January 4, 2006

Response to the Governor's Address

Albany, New York — Environmental Advocates of New York offers its congratulations to Governor Pataki on his accomplishments since becoming Governor 11 years ago. Today’s State of the State address highlighted some of those accomplishments, including the adoption of tougher controls on acid rain-causing pollutants and New York’s leadership in forging the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — an agreement with seven other northeastern states to control pollution that contributes to global warming, signed just last month.

Governor Pataki outlined a strategy for clean energy that the nation would do well to follow — tackling emissions of global warming pollution from power plants, expanding our use of clean, renewable electricity, and shifting away from petroleum to cleaner transportation fuels. The Governor has already delivered a groundbreaking multi-state initiative to cut global warming pollution from fossil fuel-burning power plants and has positioned New York as a leader in the burgeoning market for renewable energy. With the establishment of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2004, New York will increase the amount of energy produced by renewable sources — like wind and solar — to 25% by 2013. Recent reports from State Comptroller Alan Hevesi stated that the RPS could create 43,000 new jobs in the manufacturing and energy industries. Advancing renewable energy will also diversify our energy mix and drive down the price of fossil fuels, resulting in a cleaner environment and more affordable energy for consumers. In addition to developing cleaner fuels, wind power could provide safe, pollution-free power to 2.5 million homes in New York.

The Governor veered off track with his pledge to bring new coal plants to the state — coal burning releases more heat-trapping gases than any other fuel. Smokestack emissions are far from the only threat of burning coal — each year, coal mining destroys 130,000 acres of forest and contributes to the degradation of thousands of miles of streams in the U.S. Governor Pataki must not tarnish an otherwise sterling record on energy by leaving New Yorkers a legacy of dirty coal.

The Governor’s dream of preserving one million additional acres of open space seems within grasp. This is a tremendous achievement for New York, and one that the Governor should be proud of. This “inheritance” is at risk, however, as long as the state does not provide the needed resources for stewardship of our natural resources. The state’s environmental agencies have often struggled to do basic management of state lands and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has lost over 800 scientists, engineers, and enforcement officials over the past decade.

Governor Pataki rightfully claimed a cleaner Hudson as a major component of his environmental legacy having pledged to make the river safe for swimming by 2009 and playing a key role in obtaining a strong PCB cleanup plan in 2001. But grave doubts have been expressed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the details of the PCB cleanup plan proposed by General Electric, which DEC has quietly agreed with. But there has been no word from the Governor. The cleanup, which should have been underway by now, will not even commence until after Pataki leaves office. The Governor needs to continue to work to ensure the PCB cleanup is effective.

Governor Pataki did not draw attention to some of his administration’s other recent accomplishments, including his endorsement of the Great Lakes Annex agreement, perhaps the most important policy for managing the Great Lakes since passage of the Clean Water Act. New York, with more than 430 miles of shoreline on the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River, has been a major player in the negotiation of this agreement. The Legislature will need to adopt the agreement, along with the legislatures of the seven other Great Lakes states, for it to take affect.

Also not mentioned was last year’s agreement between the Governor and the Legislature to permanently increase the Environmental Protection Fund by 20% to $150 million — another important piece of the Governor’s environmental legacy. The Environmental Protection Fund is a key source of support for land acquisition, water pollution control, recycling efforts, and farmland preservation. Environmental Advocates is hoping he held off mention of this achievement for his budget address, when he could announce another significant increase in funding for the environment.