Of the dozens of proposals in my 2020
agenda, one issue in particular rises to the top in its urgency and
scale: tackling the climate crisis.
The threat posed by climate change to our state, and the entire planet, is all important. We only have one planet — and we only have one chance to fix it before reaching a point of no return.
That's why I'm proposing a $3 billion
"Restore Mother Nature" Bond Act to fund critical environmental
restoration projects in every corner of the state — to ensure that New York is able to use nature's own tools to withstand the threats posed by climate change.
Bond acts are special pieces of
legislation that are put to a vote on the ballot by New Yorkers. In
order to be enacted, they must be approved by voters in the November
general election.
Why pass the "Restore Mother Nature" Bond Act?
For hundreds of years, our environment had
its own systems to correct imbalances. Shellfish filtered pollution and
toxins in the water. Forests improved air quality. Marshes and wetlands
helped prevent floods.
But over the decades, we degraded our environment — destroying these natural systems. Now we're suffering the consequences.
Any
comprehensive plan to combat climate change requires that we restore
the environment by restoring habitats to reduce flood risk, improving
water quality, sequestering carbon, and more.
The
"Restore Mother Nature" Bond Act would be the largest environmental
bond act in New York State history, and it is part of our unprecedented
$33 billion commitment to fight climate change over the next five years.
The scale of this bond act is big, but so is the problem we face.
If we don't save the planet, everything else is irrelevant. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to act now.
Let's get it done.
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