"For the sake of millions — people watching their rents go up while their wages don’t, parents who need support in tackling the ever-rising cost of child care, and seniors who regularly must decide whether they can afford their bills or their pills — the Senate must pass this legislation.”
The policy platform outlines actions that address environmental justice, just recovery from disasters, equity accounting in climate policy, and energy democracy.
“The potential for executive action to jumpstart the transition that we need — to reorient our democracy for democratic engagement and redress historic inequities — is huge.”
"I think Greta has been able to speak truth to power in a way that has resonated with a lot of young people who are frustrated, who have lived their whole lives seeing inaction on climate change."
While Demos celebrates the legislation’s strong mandate on emissions reductions, the governor’s exclusion of community investment mandates and labor standards prolongs the fight for climate justice in New York and nationwide.
Demos strongly supports the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) that will protect and strengthen climate-impacted Latinx communities by reducing climate pollution and targeting clean energy investment based on principles of equity and racial justice.
If we want to pass climate policies that could actually help reverse the climate crisis, then we also need to fix our democratic system that gives too much power to wealthy donors and big polluters.
On Friday, February 15, Lew Daly, Senior Policy Analyst at Demos, testified in support of New York State’s Climate and Community Protection Act. Following is Daly’s statement on the bill:
New York State’s Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA) is a bold and necessary climate action policy for the people of New York. It will establish the strongest mandate for economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the country, requiring a 50 percent reduction by 2030 and set a timeline for achieving a 100 percent renewable energy economy by 2050.
Climate change poses an existential challenge to the planet. But the effects of climate change have fallen disproportionately on communities of color and working families. And the reality is that climate change has been accelerated by a coalition of corporations, donors, and policymakers who have adopted a willful blindness toward these dangers to our communities and our planet.
The true source of America’s greatness is the diversity of our people. Almost 1 in 4 Americans is an immigrant or the child of an immigrant, and with the upcoming vote on the budget, it’s time for Democrats and Republicans alike to finally pass the DREAM Act. As Congress takes up the spending bill, which may be voted on tonight or tomorrow, Demos urges the leadership of both parties to protect young immigrants whose status is on the line by including a clean DREAM Act in the bill—and to reject the bill if a clean DREAM Act is not included.
New York, NY – Today, Heather McGhee, President of Demos, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed the GOP Tax Scam:
“Today, Congressional Republicans proved once again that they will stop at nothing to enrich the millionaire, billionaire and corporate donors to whom they are beholden—despite the severe cost that will now be paid by working- and middle-class families.