Dear friends,
There is nothing like a gorgeous, sunny, and unseasonably mild February day to remind us to take climate action.
This week is a global week of action to hold the insurance industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis. Insurance companies are the great enablers of fossil fuel extraction.
Insurance companies play a dual role in fueling the climate crisis by underwriting coal, oil and gas projects and by investing in fossil fuels companies. Without insurance, most new fossil fuel projects cannot proceed and existing ones have to close.
Join Third Act and New York Communities for Change at Tuesday’s Insure Our Future NYC March.
Governor Hochul voiced support last month for scrapping a rule that subsidizes new gas lines as well as the “obligation to serve” gas to every household. These are features of the NY HEAT Act, which could shift whole communities off fossil fuels.
As is often the case, the governor does not commit enough energy and resources to climate action, so we need to press our legislators to bring her around.
The NY HEAT Act would protect low- and middle-income households, which spend a much larger share of their income on energy bills than other families. The legislation would make the transition away from fossil fuels affordable by
1) stopping the expansion of the dirty, toxic gas system and 2) reducing utility bills by eliminating gas subsidies and . . . capping energy bills at 6% of income.
Tell your NYS legislators to fund the NY HEAT Act. This quick action is from Stand.earth.
The stay would void the regulation until a lower court could rule on the request. This would please Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia and the corporate polluters that operate there, but it is bad news news for downwind communities.
Nearly 60 years ago, Congress preserved California’s explicit authority to adopt standards that are more protective than the federal government’s in order to protect California residents from vehicle pollution and to continue to lead in the area vehicle pollution control innovation. The Clean Air Act directs EPA to review California standards and to waive federal preemption if the standards meet minimum requirements. After the EPA grants a waiver for one of these new standards, other states can then adopt them for the health of their own residents.
A rule that updates California’s first truck emissions rule is among several regulations awaiting action by the EPA. Seven other states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Vermont, have the earlier rule in place; we can’t update our rules until the EPA clears the way.
Tell the EPA to authorize states to make clean-air rules! This quick action is from Earth Justice.
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful afternoon!
with love,
L