Last week, NYLCV Policy Director Pat McClellan was in Albany to testify before a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Environmental Conservation and Energy Committees on the Governor’s Executive Budget. His message was clear: while there are important environmental investments to applaud, New York’s budget must go further to meet the climate crisis, lower costs for families, and keep the state on track to meet its clean energy goals.
[Tell your state representative to support a $1 billion Sustainable Future Fund!]
The hearing brought together lawmakers from both houses to examine how the governor’s budget aligns with New York’s environmental and energy goals. In his testimony, McClellan outlined NYLCV’s top priorities and urged legislators to ensure the final budget does more to protect public health, affordability, and climate resilience.
NYLCV welcomed several key funding commitments, including a $425 million Environmental Protection Fund, continued capital support for the Department of Environmental Conservation and State Parks, and another $500 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA).
These investments matter. CWIA funding helps communities replace aging drinking water and sewer systems, address contaminants like PFAS, replace lead service lines, and protect waterways across the state. But in his testimony McClellan raised concerns about a new $200 million CWIA category for sewer infrastructure that is tied to housing development, urging lawmakers to ensure that clean water dollars remain focused on existing infrastructure needs and are not diverted away from their core intended purpose.
McClellan urged lawmakers to include NYLCV’s top budget priority, which was not in the governor’s proposed budget: an additional $1 billion investment in the Sustainable Future Fund that would support projects to cut pollution, lower energy bills, and create good-paying jobs. McClellan highlighted several priorities the Sustainable Future Fund would focus on, including funding for thermal energy networks to decarbonize large buildings, expanded support for pre-electrification upgrades in affordable housing, zero-emission transportation, and more funding for programs that help low- and moderate-income households reduce energy costs.
[Tell your state representative to support a $1 billion Sustainable Future Fund!]
McClellan also urged the Legislature to include funding for a long-overdue statewide climate change curriculum, which would help prepare students for careers in the growing clean energy economy while ensuring that the next generation understands the science and impacts of climate change.
A major focus of the testimony was affordability and the role clean energy can play in lowering costs for New Yorkers – including by expanding access to rooftop and community solar, through passing legislation like the ASAP Act, the restoration of key incentive programs, and speeding up utility interconnection timelines. He also highlighted NYLCV’s support for automated solar permitting legislation, which would cut unnecessary red tape, saving homeowners and contractors time and money.
Battery energy storage is another critical piece of the puzzle, McClellan noted. Scaling up storage is essential to the state’s clean energy future and ability to retire polluting peaker plants that disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color. To accomplish this, NYLCV supports extending and expanding sales tax exemptions for battery storage and giving the Office of Renewable Energy Siting greater authority to oversee utility-scale storage projects.
Transportation remains one of New York’s largest source of climate pollution. To address this, NYLCV is once again calling for the passage of a Clean Fuel Standard, which would reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels while making it cheaper to adopt cleaner vehicles and fuels. With the federal government pushing back against clean transportation, a state-level clean fuel standard will help fill the gap, lower pollution, and ensure fossil fuel companies – and not families – bear the cost.
The takeaway: many of the solutions needed to cut pollution, lower costs, and protect communities are already on the table. As negotiations continue, NYLCV will keep pushing for a final budget that meets the moment and delivers a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for all New Yorkers.