Assemblyman William Colton (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) sponsored a Bill (A-3565) on 100 % renewable energy. Climate activists including Mark Dunlea, Chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund, Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director at Food & Water Watch and a number of elected officials attended the rally on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in Albany. The group demanded the legislature and Governor Cuomo finalize a real plan to move New York off fossil fuels by 2030. The bill provides a mechanism for job retraining, building infrastructure for new renewable energy industries, a transition to electric vehicles, and assistance for environmentally impacted communities.

“As the warning signs of the impacts of damage being done to our environment by fossil fuels grow more urgent, my Bill (A-3565) provides a pathway to converting to renewable energy by 2030 in a transparent planned way, preparing to mitigate negative impacts on existing jobs, energy costs and prior impacts on environmental justice communities,” said Colton.

“Our message to the legislature is simple: We must move much faster to address the catastrophic threat of climate change. We must move off fossil fuels by 2030 instead of pushing off the full transition until the middle of the century. That process should start right now with an immediate halt the construction of new fossil fuel projects,” said Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director at Food & Water Watch.

“The IPCC says we have 12 years left for dramatic climate action to save life on the planet. We need New York State to be a world leader and pass the strongest climate legislation possible. That starts with as quick a timeline as is technologically possible — say 2030 — combined with an immediate halt to fossil fuels,” said Mark Dunlea, Chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund.

“We are running out of time to make the changes necessary to have a planned transition to an all renewable energy system. The scientific studies show water temperature rising each year to new record levels and a steady increase in water levels threatens to flood existing developed lands. Increasingly extreme weather conditions now emerge in all parts of the world,” Colton stated.