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April 6, 2009
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION: GOVERNOR CAN
IMPLEMENT GLOBAL WARMING RECOMMENDATIONS NOW
Lays Out Eight Immediate Global Warming Actions
With Little Impact on Budgets
The New York State Bar Association called on Governor
Paterson to implement immediately eight actions that would significantly
reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and will have
little or no fiscal impact on state or local government budgets. These
steps – which can be carried out through an Executive Order,
legislation or other administrative action – are contained in a
report issued by the New York State Bar Association Global Warming Task
Force that highlights realistic, timely and cost-effective measures that
would help New York achieve the important goal of slashing greenhouse
gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels while leaving the state
and the nation better prepared for a world impacted by global climate
change.
Chaired by Michael B. Gerrard, Esq., professor and director of the
Center on Climate Change Law at the Columbia University School of Law,
the Task Force on Global Warming was established by State Bar President
Bernice K. Leber (Arent Fox LLP) in June 2008 and includes experts from
the fields of climate change, law, academia, business and good
government advocacy. The report, titled Taking Action In New York On
Climate Change: Report of the New York State Bar Association Task Force
on Global Warming, was adopted by the Association’s House of
Delegates at its annual meeting in April. Full report: http://www.nysba.org/globalwarmingtaskforcereport.
“While we are hopeful that all the recommendations in this
thorough and compelling report will eventually be adopted, we have no
time to waste. Governor Paterson can show real responsible leadership
and make an immediate impact on our planet’s health by
implementing these eight actions through his existing authority or by
directing his agencies to take action, with little added cost to
government. This Task Force has shown that fiscal responsibility and
environmental responsibility can go hand in hand,” said Leber.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has already
embraced one of the report’s recommendations -- that greenhouse
gas emissions be analyzed in the environmental impact statements for
proposed development projects.
The recommendations that can be
implemented immediately with little or no fiscal impact are:
- Raise the state’s Renewable
Portfolio Standards (RPS) mandate that utilities sell or consumers buy a
certain percentage of their power from renewable sources to 30 percent
by 2015. The state’s current RPS mandate is 25 percent by 2013.
Its cost is covered through a small surcharge on each kilowatt hour of
energy.
- Amend the State Energy Code to cover
more building renovations. This could include lifting the cap that
exempts renovations where 50 percent or less involves replacement of the
“building subsystem” such as exterior walls, floors, and
ductwork. The State could also lift the requirement that the Code cannot
impose work that would cost more than the present value of the expected
energy savings over a 10-year period and could narrow the exemptions for
buildings located in the National or State registry of historical
places.
- Water and wastewater treatment plants
emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. New Yorkshould follow the federal
Environmental Protection Agency lead and adopt minimum energy
conservation requirements for water and wastewater treatment
plants. The State should also consider more aggressive energy
conservation requirements when these plants are funded through the
Environmental Facilities Corporation, a State agency that funds some
environmental projects.
- The State Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) should revise its environmental impact assessment
requirements under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) so
that all state and local agencies must also consider greenhouse gas
emissions, climate change and energy use as part their required
analysis. This SEQRA review is undertaken by these agencies for
any discretionary decision, including actions they must approve, fund or
undertake.
- New
York should encourage the development of wind energy
projects and adopt a statewide wind energy goal under the Public Service
Commission’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) similar to
New
Jersey’s goal of 3,000 megawatts of wind
energy by 2020.
- The State should convene a task force
headed by the DEC to develop a goal of reducing by 10% the vehicles
miles traveled (VMT) in New
Yorkwithin a decade. This task force should look
at a variety of options including congestion pricing, tax-incentives for
transit-oriented development, the use of low-cost mortgages for people
who live close to public transportation or where they can walk to work,
implementing pay-as-you-go insurance and creating a dedicated funding
stream for alternative transportation.
- The State Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) should add tire pressure and other factors that can increase gas
mileage as part of the state-mandated vehicle inspection programs. Any
mailings to drivers should include a list of vehicle maintenance
suggestions and this information should be prominently displayed on the
DMV website.
- New Yorkshould promote the capture of
methane gas, which is twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide as a
greenhouse gas, and its conversion to electricity generation by
requiring its capture in all municipal solid waste landfills and sewage
treatment plants.
Professor Gerrard said, “The Task Force on Global Warming is
keenly aware that the Governor and legislature have many different
issues they must confront right now in a tough fiscal environment.
That’s why we are focusing on these eight actions that can be
pursued immediately at minimal cost and without legislative
action.”
In its full report, the Global Warming Task Force panel determined that
the state already has several laws, policies and programs currently in
place to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions. A specific
climate change target and comprehensive strategy were lacking.
Gerrard noted that without such a target it is difficult to assess
whether New York’s efforts in reducing its emissions are
effective. Additionally, a binding greenhouse gas reduction target
will focus initiatives on achieving reductions in emissions, rather than
on other laudable but different goals such as increasing renewable
energy usage or making buildings more energy efficient.
The Task Force recommended adopting a target that can be assessed and
revised as warranted to reduce New York’s greenhouse gases by 80
percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
The members of the Task Force on Global Warming are:
Michael B. Gerrard (New York) – Columbia Law School,
Chair
David Driesen (Syracuse) – Syracuse Law School
Veronica Eady Famira (New York) – New York Lawyers for the
Public Interest
J. Kevin Healy (New York) – Bryan Cave LLP
Katrina Kuh (Hempstead) – Hofstra Law School
Edward Lloyd (New York) – Columbia Law School
Eileen Millett (New York) – Gibbons PC
David Paget (New York) – Sive Paget & Riesel PC
Virginia Robbins (Syracuse) – Bond Schoeneck & King
PLLC
Patricia Salkin (Albany) – Albany Law School
James Sevinsky (Schenectady) – General Electric
James Van Nostrand (White Plains) – Pace Energy and Climate
Center, Pace Law School
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The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest
voluntary state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876,
the Association’s programs and activities have continuously served
the public and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.
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