NEW YORK – Tomorrow is Earth Day and, though efforts to fight climate change are under attack in the nation's capital, here in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is getting high marks for his clean-energy initiatives.

However, some in the environmental community say he needs to do more. They give Cuomo credit for encouraging the development of offshore wind energy, banning fracking and stopping some major pipeline projects.

But according to Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund, to meet the goals of the Paris conference on climate change, every state should be reducing its carbon emissions by 7 to 9 percent a year. Dunlea says New York is falling short of that goal.

"We think he's still way too reliant upon fossil fuels, way too reliant upon nuclear power, and really isn't doing enough to promote renewable energy," he said.

Cuomo has committed the state to getting 50 percent of its electric power from renewable sources by 2030, but Dunlea points to studies showing that 100 percent would be achievable in the same time frame.

And he says every effort to slow climate change is now critical. Dunlea notes that some scientists now estimate the world is within one to four years of reaching a tipping point for global warming, the maximum amount of carbon that can be put into the atmosphere.

"There are studies now saying that countries within a couple of thousand miles of the equator will begin to experience catastrophic climate change by 2020," he added. "That's in three years."

New York State now estimates that sea levels may rise six feet by the end of this century, and the temperature by as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dunlea stresses that this Earth Day, people can't just leave it up to politicians to solve the problem.

"If we are concerned about what type of planet we're going to leave to our children and grandchildren, we ourselves have to take action," he explained. "And we have to look at every level of government and community for that action to occur."

He acknowledges that achieving 100 percent clean energy will require significant state and federal funds, and suggests a robust carbon tax could be the best way to raise that revenue.


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New Mexico continues to battle the largest wildfires in its history, and other states including Nevada, along with parts of Arizona and Colorado, have been warned of high fire danger through the weekend.

The largest blaze, the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire, has burned more than 300,000 acres.

Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, lives in the southwest corner of Socorro County between two major fires. She said some people will want to blame the fires on improper forest management, rather than the continued burning of fossil fuels known to cause climate change.

"Low humidity -- I mean zero to 5% humidity -- like in the last four days here, it hasn't gone above 10% even at night and high winds and drought and high temperature," Ray reported. "This is the line in the sand. We can't go on like we've been going on."

On Thursday, climate, conservation and community groups from across the country filed administrative protests challenging the Biden administration's plan to resume oil and gas leasing in New Mexico and other western states next month, arguing it fails to prevent climate pollution and harm to people and the environment.

Laura Paskus, a New Mexico-based environmental reporter, has written about climate change, including wildfires for the past 20 years. Nonetheless, she said she is stunned and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the fires and what it means for the future.

"Our soils are drying out, our forests are drying out, our farm lands need more water," Paskus explained. "Our rivers, our reservoirs, everything. Just go outside right now and the world feels crunchy and warm."

It is estimated at least 15,000 families in New Mexico have been evacuated, and between 600 and 1,000 structures have burned, including homes and businesses. The Black Fire, near Gila, ignited last Friday and had burned more than 90,000 acres in just six days.

As millions of Americans are struggling to fill their gas tanks, a new report shows that rising prices are padding the bottom lines of powerful oil and gas companies.

Exxon and Chevron alone brought in more than $12 billion in profits during the first quarter of 2022, more than $7 billion dollars more than the same period a year ago.

Karl Frisch - senior advisor with the government watchdog group Accountable.US, which produced the report - said the industry is taking advantage of converging global crises, including the war in Ukraine and pandemic-related inflation.

"And rather than spending those billions of dollars in additional profits to help stabilize prices for consumers," said Frisch, "they are showering those profits on their already wealthy executives."

Industry groups have argued that - after suffering years of low oil prices due to overproduction and a drop in demand during the pandemic - stronger than projected revenues are helping companies get back on track.

Others have noted that the drive for high quarterly returns is business as usual for publicly traded companies with a fiduciary obligation to maximize profits.

Frisch said it's disingenuous for highly profitable companies to point to leaner years as a reason to waste profits that could be put to much better use. He said these companies never lose.

"When Big Oil loses money, we bail them out," said Frisch. "When Bil Oil makes money, they just make money, and they do nothing to help consumers. You're talking about an industry that took billions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program funds from taxpayers during the height of the pandemic."

Frisch argued the industry is wasting an opportunity to invest in energy strategies that can better withstand shocks to the global economy, shocks that are only projected to increase as the impacts of climate change grow.

"The best way to limit the impact on consumers is to start shifting away from these sources of fuels," said Frisch. "And that is something that the oil and gas industry already invests in, and they could invest in it even more."

A coalition of more than 60 environmental and community groups are calling on Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and other elected officials to act faster to avert the worst impacts of a warming planet.

Patricia Nelson, finance director for Safe and Healthy Colorado, lives in Weld County, which produces more than half of the state's oil and gas. She said instead of ramping up production, Polis should direct the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to stop issuing fracking permits.

"We also need to implement some kind of just transition program to retrain workers, because people in communities like mine, we don't have any other choice," Nelson asserted. "There aren't any other jobs for us."

The coalition delivered a petition urging the Polis administration to declare a climate emergency and to develop a more comprehensive plan to phase out fossil-fuel production no later than 2030.

Climate scientists warn pollution from fossil fuels must peak and begin to drop within three years in order to keep global temperatures from reaching dangerous levels. The governor's office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Kevin Cross, convener of the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate, said the governor's current greenhouse-reduction road map doesn't move fast enough, and largely lets the oil and gas industry off the hook. He pointed out many politicians have been afraid to push for a faster transition to cleaner energy, but making incremental progress is no longer an option.

"We really didn't act as a society back in the 1990s, 1980s, when it would have been a relatively easy problem to address," Cross recounted. "Now the emergency is upon us, and we need to act quickly."

More than eight in 10 Coloradans consider climate change a serious problem, and 98% say wildfires threatening homes are serious as well, according to a recent poll.

Nelson argued the single biggest barrier to action on climate is the fossil-fuel industry, but she is cautiously optimistic if enough Coloradans make their voices heard, lawmakers will find the political will to act.

"Given that there is so much influence by the industry -- because of the lobbying that happens, because of the large donations -- we still have a lot of work to do," Nelson acknowledged. "We're going to have to continue to put pressure on these politicians that were meant to serve the people, not corporations."