Opinion: Albany’s Climate Inaction
New Yorkers have proved they want atmosphere justice and any official who ignores us has no business being in general office State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Flickr New York State Assembly Majority It is no secret that on the federal level has been a disastrous year for setting measure President Donald Trump s re-entrance into the White House came with the demolition of key conditions statute the promise of new fossil fuel infrastructure and a practically complete destruction of the Environmental Protection Agency But state ordinance is just as essential in combating the atmosphere dilemma as federal measure and in the wake of a terrifying and incompetent administration in Washington New Yorkers from across the state have united to demand that our leaders rise to the occasion and continue pushing environment justice forward function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' However last month marked a tragic end to a legislative session ruled by situation inaction incompetence and cowardice orchestrated primarily by New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E Heastie The Package Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act a bill that would tax companies for excess packaging and require them to reduce their overall packaging by percent over the next years received unprecedented society promotion this year being the largest part lobbied piece of rule in March and April However in an obscene act of pandering to giant corporations such as Coca Cola which publicly opposed the bill Mr Heastie refused to even bring it to a vote The Assembly receives hundreds of bills each session and so out of necessity only brings to a vote the ones that seem like they will pass However the huge show of aid for the Package Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act which had co-sponders more than half of the entire Assembly and assuming they all vote yes enough to pass the bill should qualify it for a vote In response to the outrage that followed Mr Heastie declared that Contrary to popular belief I am the the majority accurate counter of votes The speaker has a history of opposition against state bill having in the past prevented other popular bills such as the New York HEAT Act from being passed For decades New Yorkers from all across the state have demanded our administration take immediate and swift action to combat the conditions situation We have demanded it through enormous marches thousands of people strong through forming hundreds of activist groups and coalitions and through lobbying non-stop in Albany The apathy and in several cases outright condescension that our state s leaders have given in response is nothing short of outrageous We must never forget that above all else politicians are residents servants It is their job to enact the will of their citizens New Yorkers have proved they want environment justice and any official who ignores us has no business being in general office Asher Cohen is a new high school graduate and a member of Brooklyn a local environmental organization The post Opinion Albany s Situation Inaction appeared first on City Limits
