Make Big Oil – not New York taxpayers – pay for climate costs!

From the Buffalo blizzard to orange, smoke-filled skies and the hottest summer on record to flooded homes and subway stations, it is clear that extreme weather events are escalating. And so are climate costs! Since August 2022, New York taxpayers are on the hook for $2.7 billion to repair climate-related damages and mount community protection programs, according to a review of the governor’s news releases by NYPIRG.

These costs are predicted to rise to tens of billions of dollars that you will be stuck with unless Governor Hochul acts. Join New York City Comptroller Lander, Senator Krueger, Assemblymember Dinowitz, and other policymakers and advocates to release a New York City Climate Crisis Costs report and call on Governor Hochul to include the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129A/A.3351A) in the New York State budget!

This legislation will raise $3 billion a year from the world's biggest oil companies with a fee based on their past greenhouse gas emissions. Economists agree that, because the fee would be based solely on past polluting emissions, it would not affect gasoline prices at the pump.

We all learned this rule in kindergarten: if you make a mess, you clean it up! Big Oil companies have made a whopping $750 billion in profits since 2021. It is time for the governor to stand with the taxpayers and require fossil fuel companies to pay for climate-related damages.

We hope to see you there!

NYPIRG joined the NY Renews coalition for The People’s Climate Justice Budget campaign launch!

The New York State climate movement has a winning vision: green union jobs, clean air, lower utility costs, and real community-led climate and justice solutions. Passing this critical budget proposal would fund community-led environmental justice projects across New York State, including transforming the South Williamsburg BQE trench into a vital public space and park – and it will be funded in part by the Climate Change Superfund Act, making polluters pay!

NYPIRG IS 50 YEARS OLD!

That is an incredible testament to the dedication, hard work, and luck that has allowed us to meet the half-century mark. It is quite a milestone – which we marked with the NYPIRG 50th Anniversary Celebration.

The event was a rousing success, and we all had a wonderful time celebrating NYPIRG’s decades of tireless work for the public interest, reconnecting with friends and colleagues from years past, and honoring our 2023 Changemaker Award recipients – including renowned author and activist Jane Fonda!

We are pleased to share these event photos and this commemorative video that highlights NYPIRG's decades of tireless work for the public interest.

Thank you so much to everyone who was involved – our honorees, current and former students and staff, friends, colleagues, and supporters – for your generous support and steadfast commitment to our crucial mission.

Thanks again, and we look forward to the work ahead!

NYPIRG marched to end fossil fuels!

With wildfire smoke choking the air that we breathe, hurricanes and floods threatening our homes, and toxic pollution making us sick, it has never been more urgent to end our dependence on the leading cause of these crises – fossil fuels.

In New York this September, the United Nations gathered world leaders for a first-of-its-kind Climate Ambition Summit to demand that nations stop developing new oil, gas, and coal projects and phase out fossil fuels once and for all. With his recent approvals for mega-polluting fossil fuel projects, President Biden must immediately reverse course to earn his seat at the table. But it will take all of us acting together to make sure that he does!

Thank you for your help!

NYPIRG staff and students collected over 1,000 pieces of litter to help clean up the beach while also filling out a litter survey to help understand what items are being littered the most in our own communities.

After the New York State budget passed – including a huge environmental victory – NYPIRG and our coalition partners held climate action events to keep the momentum going!

Thanks to your support and many others, New York passed a first-in-the nation law requiring new buildings to be built all-electric. This law will cut climate pollution from buildings, save New Yorkers money on utility bills, improve public health, and create new, green jobs.

Now, with the rest of the 2023 state legislative session scheduled to wrap up in early June, we are fighting to improve environmental protection policies to:

• Hold corporate climate polluters accountable.
• Save New Yorkers money.
• Stop the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.

We held these exciting environmental events to help pass these bills into law:

Tuesday, May 23, 2023: Rally and Lobby Day for NY HEAT Act in Albany

The NY HEAT Act protects New Yorkers from rising energy costs and creates a real plan to replace the gas system with cheaper, cleaner heating and cooling. We held a news conference and lobby day:

• Tuesday, 5/23/2023
• 12 PM
• New York State Capitol Building, 50 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12224

Thursday, May 25, 2023: Regional News Conferences and Rallies for Climate, Jobs & Justice in Albany, the Hudson Valley (virtual), Ithaca, New York City, and Rochester

New York State must pass the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package to rapidly decarbonize New York, make our state healthier and more equitable, ensure a just transition for workers, and create an accessible green economy for all, including passage of the Climate Change Superfund Act to require corporate climate polluters to foot the bill for climate impacts, not taxpayers.

Friday, May 26, 2023: News Conference to Support the Climate Change Superfund Act in New York City

While the oil and gas industry is getting richer on a scale never seen before, the costs to deal with the climate crisis continue to grow. The Climate Change Superfund Act requires the companies most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to pay for the massive infrastructure improvements and public health protections that the climate crisis demands.

• Friday, 5/26/2023
• 10 AM
• South Street Seaport in Manhattan

Friday, May 26, 2023: News Conference to Support the NY HEAT Act in Syracuse

We held a news conference with local elected officials for the NY HEAT Act:

• Friday, 5/26/2023
• 10:30 AM
• Outside of the State Office Building, 333 East Washington Street, Syracuse, NY 13202

Thank you for your help!

NYPIRG – along with our coalition partners and college students – rallied to tell Mayor Adams NO CUTS TO CUNY!!! Students need more advisors, mental health services, full-time professors, opportunity programs, and free in-state tuition! No more band-aids and budget cuts!

NYPIRG and our coalition partners lined the halls in Albany to tell the Legislature that we need to KICK FOSSIL FUELS OUT OF BUILDINGS!

The fossil fuel industry is flooding the airwaves and social media with ads full of disinformation meant to scare people from taking climate action. The truth is that fossil fuel use in buildings is getting more costly for our pocketbooks, our health, and for the planet. NYPIRG pushed the Legislature to enact vital new laws to save New Yorkers money, fight childhood asthma, create jobs in clean energy, and slash climate emissions.