The climate reality project NYC Advocacy team

To make progress on stopping climate change, we need all levels of government - federal state and local - to put in place policies that curb climate pollution and encourage the green transition.

Our Advocacy Team advocates for the policy framework which will transition the US off the use of fossil fuels to protect us from the worst impacts of climate change.

Our first effort was to lobby the federal government for effective climate policy starting after President Biden’s election in 2020. The combined efforts of advocates across the country led to President Biden signing into law the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the largest investment to fight climate change ever, the Inflation Reduction Act.

We have since turned our efforts to the state and local level, and participated in the successful advocacy efforts that led to the passage of the Advanced Building Codes Act in 2022 and the All-Electric Buildings Act passed in 2023

Today, our focus is advocating for the passage of the New York State legislation required to meet our historic commitments set out in the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA or the Climate Act).

We act primarily as lobbyists, meeting our elected officials to hold them accountable, but also use other tools such as letter writing and phone banking. We partner with Renewable Heat Now, NY Renews, Beyond Plastics and CRETF to advocate for the measures required to achieve these ambitious CLCPA commitments.

If you want to join our team please contact us at climatereality.chapter@gmail.com.

policy Priorities 2024/5

  1. Protect New York City’s world leading climate legislation: LL97 & LL154. We oppose Intro 772 which will gut LL97 and support efforts to provide low income NYC residents with the technical and financial support they need to comply with LL97. You can read our Memorandum of Opposition here.

  2. Pass our coalition partner NY Renews’ “Climate, Jobs & Justice” legislative package:

    1.  The NY HEAT Act (S2016B/A4592B) will save New Yorkers money by stopping the expansion of the methane gas system.

    2. The Just Energy Transition Act (S.2935-C/A.4866-C) will replace and redevelop at least 4 gigawatts of New York State’s oldest and most polluting fossil fuel facilities by 2030.

    3. The Climate Change Superfund Act (S2129A/A3351A) makes the state’s worst polluters, major oil companies, pay to repair and address the harm they’ve caused.

  3. Pass the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246A/A5322B) which would require a 50% reduction in single-use plastic packaging over 12 years, reduce climate change emissions, ban 19 of the most toxic chemicals and substances used in packaging, and shift the financial burden of dealing with packaging waste from taxpayers to producers.

  4. Pass the Climate Education Act (S278A/A1559A) which establishes a course of instruction and learning expectations on climate education in all public elementary and secondary schools.

the team in action