Howarth: Create political will to change state's energy economy

The climate change debate is finished. As an Earth systems scientist and professor at Cornell University, I can tell you that among my scientific colleagues globally, the debate was settled a decade or more ago. The truth is clear: Climate change is real, dangerous and primarily caused by our reliance on fossil fuels.

Since earning my Ph.D. 40 years ago, I've researched the consequences of climate change on large rivers and coastal marine ecosystems. I have also extensively researched the greenhouse gas emissions of natural gas extraction, particularly from fracked shale gas. These experiences, alongside work on environmental policy at the international level, give me perspective on how dire our predicament is.

The unequivocal facts: Each of the last three decades has been consecutively the warmest on record since the Industrial Revolution. Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events globally. Without urgent action to reduce GHG emissions, temperatures will continue to rise over the coming 10 to 30 years, reaching temperatures at which many climate scientists believe we run a high risk of catastrophic, runaway global change. Such warming threatens agriculture, the food supply and drinking water worldwide.

Washington will not lead on climate change, but here in New York, we can make a difference. We can create the political will to change our energy economy. Our state is the eighth-largest economy in the world, on par with many European nations. What we do here matters.

On April 23, more than 1,500 people marched in Albany asking legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to stop all natural gas infrastructure, move to 100 percent renewables, and make polluters pay for the impacts of their pollution. I was there and observed the passion from a diverse community of New Yorkers, all marching for these demands.

There are many efforts underway in New York to address the climate crisis, including the Climate and Community Protection Act. The state Assembly passed the bill the day after the march and it is before the Senate. It is arguably the strongest bill in the country on climate change and represents a clear path forward to renewables. It directs the Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct a greenhouse gas inventory, including fugitive methane emissions from the fracked gas we use daily, using the best available science.

If New York passes the CCPA, we would move forward to meet the demands of the marchers and the millions of New Yorkers awaiting action on climate change. This bill has four extremely important outcomes:

It codifies New York's goal to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from all anthropogenic sources 100 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2050, with an incremental target of at least 50 percent by 2030; accounts for upstream and out-of-state emissions from both our use of fracked gas and our reliance on electricity produced outside the state, and aligns all state agencies and decision-making with this standard;

It gives environmental justice communities a seat at the table and provides funding to make their communities more resilient to climate change;

It ensures fair, strong labor standards so that the huge number of jobs created by the green energy revolution are desirable and support New Yorkers; and

It creates a framework that would rule out energy infrastructure incompatible with a clean energy future. This would create a "climate litmus test" that outdated fracked gas infrastructure would not be able to pass.

If we continue to ignore climate change, not only will it only get worse, but our ability to respond will become more expensive and difficult. We do not have time to waste. We need policies such as those in the CCPA now.