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New Yorkers encouraged to review and comment on Draft Scoping Plan beginning Jan. 1 to Advance Nation-Leading Climate Law
December 30, 2021
New York State’s Climate Action Council Co-Chairs, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) President and CEO Doreen M. Harris, today announced the release of the Draft Scoping Plan, which describes recommended policies and actions to help New York meet its ambitious climate directives as part of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). The Draft Scoping Plan has been released for public review and comment starting Jan. 1, 2022, following a unanimous 19-0 vote of the Climate Action Council.
Basil Seggos is Climate Action Council Cochair and DEC Commissioner., “For nearly two years, the Climate Action Council, with input from experts and stakeholders from every field and economic sector and support from State agencies, was dedicated to developing the Draft Scoping Plan to advance New York’s ambitious climate law and address climate change, the existential threat of our time. We are asking New Yorkers to read the draft plan and give their input. Only by working together and bringing everyone’s voices to the table can we meet this challenge head on and ensure all communities benefit from New York’s transition to a cleaner, greener future.”
Doreen M. Harris, Co-Chair of the Climate Action Council and President and CEO of NYSERDA, said, “The Draft Scoping Plan embodies the needed action to address the very real crisis that climate change represents, forging cooperation between wide-ranging perspectives from across the state to meet the weighty challenge ahead of us. We will work together to fight climate change and create a clean energy future that will be beneficial for all New Yorkers for many generations. We look forward to receiving feedback from the public in the coming months to ensure an equitable and just energy transition that builds greater access to clean energy, creates family-sustaining jobs and brings forward public benefits such as improved air quality for all New Yorkers.”
The Draft Scoping Plan has been released. https://climate.ny.gov
, opens a 120-day public consultation period that will run from Jan. 1, 2022 to Jan. 1, 2022. New Yorkers are encouraged and encouraged to make comments via the internet Public comment form, via email at [email protected], and via U.S. post to Attention: Draft Scoping Plan comments, NYSERDA at 17 Columbia Circle Albany NY 12203-6399. At least six public hearings will be held throughout the State during the public comment period. In early 2022, details and information regarding how to participate will be made available.
The Climate Action Council’s seven advisory panels – Transportation, Agriculture and Forestry, Land Use and Local Government, Power Generation, Energy Efficiency and Housing, Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed Industries, and Waste – along with the Climate Justice Working Group and Just Transition Working Group, submitted recommendations for the Climate Action Council to consider in the development of the Draft Scoping Plan that will help guide the State in achieving its statutory obligations under the Climate Act to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable energy development, ensure climate justice, and advance the State’s commitment to carbon neutrality economy-wide by 2050. The integration analysis process used the recommendations from the advisory panel and feedback from Climate Justice Working Group to help move forward with an integration analysis. This provided a cost-benefit evaluation of the strategies being considered, accounting for emissions reductions, as well as health benefits.
As required by the Climate Act the Draft Scoping Plan has been submitted to Governor and Legislature. The Climate Action Council will use the public input received in response the the Draft Scoping Plan’s publication to develop the Final Scoping Plan. This will be posted online and delivered by January 1, 2023 to the Governor and Legislature, as required by the Climate Act. DEC will release legally binding regulations to ensure the realization of the Climate Act’s required emissions reductions by Jan.1, 2024, as set forth in the Climate Act, informed by the Scoping Plan’s recommended strategies.
MILESTONES ADDITIONAL
Along with the important work and progress of The Climate Action Council, state agencies and working groups are taking action to meet other key requirements of Climate Act.
Report on Barriers and Opportunities in Disadvantaged Community Communities
New York’s Disadvantaged Communities Barriers and Opportunities Report [PDF] was developed to help address persistent disparities in economic opportunity, education, housing, environmental quality, health status, and mobility that heighten community vulnerability to the effects of climate change in historically underserved and marginalized areas. The Barriers and Opportunities Report identifies the barriers faced by disadvantaged communities and recommends actions for State agencies to design climate mitigation, adaptation, and clean energy programs with a focus on climate justice. Recommendations from this report will be incorporated into the Climate Action Council’s Final Scoping Plan.
Definition of Disadvantaged Communities
The Climate Justice Working Group voted to release its draft criteria and definition of disadvantaged communities during its meeting on Dec.13, 2021. The draft list of disadvantaged communities and identifying criteria will be released to the public in January and posted online at climate.ny.gov for a 120-day public comment period, including at least six public hearings, to gain feedback and input to help develop the final definition. The final definition will be incorporated into the Climate Action Council’s Final Scoping Plan. Criteria and methods for identifying disadvantaged communities will be reviewed annually to make sure the State is targeting emissions reductions and energy investments to ensure climate justice.
Jobs Study
The Just Transition Working Group released the Jobs Study required under the Climate Act, which estimates the number of jobs created to combat climate change and examines the skills and training required to tackle the climate crisis. The findings of the Jobs Study reveal that New York stands to see 10 jobs added in growing clean energy sectors for every job potentially lost in a displaced sector, amounting to hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the State by 2030 and beyond – and that the wage profile shows the largest increase in middle wage positions. The Just Transition Working Group is also working to advise the Climate Action Council on issues and opportunities for workforce development and training related to energy efficiency measures, renewable energy, and other clean energy technologies, with specific focus on training and workforce opportunities for disadvantaged communities and segments of the population that may be underrepresented in the clean energy workforce.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report
DEC released New York’s first-ever Climate Act-compliant Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report, which describes statewide greenhouse gas emissions for 1990 through 2019. This report will be produced annually as required by the Climate Act. This report is the first in the U.S. to use a 20-year Global Warming Potential for greenhouse gas emissions and to account for greenhouse gas emissions associated with the generation of imported electricity and the extraction and transmission of imported fossil fuels. The report found that statewide greenhouse gas emissions have fallen six percent from 1990, and 17 percent from 2005. The report shows significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity and industrial sectors and increased emissions from buildings, transportation, and waste sectors. The report’s findings will be used to help guide efforts to implement the Climate Act and reduce emissions. Click here for more information and to review the report.
To review the reports and for additional information, please visit climate.ny.gov.
New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan
New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy-wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $33 billion in 102 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. These investments combined support nearly 158,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector in 2020. There has been a 2,100% growth in distributed solar since 2011, and a commitment of 9,000 megawatts offshore wind development by 2035. New York’s Climate Act will continue to build on these gains and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from 1990 levels by 2050. It will also ensure that at least 35%, with a goal for 40%, of the benefits of clean-energy investments go to disadvantaged communities. This will help the state reach its 2025 energy efficiency goal of reducing on-site energy consumption in the state by 185 trillion BTUs end-use energy savings.
