti-satellite
attack.
Alvin Blake, Bayside