CLIMATE JOBS NY STATEMENT SUPPORTING PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ORDER ON CLEAN ENERGY STANDARD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15, 2020
CONTACT: Jeff Vockrodt, Executive Director, jvockrodt@climatejobsny.org, 917-818-3143
CLIMATE JOBS NY STATEMENT SUPPORTING PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ORDER ON CLEAN ENERGY STANDARD
Governor Cuomo’s announcement today that the Public Service Commission has approved an expanded Clean Energy Standard is a crucial step forward in advancing bold climate action and good jobs in New York. The Commission’s order lays out a path to achieving the state’s goal of 70 percent renewable power by 2030 and takes important steps to realize the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s goals of combating climate change and creating good jobs and careers for New Yorkers.
The Commission’s order provides a predictable framework for developers and builds on principles of equity, high-road employment and responsible contracting advocated by Climate Jobs NY. Through the use of project labor agreements and prevailing wage requirements, for example, the order will both promote positive economic development and ensure the success of these crucial renewable projects. And the Commission has taken steps to prioritize economic development in disadvantaged communities, including rewarding community workforce agreements and apprenticeship programs in disadvantaged communities and requiring clear assessments of projects’ benefits and burdens in those communities.
Climate Jobs NY is committed to working with the administration, NYSERDA, and our environmental justice, community and business allies to ensure the success of New York’s vision for a clean-energy economy that works for everyone.
Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and Climate Jobs NY Executive Committee member, said, "Governor Cuomo’s announcement today is an important step forward in securing a clean-energy future built with good union jobs and careers. Today’s order provides a framework that developers can plan around, and it’s yet another reminder that we don’t need to choose between bold climate action and good-paying jobs.”
Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and Climate Jobs NY Executive Committee member, said, "We appreciate the administration’s action on this expanded Clean Energy Standard and will continue to work with NYSERDA and others to make sure scaling up renewable energy in New York means putting tens of thousands of New
Yorkers to work in family-sustaining, community-supporting jobs, helping to fuel a green recovery from this economic crisis.”
Jeff Vockrodt, Executive Director of Climate Jobs NY, said, "Today’s announcement is an important milestone. This new Clean Energy Standard moves us one step closer to the future we want to see here in New York, and we look forward to working with our partners in the administration and across the state to keep building a clean-energy economy and a more just and resilient New York.”
ABOUT CLIMATE JOBS NY
Climate Jobs NY (CJNY) is a growing coalition of labor unions—representing more than 2.6 million working New Yorkers—united to combat climate change and reverse inequality. CJNY’s mission is to advocate for a clean energy economy at the scale climate science demands, create good union jobs, and support more equitable communities and a more resilient New York. CJNY’s members include the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the New York State AFL-CIO, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, the Long Island Federation of Labor, Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Third District, the United Association Plumbers and Pipefitters in New York State, 32BJ SEIU, the New York State Nurses Association, Laborers International Union Local 79, AFSCME District Council 37, the Transport Workers Union of America, and Transport Workers Union Local 100.
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