(Albany, NY) Sixty (60) community members joined Congressman Tonko for ‘Coffee with Congress’, hosted by Environment New York, to discuss how to move forward to protect New York’s environment at a time when the U.S. House of Representatives continues to undermine environmental protections.
The community members, Environment New York, and others including representatives from the Town of Colonie Conservation Advisory Council, PAUSE (People of Albany United for Safe Energy), Citizen Action of New York, and MoveOn thanked Congressman Tonko for his leadership on environmental issues, including his stance on fracking, in Congress.
“It is critical that we have strong champions like Congressman Tonko speaking up for us in Washington D.C.,” said Heather Leibowitz, Director at Environment New York. “It is because of leaders like him that we’ve been able to defeat the worst of the attacks on our environment, and it is only with those leaders that we can move forward to protect the environment and public health.”
Environmental measures currently face significant opposition in the U.S. House. Last year, the U.S. House voted 109 times to block critical environmental protections, including important efforts to cut carbon pollution from power plants, protect waterways and improve air quality, according to a report authored last December by members of the U.S. House’s Energy and Commerce Committee.
Though 2013 was a troubling year for the environment in the U.S. House, Tonko was not hesitant about laying out his vision for how to move forward to protect New York’s environment
“We, as a nation, should be moving away from a fossil fuel economy,” Tonko said. “Energy policy is still too heavily weighted in fossil fuels. We need to expand the use of renewable energy and reconfigure energy use and consumption.”
Community members at the event agreed with Tonko that it is time to move forward towards what the Congressman referred to as a “water-based economy”, where we utilize energy in a way that protects human health as well as finite resources like water to pass on to future generations.
“Congress must start thinking about what’s best for this country instead of what’s best for big polluters,” said Leibowitz. “Congress is making decisions today about our future and our children’s future. We are going to have to deal with the polluted environment they leave us, and it’s time they start listening to us instead of Exxon Mobil.”
But moving forward with strong environmental solutions in Congress is unlikely. This year, House leaders are continuing their assault on the environment. The House is moving legislation that would allow power plants to continue to dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air.
“When it comes to the environment, the U.S. House is taking us down a dead end road to pollute our air, threaten our climate, endanger our treasured places, and grant oil corporations’ every wish,” Leibowitz stated. “New York and America need a cleaner, healthier environmental future. We need more champions like Congressman Tonko defending the environment and public health.”
Environment New York Research & Policy Center is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas, and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for New York’s environment. As part of Environment America, we fight to protect our air, water, and open spaces here in New York, in state capitals across the country, and in Washington D.C.
