News

For Immediate Release, August 28, 2017

Contact: Dan Sherrell, 732-589-2412, dan.sherrell@nyrenews.org

Today we voice sorrow, sympathy, and solidarity with the people of Houston and southern Texas. As we write, flood waters are disrupting tens of thousands of lives, drowning streets, destroying homes, and jeopardizing people’s safety, their savings, and their communities. As in many disasters of this scale, the most vulnerable—and especially the homeless population—are being worst impacted.

Our thoughts are with those families regrouping in evacuation centers, sand-bagging their blocks, and shepherding loved ones to safety. From across the country, we wish them strength and safety in the coming days, and call on the federal government to devote massive resources to the rebuilding effort.

Hurricane Harvey is one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the state of Texas, and top scientists are already reporting that it was made wetter, more intense, and ultimately more deadly by climate change. The storm’s torrential downpour is what made it most damaging. Yet, the Trump administration clings desperately to their stubborn denial that climate change is even a problem. With the White House living in a fantasy world, it’s up to state and local leaders to act with courage and vision, before Harvey becomes the new normal.

In two months New York will be commemorating its own disastrous storm, the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. NY Renews will be joining people from across New York City in taking to the streets and calling for bolder climate action from New York’s leaders. Numerous communities in upstate New York were also devastated by Hurricane Irene, which hit six years ago this week.

We know that transitioning to renewable energy while ensuring justice and protection for frontline communities will take a lot of investment. That is why the time has come for an economy-wide price on climate pollution in New York, so New Yorkers aren’t left footing the bill the next time we are hit with a climate-charged superstorm.

Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey have made it abundantly clear: adapting to extreme climate change will be far more expensive than preemptively transitioning our economy to clean, renewable energy. Governor Cuomo can accelerate that transition and protect our communities from the next superstorm by holding oil and gas corporations financially accountable for the climate-warming pollutants they are dumping into our air.

From Katrina, to Irene, to Sandy, and now Harvey, the time is now for groundbreaking action on climate, and people across the country are counting on New York State to lead.

Open Buffalo is a member of the NY Renews coalition.