WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 13
We need the Build Back Better agenda to combat climate change
BY JULIE TIGHE AND JEFF VOCKRODT
This summer New York City has experienced
severe fl ooding events, devastating and endangering
communities, compromising our
infrastructure, and reinforcing the severity of the
climate crisis. The 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.
These 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outdated infrastructure.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.
The $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.
The 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 climaterelated
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 cleanenergy
future that works for all New Yorkers, we
must prioritize communities that have historically
OP-ED
been left behind and overburdened by pollution.
We thank Rep. Jeffries 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 finish 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.
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