Councilmember Sandy Nurse was buzzing to push through her climate and renewable energy bill as the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Climate Week, also known as Climate Week NYC, wrapped this Monday.The bill passed with huge support.
Two-thirds of all of New York City’s emissions are from aging “pre-war” buildings, typically built between the 1880s and 1939, or before World War II, according to a report from the mayor’s office.
“The climate crisis has reached a break point, demanding swift, unprecedented action,” Nurse said. “New York City must lead in clean, renewable energy by example and install solar panels on NYC buildings. Every opportunity to cut our reliance on fossil fuels must be seized now, or we risk putting our city and future generation(s) in grave jeopardy.”
Nurse and her climate coalition aimed to pass public solar legislation in time for Climate Week, which was from September 22 to 29, and to establish a national model for developing clean energy on public buildings.
“Building a more sustainable city requires ambitious policies and sustained efforts to build green infrastructure,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement. “As we mark Climate Week NYC, we are excited to pass critical legislation that will result in the installation of solar power on more city-owned buildings, which is an important step to combating the climate crisis. While there is more work to do, we are proud to have advanced recent legislative efforts to build solar canopies in parking lots, encourage the installation of solar and green roofs, mandate the municipal fleet to consist of zero-emissions vehicles, and more.”
Nurse’s bill, Int. No. 353-A, requires that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) install at least 150 megawatts of solar panel roof systems on city-owned buildings by 2035. DCAS will be required to report eligible and ineligible rooftops, and identify city-owned properties that already have solar panels installed. Funding for the installations would come from city capital and expense funds. There is also potential for additional funding through Power Purchase Agreements the city may enter into, according to Nurse’s office.
The solar panel bill passed in the City Council on Thursday, Sept. 26, with 46 co-sponsors and a supermajority of votes.
Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa, who also worked with Nurse on the legislation, said that “ensuring union jobs are available to assist New York with meeting its climate goals” is crucial.
According to the state comptroller’s 2022 Green and Growing: Employment Opportunities in New York’s Sustainable Economy report, green jobs grew at more than twice the rate of total state jobs between 2015 and 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused that number to sharply decline by 31.9%.
Over the last few years, the state has worked hard to rebuild its clean energy industry as the effects of climate change worsen. The state provided 5,800 jobs between 2021 and 2022, totaling about 171,000 clean energy jobs in 2022. Of that total, 31 percent of these jobs were within “disadvantaged communities” identified by the New York Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG), according to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
This year’s federal United States Energy & Employment Report indicates that New York’s clean industry has definitely rebounded, with 325,693 energy workers statewide in 2023, representing 3.9% of all U.S. energy jobs.
Nurse’s office said unions have negotiated a project labor agreement that will ensure union labor is used for the installations. Vincent Alvarez, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and Climate Jobs New York director, said in a statement that union members have been working hard to see this bill pass, and are very thankful for the City Council’s support.
“During Climate Week, it’s particularly gratifying to see how our union workers, environmental advocates, and elected officials can come together to make our city a leader on climate action and creating good union jobs,” Alvarez said.
Solar panel installations, in particular, require serious skills, said Lenore Friedlaender, acting executive director of Climate Jobs New York. “Here’s what I know about work on roofs: It’s high up there, it’s dangerous, it can get scary, especially if you don’t have the safety training and proper safety equipment,” she said. “The union fights really hard to get work and to prepare workers for whatever that work is.”
Passing this legislation was a primary goal of the coalition’s Carbon-Free and Healthy Schools campaign, said Friedlaender, since schools count as public buildings. The pandemic highlighted that many of the city’s school buildings are in need of basic repairs and upgrades, including antiquated heating and air conditioning systems, deteriorating rooftops, and outdated electrical grids. There’s been a bigger push to make sure all schools have solar panels, energy-efficiency retrofits, and updated HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems.
The city’s biggest unions agreed that they are excited about the opportunity to perform installations and help the city meet its climate goals.
“Our members have been on the frontlines of hurricanes, power outages and global pandemics,” said John Santos, secretary-treasurer of 32BJ SEIU, in a statement. “They stepped up during Hurricane Sandy, helping to shelter displaced New Yorkers in our public schools, and are showing up again, today, for this important legislation that will reduce local carbon emissions and create thousands of good green jobs for working New Yorkers.”
“We applaud the City Council for its overwhelming support of this important legislation,” said Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37, in a statement. “Installing solar on our public buildings and public schools will create new jobs, benefit neighborhoods that have historically suffered the brunt of climate disasters, and save the city money [that] can be used for additional energy efficiency retrofits. Taking proactive measures to address climate change and ensure NYC’s public buildings and schools can truly be clean, safe, and healthy places to learn and work is a win for New Yorkers.”