Three buses of activists left the NFTA University Station in Buffalo this morning. They are on their way to the state capitol to call on Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to support the New York State Climate and Community Protection Act. They expect to be joined by hundreds of other supporters from the labor, grassroots and environment movements for a rally in the noon hour. John Washington, Campaign Organizer for PUSH Buffalo, said the act is the nation's strongest climate protection bill and he and other supporters want to make sure it is passed and enforced to its fullest, "making sure that whatever solutions that they're creating jobs, that they're having an effect on the equality of local economies, that they're empowering people."
The act recognizes that climate change is adversely affecting New York's economic well-being, public health, natural resources and the environment. It enacts a state goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 100% over 1990 levels by the year 2050, with an incremental target of at least a 50-percent reduction in climate pollution by the year 2030, in line with global projections of what is necessary to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
The act would make New York America's climate leader, even ahead of California.
