Business groups call for a halt to the Climate and Community Protection Act
Proposed Legislation Has Limited Impact on Emissions Reduction, Significant Impact on Local Jobs
https://www.bcnys.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/CCPA%20Chamber%20Logo%20Letter_0.pdf
Albany, NY – The Business Council of New York State Inc, along with various state-wide business organizations, today, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to reconsider proposed climate change legislation.
The current bill called the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) (S.2992 (Kaminsky)/A.3876 (Englebright)) will do little to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in New York and around the country while definitively driving hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of their employees out of New York State.
The CCPA requires zero emissions, from all sources in the State, by 2050. Numerous scientists, climate activists, and environmental organizations believe achieving zero emissions by 2050 seems to be physically impossible.
The Business Council of New York State and many manufactures do not oppose effective and practical climate change legislation; however, this bill does not achieve that.
A zero emissions mandate is unrealistic and companies, especially Energy Intensive Trade Exposed (EITE) businesses, will need to plan now for future sanctions leaving their economic future uncertain. For these New York manufacturers, new drastic and unpractical carbon policies, that their global competitors are not subject to, put them at a significant economic disadvantage. Approximately 40,000 jobs will be impacted and hundreds of companies around the State will be forced to make a decision between closing their doors or reinvesting in other parts of the country or the world.
New York needs to continue to be a leader in the development of climate innovation not the imposition of unworkable mandates. Since 1990, while U.S. carbon emissions grew by 3%, New York’s fell by 21%, second only to Massachusetts. Meanwhile, over that time period, 20 states saw double digit increases in their carbon emissions.
New York is already leading the nation in carbon reductions, and its business community supports environmentally and economically sound efforts to build on that record. We urge the state legislature and the Governor to ensure that these policies are affordable and include input from the impacted business community, so these policies do not lead to carbon leakage.