Albany – On Wednesday, Assemblymember Karen McMahon (D-Amherst) introduced a resolution commemorating Earth Day in the State of New York. Below is a transcript of Assemblymember McMahon’s remarks on the floor of the Assembly regarding the resolution as delivered:

“Thank you Madam Speaker for allowing me to talk about Earth Day. The first Earth Day was commemorated 56 years ago on April 22, 1970 - sadly, I remember that as a child. What began as an opportunity to educate Americans on the importance of protecting our land, air and water, Earth Day has now become a worldwide observance and a call to action to protect the planet and its resources. 

“I’ve been standing up every year for the last few years to talk about Earth Day but it feels particularly relevant today as we, as a state, are in the process of navigating and negotiating a path forward with regard to our own climate legislation, and the federal government seems intent on abdicating its responsibility to regulate toxins in our air, water, and food supply. 

“Sadly, it seems that the urgency of our climate crisis has been minimized as so many other issues have dominated the headlines and monopolized our collective psyche. We all know that human activity has contributed to pollution, overdevelopment, ozone depletion, deforestation, and species extinction. While we may not always agree on the specific steps that need to be taken or policies we should implement, I think we can all agree that we must change human behavior to address these serious problems. 

“As Legislators we have a duty to advocate for, and implement meaningful environmental policy. As citizens, we can all do more to reduce our footprint - things like reducing consumption and waste, conserving resources, and using energy more efficiently. On Earth Day and every day, let’s work together to protect our planet for the generations that will follow us. Thank you, Madam Speaker.”