Assemblymember Kevin Cahill (D-Ulster / Dutchess), Chair of the Assembly Energy Committee, said that the Green Jobs / Green New York package signed by the Governor this month leaves New York well positioned to compete for recently announced Recovery Act funded Retrofit Ramp-up Program. The $390 million energy efficiency program was rolled out with the Obama administration’s Recovery Through Retrofit initiative that was released by Vice President Biden in coordination with the Middle Class Task Force and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
"Through the Retrofit Ramp-up Program, the Obama administration is looking to fund self sustaining, innovative energy efficiency loan programs that will create jobs and lower energy costs for households, not-for-profits and small businesses in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Assemblyman Cahill. “That is exactly what the Green Jobs / Green New York Program is designed to do.”
The Green Jobs / Green New York Program will direct funding to communities, homes, small businesses and not-for-profits to develop a workforce with a goal of conducting one million energy efficient building retrofits over the next five years. This $112 million statewide program, administered by NYSERDA, creates a pilot capital fund and establishes on-bill and other financing mechanisms for customers performing energy efficiency building upgrades. The initial funding will come from the State's groundbreaking carbon emission cap and trade program, known as RGGI (pronounced REGGIE). These monies will be used to establish the program and to leverage the private investment needed to make it self sustaining.
The initiative also provides funding for job training and development, in conjunction with the trades and educators to create a green workforce from unskilled to skilled to professional. The program requires close coordination with labor, trade organizations and community service groups to help create a career ladder providing the education, training and ancillary services that will allow a green workforce to thrive long after Federal stimulus funds have dried up.
"A successful program here in New York will establish us as a national leader in tackling the tough challenges of climate change and employment opportunities in the 21st Century," said Assemblyman Cahill. “The passage of the Green Jobs / Green New York legislation this year gives New York a leg up over other states when it comes to competing for these Recovery Act funds.”
The Recovery Through Retrofit report identified energy efficiency building programs as an unprecedented economic opportunity for communities across the country. The report concluded that existing retrofitting techniques and technologies can reduce energy use by up to 40% per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.
The Vice President’s initiative comes on the heels of a McKinsey & Company report, Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy, which also called for a major investment program to make homes and businesses more efficient. According to the study, an investment of $520 billion in improvements could produce $1.2 trillion in savings on energy bills in just ten years while cutting the country’s projected energy use in 2020 by about 23 percent.
Click here for more information on Green Jobs / Green New York: http://www.nyserda.org/GreenNY/default.asp
Follow this link for a copy of Recovery Through Retrofit and for more information on the Retrofit Ramp-up Program: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=252
- Assemblymember Kevin Cahill Unveils Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard Signs
- Cahill to Hein: Stop Blaming, Start Governing
- Assemblymember Kevin Cahill to Unveil Sojurner Truth Statue at Memorial Dedication
- Assemblymember Cahill Statement on Meeting with County Executive Hein
- Verizon Withdraws Voice Link Request