Did you hear the exciting news? Earlier this week on Monday, December 19, the New York State Climate Action Council voted 19-3 to approve their much awaited Scoping Plan! The Draft Scoping Plan was released last year on December 30 after which followed 11 public hearings across the State and over 35,000 written public comments. This final plan will be sent to Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature by the new year.
What’s so important about this plan?
The New York State Climate Action Council Scoping Plan outlines recommended policies and actions to help meet the goals and requirements laid out in the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (also known as the Climate Act or CLCPA). The biggest goals include:
- The state reaching 70% renewable energy by 2030,
- 100% zero emission electricity by 2040,
- A 40% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, along with an 85% reduction by 2050, and
- Net-zero emissions statewide by 2050 (can use offsets).
The Climate Act requires disadvantaged communities to receive a minimum of 35% of the benefits from this plan, with a goal of 40%. These benefits include making energy more affordable, reducing pollution from greenhouse gasses, increasing access to quality and union-based jobs, and including these communities in the implementation of other projects and programs.
How will they meet these big goals?
The Scoping Plan created goals for ten different designated sectors: transportation; buildings; electricity; industry; agriculture and forestry; waste; land use; local government; adaptation and resilience; and gas system transition. You can read a summary of these on the NYS DEC’s website, but a few noteworthy ones are the goals to drastically increase zero-emission vehicles and enhance public transportation, electrifying 85% of homes and commercial spaces by 2050, scaling up renewables, and strategically downsizing and decarbonizing our current gas system.
One of the strategies recommended by the plan is a “cap-and-invest” program, similar to California’s cap-and-trade program. There would be a limit (cap) placed on total allowed emissions units, which would be called allowances. Polluting companies can buy and sell a declining set of allowances (invest) which would be an economic incentive for polluters to reduce their own emissions.
Keep an eye out for an update on this once the Scoping Plan moves forward to the rest of the New York State government!
Written by Sarah Woodams ’24(T5)
Photo by American Public Power Association on Unsplash