Budget Testimony on Climate and the Environment Part 1

On January 28, the New York State legislature held a 12 hour hearing on the environmental and energy parts of the state budget. The bulk of the hearing was devoted to Q and A with the heads of the Governor’s various environmental agencies such as DEC, NYPA, NYSERDA, and the Public Service Commission. Many were surprised that the Governor failed to include any proposed amendments to weaken the state climate law, though those proposals may be coming later or will be done through the rule making powers of the PSC. There was largely no new major funding for climate action in the budget. In part one of our coverage, we hear from Liz Moran of Earth Justice, Alexis Goldsmith of Beyond Plastics, Shi Soin of TREEAge on behalf of NY Renews; and Anshul Gupta of New Yorkers for Clean Power. By Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.