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Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP-125 AD) announced Thursday that she has sent a legislative sign-on letter to Governor Cuomo which requests a moratorium on state approvals for new pipelines, compressor stations, power plants, gas storage facilities and all other infrastructure projects that could perpetuate New York's reliance on highly polluting natural gas, oil, coal, refined petroleum products and other fossil fuels that contribute to global climate change.

The moratorium would allow for an investigation of the many serious problems, even fatalities, cited in a March 2016 report by Comptroller DiNapoli and allow time for much more aggressive action on energy efficiency.

Signatories to that letter include a total of 22 Assemblymembers and State Senators.

"With the ambitious climate goals of New York State, especially following the Paris Climate Agreements of December 2015, it is clear that we need serious action on climate to prevent global warming of more than two degrees Celsius," Lifton said. "Continuing to build-out fossil fuel infrastructure, ensuring we rely on fossil fuels for decades to come, is shortsighted and will ensure we do not take the critical steps needed to reduce our reliance on energy sources that damage our climate," she stated. "New York State would be wise to pursue a large-scale energy efficiency program for homes, businesses and institutions to reduce demand for energy, at the least," suggested Lifton.

Lifton pointed out that tens of thousands of rewarding jobs would be generated with such an energy-efficiency program. "This is an ideal time for New York to implement this kind of large-scale demand-side energy conservation.  Statewide electricity demand is expected to be "flat" for the coming decade and New York reportedly has ample energy back-up capacity according to Power Trends 2015.  Moreover, our plan would not conflict with any sustainable energy alternative initiatives," concluded Lifton.

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