Comment today! Your Voice Matters!

How to Comment on the Climate Action Council’s Draft Scoping Plan

Why Comment?

New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019, lays out an ambitious climate goal of reducing NYS’s greenhouse gas emissions at least 85% below our 1990 emissions. And there are a number of intermediate goals in the CLCPA, such as having 70% of our electricity produced by renewables by 2030.

An appointed Climate Action Council is charged with developing concrete recommendations for actions that will get us to these goals. On January 1, 2022, the CAC released a draft of that plan. The public can now offer comments on this “Draft Scoping Plan” until June 10. After the comment period closes, the CAC will take those comments into account as it writes its final Scoping Plan, which is due December 31, 2022.

A strong final Scoping Plan is critical to our future! Comments should support those aspects of the Draft Scoping Plan that are strong, suggest improvements to aspects that could be stronger, and emphatically counter aspects that are weak or would actually make the climate crisis worse.

How Do I Comment?

You can email your comments to the Climate Action Council using this form.

https://nyserda.seamlessdocs.com/f/DraftScopingComments

You can voice your comments by signing up to speak at the following:

In Person:

Tuesday, May 3, at 4 PM
The Theater at City Tech, 285 Jay Street, Brooklyn

Virtually:

Saturday, May 7, at 10 AM
Wednesday, May 11, at 4 PM

To see where and when hearings will be held all over New York state, click here.

You can comment as often as you wish, in person or by sending them in! We need the Climate Action Council to hear many, many voices and we need them to get comments on all the aspects of the Plan.

What Should I say?

You can read the Draft Scoping Plan in its entirety here. https://climate.ny.gov/Our-Climate-Act/Draft-Scoping-Plan

Or you can use the guides below to develop your testimony. Remember:

Do feel free to open your comments with personal experiences or observations that individualize your testimony.
And make as many separate comments as you can. There is no limit to the number of comments you can submit.

COMMENT ON: ELECTRICITY

NY Renews has written a one-click comment on the Electricity sector that you can send, either as is or with added personal remarks of your own.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

Here are more extensive comment suggestions about Electricity developed by 350Brooklyn members.

Use 350BK’s in-depth guide to Electricity sector comments

And here are comment suggestions prepared by Jen Metzger of New Yorkers for Clean Power.

See Jen’s comment suggestions

View of Brooklyn from South Street Seaport

COMMENT ON: BUILDINGS

NY Renews has written a one-click comment on the Buildings sector that you can send, either as is or with added personal remarks of your own.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

Here are more extensive comment suggestions about Buildings developed by 350Brooklyn members.

Use 350BK’s in-depth guide to Buildings sector comments

And Jen Metzger from New Yorkers for Clean Power has put together these suggestions:

See Jen’s suggestions

COMMENT ON: TRANSPORTATION

NY Renews has written a one-click comment on the Transportation sector that you can send, either as is or with added personal remarks as your own.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

Write your own comments by using the more extensive suggestions developed by 350Brooklyn members:

Use 350Brooklyn’s in-depth guide to Transportation sector comments

1280px-Colorful_Recycling_Containers_for_Trash

COMMENT ON: WASTE

NY Renews has written a one-click comment on the Waste sector that you can send, either as is or with added personal remarks as your own.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

These comment prompts were written by your fellow 350Brooklyn members to help you create longer suggestions for the Climate Action Council:

Use 350Brooklyn’s comment prompts

COMMENT ON: INDUSTRY

NY Renews has written a one-click comment on the Industry sector that you can send, either as is or with added personal remarks as your own.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

COMMENT ON: A JUST TRANSITION

NY Renews has written a one-click comment concerning the inadequate provisions for displaced workers in the Draft Scoping Plan.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

COMMENT ON: LAND USE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

NY Renews has written a one-click comment advocating for more inclusion of underserved people in regional decision-making, and heeding other local concerns.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

COMMENT ON: AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

Use this one-click comment from NY Renews to advocate for stronger support for regenerative agriculture, more diversity in farms and farmers, and more green space.

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

Or use these comment prompts developed by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York State:

Use the prompts from NOFANY

COMMENT ON: PUBLIC HEALTH

Use this one-click tool from NY Renews to comment on public health

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

COMMENT ON: INDIGENOUS SOVREIGNTY

Here’s a one-click comment on climate and indigenous sovereignty from NY Renews:

Use the one-click comment tool from NY Renews

Picture credits: Brooklyn skyline: Kenneth Lu || Recycling bins: Cutwind