| The Green Jobs bill that was on the New York State Senate agenda last night. The bill - S5888 - passed by an overwhelming support with backing from most Republicans.
"This program will create jobs, save consumers on their energy bills and help get our economy back on track," Senator Darrel Aubertine, the sponsor of the bill, said. "By passing the Green Jobs/Green New York Act today with bipartisan support we have taken an important step toward improving our economy and helping our environment. This bill encourages conservation, helps consumers with the cost of capital improvements to their homes and businesses, and creates jobs in the new economy. It's a win-win for New York State, especially Upstate New York where a well-trained workforce will be in demand to keep the heat in and energy bills down every winter."
The passing of this bill brings a lot of good things for New York. Here is a breakdown:
· The program will be funded with revenue raised by the auction of carbon emission credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This funding will be used to leverage private and federal investments. The bill allocates $112 million from these auctions to NYSERDA. Auctions of carbon emission credits over the last two years raised $126 million, with an estimated $75 million more expected in the next two auctions this year alone.
· NYSERDA will establish a revolving loan program to provide up to $13,000 per residential customer to retrofit a home, and up to $26,000 to retrofit each qualifying business, and also conduct energy audits, program administration and a credit enhancement for critical private sector capital investments.
· In partnership with the Department of Labor, NYSERDA will also create workforce training programs throughout the state to ensure that the state's workforce is highly trained and in place to handle mass-scale retrofitting.
· The program will front the cost of the work, enabling property owners to afford energy efficient retrofits. Although property owners will repay the full cost over time, their total energy usage will be reduced by 30-40%, and the loan payment on their energy bill will be less than what they saved, yielding a net saves to the property owner.
· Local contractors, certified to perform the retrofits will be able to expand their crews, creating new and permanent jobs in green construction and additional jobs in local businesses and manufacturing that serve those new workers.
· Loans will be eligible to home and business owners in rural and urban communities throughout the state, from Watertown to Montauk and Buffalo to Albany.
This is important legislation, especially for upstate New York. One of the things we have been pushing in upstate New York for awhile is a green economy. I know that Alice Kryzan, who ran for Congress last year and is running for Amherst Town Supervisor this year, made this a big theme in her campaign. Bringing the green economy to upstate New York can help revitalize our whole economy.
But aside from upstate New York, this benefits all New Yorkers, whether they live in Manhattan or Mendon. This will help us, as citizens, become more green in our daily living and also help our economy by creating much needed jobs.
The vote tally for this bill was 52 to 8. The eight to vote against it were all Republicans and a few of them were not only Republicans, but members of the Republican leadership.
Here are the eight no votes:
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos
Deputy Minority Leader Tom Libous
John DeFrancisco
Owen Johnson
Betty Little
Michael Nozzolio
George Winner
Catharine Young
The other thing to notice about this list is that most of the list consists of upstate senators. They come from districts where jobs are needed and initiatives like the green economy will go a long way. They chose not to support this bill, but when it creates jobs in their district, I am certain they will be on board then (for re-election's sake).
Aside from the politics of this bill though, this is going to do great things for New York. We needed this bill to pass and it passed overwhelmingly. This is great for all New Yorkers. |
