One of the ways New York state will be able to help pay for the climate transition is via a cap and invest program.

On Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York state Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) released what they're calling a cap and invest “pre-proposal” for stakeholders. 

“What happens here, is that regulators will set a cap on the amount of pollution that’s allowed in New York every year. It’s designed to decline over time to meet our state’s ultimate 2050 emissions reduction goals,” explained Raya Salter, a member of the NY Climate Action Council and executive director of the Energy Justice, Law and Policy Center. 

The state’s goal is an emissions reduction of 85% from a 1990 baseline by 2050. The only way to accomplish that goal is to aggressively transition off fossil fuels and into clean, renewable energy.

Under a cap and invest plan, industry that pollutes will have to pay to emit greenhouse gasses; in turn, that will generate revenue directly from those responsible for climate pollution. 

“The state passed the CLCPA (Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act) in 2019; the Climate Action Council created a plan for how the state should be able to get to these goals, and one of those recommendations was instituting a cap and invest program," Salter said. “This would be hugely consequential to New Yorkers (and) and energy sector.”

Over the past year, the state has been “unfurling” its plans, Salter told Capital Tonight. 

“Now we’re seeing more detail on what this cap and invest program would look like and who it would apply to,” she said. 

The information released this week asks for stakeholder input, which you can provide here.