New York Passes Historic Green Jobs Financing Law

by Sarah Hodgdon, Sierra Club  on 06.27.11

BUSINESS & POLITICS 

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Photo by Daniel Schwen, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
At quarter to midnight on June 22, the New York State legislature passed the "Power NY Act," a long-sought complement to the "Green Jobs/Green NY" law that passed in 2009.
The so-called "On-Bill Financing" legislation will create 14,000 living-wage jobs, cut carbon emissions, lower utility bills for working families, and enable moderate-income homeowners to access safe loans for retrofits and use energy savings to repay the loan.

The new law will greatly increase consumer demand for energy retrofits, which in turn will generate tens of thousands of jobs in the green contracting sector and related industries like manufacturing. It will also allow NYSERDA, New York State's energy authority, to raise an estimated $5 billion in private investment in the state's energy economy.
When Green Jobs/Green NY passed two years ago it was hailed as the nation's most ambitious energy-efficiency program, with a goal of retrofitting one million New York homes and businesses for energy efficiency and paying for it with energy savings from individual utility bills. But the missing piece was a financing mechanism to pay for its projects.
The Power NY Act provides that missing piece by creating a capital fund to get the program started. Utility customers will now be able to pay off the cost of making their homes and businesses more energy-efficient through charges on their monthly electric bills. "Now we're poised to retrofit a million homes in New York and make them more energy-efficient, all paid for in monthly savings on utility bills," says Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter representative Roger Downs.
On-bill financing gives moderate-income property owners access to energy-savingretrofits even if they cannot qualify for traditional bank loans, and their future energy savings will be used to cover the full cost of a state retrofit plan. Property owners will pay back their loan as a line item on their utility bills over time.
"The remaining savings benefit the homeowner!" says Atlantic Chapter Conservation Chair Arthur Kuypers. "Once the loan is repaid, all savings accrue to the homeowner, often increasing the value of the property."
Dave Palmer, Executive Director of the Center for Working Families, calls it "a simple and innovative solution to intertwined problems of climate change, joblessness, and economic stagnation." It's also an example of a win-win policy that brought together stakeholders and interest groups who don't always see eye-to-eye."
As Dan Cantor, Executive Director of the Brooklyn-based Working Families Party, puts it, "Contractors and community organizations, Wall Street capitalists and the Working Families Party, hard-core environmentalists and tough-minded union leaders, policy intellectuals and risk-takers from the foundation world--each of these played a crucial role in today's very important accomplishment."
Passage of this bill is truly historic. It puts New York State in the vanguard of the national movement toward greater energy efficiency. Other states would do themselves an economic favor to follow suit.
Read more on green jobs:
Where is the Green Jobs Revolution Obama Promised?
Top 10 US Cities for Green Job Seekers
Obama Announces New Tax Credits for Green Jobs

Same-sex marriage: Obama is not Cuomo — part II

Posted at 12:08 PM ET, 06/27/2011

By Jonathan Capehart

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) didn’t waste time. Less than an hour after the state Senate passed the marriage equality bill, the triumphant governor signed it into law andspoke to his state and the nation. “[D]emocracy works when the people speak,” Cuomo said, “and the people spoke in volumes.” He called New York “a beacon of social justice.” He said the state’s vote “made a powerful statement.” And alluding to the missteps two years ago that led to failure, Cuomo said, “Sometimes justice is an evolutionary process.”

President Obama has said he is involved in his own process on marriage equality. His views were “evolving” on the issue, to be exact. This was a major step forward for the cause and for Obama, who had previously said he opposed same-sex marriage on religious grounds.

But that was then.

Cuomo’s victory in New York has raised the bar on leadership and the gay community’s expectations. Patience with Obama’s evolutionary process has run out. Folks gay and straight want Obama to take a stand. But if they want the president to replicate at the federal level what Cuomo did in New York, they’re going to have to do more than hurl brick bats from the sidelines. They’re going to have to help him.

Despite a list of accomplishments that have brought more equality, dignity and fairness to the lives of gay men and lesbians, some advocates are on hair triggers when it comes to Obama and gay rights. It’s as if they are waiting to be proven right in their conviction that “he really doesn’t care about us.” And they are wrong.

I’m of the belief that intellectually Obama is already there on marriage equality. As Greg Sargent wrote last week, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” the president will come out for same-sex marriage. But getting there politically is Obama’s biggest hurdle.

In my previous post, I outlined the many advantages Cuomo had at the state level that Obama doesn’t have at the federal level. Unlike Cuomo, the president has an energized Republican opposition whose stated goal is to ensure that he’s a one-term president. (We’ve seen how far they’re willing to go to delegitimize him.) Unlike Cuomo, the president’s approval rating is below 50 percent. And unlike Cuomo, the president doesn’t have a coalition of gay and lesbian groups and deep-pocketed donors all working together to get him to say “I do” and to have his back after he does it.

If we learned anything from the tumultuous “don’t ask, don’t tell” debate last year, it’s that Obama is a process-oriented, long-ball kinda guy. He is guided as much by a desire to do the right thing as by an understanding of how to get the right thing done. The six-month Pentagon study on DADT didn’t go over well with many in the gay community. But it allowed for the buy-in of the military and the cover Senators needed that made the repeal of DADT possible.

What’s missing from Obama’s “evolving” marriage equality stance is his process to embrace it publicly. Once he signals what that is, he and his administration will have to back up the words with the kind of leadership displayed by Cuomo. Also missing is the same behind-the-scenes coordinated effort among gay rights groups to not only push and support the president, but also the Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress needed to make marriage equality a reality at the federal level by overturning the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t do it first. 

None of this will happen overnight and it certainly won’t be easy. As Cuomo said, “Sometimes justice is an evolutionary process.” As he showed over the last six months, it’s an all-hands-on-deck process. One that now requires Obama to go from “evolving” to leading if he is to bring to the nation what Cuomo brought to New York.

Same-sex marriage: Obama is not Cuomo — part I

Posted at 10:10 AM ET, 06/27/2011

By Jonathan Capehart

When President Obama greets gays and lesbians in the East Room on Wednesday for his annual gay pride celebration, he will face an audience who now views him as a diminished, if not unwilling, advocate for their equality. He can thank the incredible victory for marriage equality in New York and the extraordinary leadership shown by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for that. His breath-taking feat just six months in office has only raised the expectation that the president of the United States should be able to deliver same at the federal level. 

While the comparison with Cuomo is understandable, it’s not exactly right. Cuomo had advantages as governor that Obama doesn’t have as president. And he had the advantage of learning lessons from a failed attempt by his predecessor two years earlier. If anything, in addition to holding Obama’s feet to the fire, advocates for marriage equality would do well to create on a national level the coordinated effort that helped to make success in New York possible. And the president will have to step off the sidelines to lead them.

“The NY State Constitution [creates] a strong governor,” Mitchell Moss, professor at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and an expert on New York City and state politics, told me by e-mail. “[T]he governor has enormous power to force the state legislature into session, to control the flow of money to various economic development projects, and to use his power of appointment to exec agencies and public authorities.” Those public authorities, which finance hospitals, universities, and all sorts of land development projects through the Empire State Development Corp., are where the real power is wielded across the state. On top of that, Cuomo “has been able to dominate the legislature.” The Republicans have a one-seat hold on the majority in the Senate and the Assembly is firmly in the hands of the Democrats. 

Cuomo is also not term-limited. And because ousting a sitting New York governor is tough (between 1975 and 2006, there were only three governors), Cuomo has more freedom to act boldly. Then there were the state dynamics that Cuomo worked to his advantage. 

“NY does not have a strong grass-roots right wing fundamentalist base of Protestants or politicians,” Moss said. It does have a state Conservative Party that has been successful in keeping Republican lawmakers from “stray[ing] too far” by threatening to deny them access to its ballot line, which Moss notes is “often essential” to a GOP win in New York State. But in the battle over gay marriage a new threat emerged. 

“[T]he gay money and vote is actually more of a threat than the Conservative’s in certain districts,” Moss noted. Because Republicans don’t hold any of the statewide offices, maintaining control of the state Senate is a priority for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. According to Moss, “[Skelos] understood that a vote for same-sex marriage would actually help him keep his majority if the gay money went elsewhere, and was NOT used to oppose his members.” As Michael Barbaro outlined in his riveting New York Times tick-tock of events that led to Friday’s historic vote, deep-pocketed gays and Republicans backed up Cuomo’s push with promises of financial help for wavering GOP state senators. 

What the Barbaro account also highlights is a hands-on Cuomo. He put the power of his office behind the power of his words of support for marriage equality. He corralled the gay groups that bickered with each other two years ago under one coordinated umbrella. They were the troops, and Cuomo was their general — a very popular one who enjoys a 64 percent approval rating compared to the ethically challenged legislature (17 percent for both the state Senate and the assembly).

So, Cuomo had a powerful hammer over the legislature. He didn’t have to worry about an energized Republican opposition hellbent on scuttling his priorities. And he had the people of New York solidly in his corner. All things Obama doesn’t have going for him nationally. Those who want the president to do more on marriage equality at the federal level will have to do more themselves to help create a Cuomo environment for Obama.

Pawlenty Gives Foreign Policy Speech

Critical of Obama’s mideast policy

Tim Pawlenty

Washington, DC
Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty gave a speech this morning outlining his foreign policy positions at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City. Pawlenty told the audience that President Obama "has failed to formulate and carry out an effective and coherent strategy in response" to the spring uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
Some GOP presidential candidates have taken a more isolationist view. For instance, former Governor Mitt Romney said U.S. troops in Afghanistan should start returning home.
Pawlenty has criticized President Obama for not acting soon enough when Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi violently responded to protestors.  “It is time for the administration to use all tools at its disposal to pressure al-Qaddafi to stop the violence and to step down,” he wrote on his Facebook page before the U.S. and NATO took military action.
Pawlenty announced his presidential bid in March.

Updated: 4 hr., 53 min. ago

Stewart to Wallace: Really?

June 28, 2011 8:37 AM EDT

Over a week after his appearance on Fox News, where Jon Stewart said its viewers were the most "consistently misinformed," host Chris Wallace has come up with an example of how they tell the "other side of the story." Hear Stewart's less-than-impressed reaction.

Bachmann's Revisionist History

June 28, 2011 11:15 AM EDT

Nope, still wrong. When George Stephanopoulos gave Michele Bachmann the opportunity to defend her recent statements on Tuesday, he seemed as confused as she was by her reply.

Marine's Sister Gets Surprise

June 25, 2011 4:13 PM EDT

What's better than earning a diploma? If it's accompanied by the unexpected return of your Marine brother from Afghanistan. Watch what happens when this Cal Poly student gets the surprise of her life at commencement.

Blue State Schools: The Shame of a Nation

June 20, 2011

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD

When it come to excellence in education, red states rule — at least according to a panel of experts assembled by Tina Brown’sNewsweek.  Using a set of indicators ranging from graduation rate to college admissions and SAT scores, the panel reviewed data from high schools all over the country to find the best public schools in the country.

The results make depressing reading for the teacher unions: the very best public high schools in the country are heavily concentrated in red states.

Three of the nation’s ten best public high schools are in Texas — the no-income tax, right-to-work state that blue model defenders like to characterize as America at its worst.  Florida, another no-income tax, right-to-work state long misgoverned by the evil and rapacious Bush dynasty, has two of the top ten schools.

Newsweek isn’t alone with these shocking results.  Another top public school list, compiled by the Washington Post, was issued in May.  Texas and Florida rank number one and number two on that list’s top ten as well.

There’s something else interesting about the two lists: on both lists only one of the top ten public schools was located in a blue state.  (Definition alert: on this blog, a blue state is one that voted for John Kerry in 2004; red states cast their electoral votes for Bush.)

There were no top ten schools on either list from blue New England states like Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut.  Nor were there any in the top 25.  By contrast, Alabama made both theNewsweek and the Washington Post top ten.  Only two public schools from these states made the Washpost top fifty list; zero made it into Newsweek‘s elite.  150 years after the Civil War, South Carolina is kicking New England’s rear end when it comes to producing great public schools.

Schoolboys playing Snap the Whip in an 1872 oil painting by Winslow Homer

As you go down the list, the numbers get a little more balanced.  Fifty of the top 100 Newsweek schools are red, fifty blue — though according to the Washington Post, the split is sixty-one red, thirty-nine blue.  But the results are shocking enough: the People’s Republic of Vermont has achieved parity with Mississippi: neither state has a single school on the Newsweek list of 500.

Defenders of the high tax, high regulation, highly unionized model of state governance that characterizes the blue states like to point to their higher quality of government services as justification for the taxes they pay and the regulations they accept.

Let those crackers and hillbillies in the red states wallow in their filth and their ignorance, say proud upholders of the blue state model.  We blue staters believe in things like quality education — and that costs money.

In theory, perhaps, but in practice the extraordinary achievement of so many red state schools strongly supports the idea that blue state governance is no friend to excellence in education.  Having low taxes and governors descended from George H. W. Bush seems to offer students more hope than having high taxes and strong teacher unions. At the very least, the rankings suggest that blue state taxes and management philosophies aren’t knocking the stuffing out of their allegedly underfunded and poorly run red state competitors.

The results of these two unrelated surveys are particularly surprising because the competition for best public schools is one that, logically speaking, blue states should dominate.  Blue states are — generally speaking — richer than red states.  They tend to spend substantially more money per pupil on education.  They do not have the history of legal segregation that disrupted education in many Southern states.  Almost certainly, a generation ago blue states would have dominated rankings of this kind.

The poor performance of the New England states is particularly striking.  Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts are the states with the oldest and strongest traditions of public education in the country.  They led the rest of the country in establishing free public schools and were among the first to mandate a full 12 years of pre-college education.  Non-New England blue states like New York, New Jersey and even troubled California and Michigan do significantly better than the New England states in the rankings.  The decline of public education in New England is clearly a subject that deserves further study.

As the blue state governance model comes under increasing pressure, both Democratic and Republican governors and legislatures are going to be looking for ways to cut costs while preserving the quality of basic public services like education.  It is becoming harder and harder to find evidence of any kind that teachers’ unions help either taxpayers or kids; surveys like these hasten the day when real reform comes to the American educational system.

The rise of the red states is one of those stories that the mainstream media — which views the world through blue-tinted lenses — doesn’t like to think about.  The conventional liberal explanation, sometimes cited by readers of this blog, is that the red states tend to be net recipients of federal taxes thanks to progressive taxation and social programs aimed at the poor.  There is some truth in that explanation — but it is surely also true that inefficient spending, poor management and confused and unrealistic mandates together with layers of barnacle-encrusted bureaucracy in blue states mean that they spend money less wisely and efficiently than their counterparts.

I don’t think either red states or blue states have fully come to grips with the changes our educational system needs.  Putting students in big box schools that teach conformity, sitting still and waiting in line does not strike me as a wise use of money or time.  Most school textbooks are atrociously written and edited by committees and lobby groups; teaching to standardized tests is at best a very poor use of resources.  High school graduates tend to know precious little about either academic subjects or practical life.

We can and should do much, much better and I suspect that home-schooling and community based schools will play a much larger role in the future.  The key is going to be innovation and small scale initiatives by concerned parents and groups of gifted teachers and inspiring leaders who want to strike out on their own — and the educational system needs to support rather than fight this kind of change.  Hospitality to innovation will ultimately be the most important quality that states can bring to public education; red states have an advantage here because entrenched interests (like unions) make it harder for blue states to reform.

That will change, one hopes, as blue states reflect on the gap between the high costs they pay and the disappointing results they too often achieve.

Shared Sacrifice

This is what shared sacrifice is supposed to look like?  Between the subsidies, tax rebates, income tax, The corporations, Oil companies, Wall Street Bankers, and the very, very wealthy, just keep getting wealthy, while the middle class is disappearing into the poverty zone.  If the Republicans keep getting their way, we the People will be nothing.  The only good point is that somewhere they(the upper wealthy) will have to give revenues if they are to thrive and survive, because the rest of the Americans, will be scrounging for food and what work we can get. Because we will not be able to pay taxes, buy stuff or live in homes, maybe tents, under bridges, in abandoned buildings, why because nobody will be around to take care of the buildings. People People People the Republicans DO NOT CARE FOR US (THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE POOR) the sooner we die off the better for them.
All public things will be private for the wealthy, schools, hospitals, doctors, lawyers.
Bits and pieces they are taking away everything that means everything to us.  Unions, schools, jobs, voting rights, transportation, health care that includes public hospitals, doctors, insurance, and a decent way to die with dignity.
 This is not SHARED SACRIFICE , this is America for the Wealthy, to hell with everybody else.  Yesterday, Monday, Senator Sanders spoke in the Senate and explained what I have tried to say here.  The AMERICA I grew up in does NOT EXIST anymore.
As for President Obama and the Democrats I have never been more disappointed, disillusioned, or more thoroughly disgusted in their bowing down and kissing the rumps of every Republican congressman or lady. They are falling all over themselves trying to make friends with the other side, and they are not listening to 81% of the American middle class and poor.  We understand the deficit and that certain cuts need to be made, but we are not going to take their so called shared sacrifice that does not include revenues raised by the wealthy, the oil companies, corporations.  It is time they put their wallets where their mouths are, they live high off the hog, and they get so much compensation that they do not need to work, not like the rest of us. Please Mr President, do not give in  to the Republicans, for Gods sake notice the people who elected you in 2008, because we can or not elect you again in 2012.  I do not use my Lord's name as a rule, but I and many Americans are fed up with the tip toeing through the tulips with people who do not care for us.  If you have a spine, if you care about the American People rich or poor, then put your fist down on the bargaining table and stand up for those who do not have the clout to take on the Republican party with their Tea Party loonies. I am begging, We need you now more than ever....


OIL COMPANIES

• · Valero Energy received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS last year
• · In 2009 Exxon made $19 billion in profits, paid no federal income taxes and was given a $156 million rebate from the IRS.
• · ConocoPhillips made $16 billion in profits from '07-'09 and received $451 million in tax breaks.
• · The Republican budget protects $44 billion in unnecessary tax breaks and subsidies for oil and gas companies.
• · Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year, even though it made $10 billion in profits in 2009. 

MIDDLE CLASS/JOBS/INCOME

• · The United States has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country in the industrialized world.
• · Since 2000, 5.6 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in America
• · We have fewer factory jobs today than we did in March of 1941 about 8 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• · Over 50,000 manufacturing plants in America have been shut down over the past decade.
• · After adjusting for inflation, middle class families earned more income in 1998 than they do today
• · Nationally, middle class families have seen their income go down by more than $2,600 over the past decade.
• · 20 million more Americans live in poverty today than was the case in 1973.
• · Since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty.
• · The official unemployment rate has been 8.8 percent or higher for over 2 years, the longest on record.
• · Nearly 16 percent of Americans are either unemployed or under-employed.
• · 42 million Americans are on Food Stamps.
• · The Republican budget would slash funding for roads, bridges, rail and airports by nearly 40% next year alone 

 THE WEALTHY

• Between 1980 and 2005, 80 percent of all new income created in this country went to the top 1 percent.
• Under the Bush administration, the 400 top earners saw their incomes double.
• The 400 top earners have had their effective federal tax rate cut almost in half over the past 15 years
• In 2007, the richest 400 Americans made an average of $345 million a year.
• During the Bush years, the wealthiest 400 Americans increased their wealth by $400 billion and are worth over $1.3 trillion
• The wealthiest 400 people in America now own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans.
• In 2007, the wealthiest one percent took in 23.5 percent of all of the income earned in the US.
• In 2007, the top 1/10th of 1 percent took in 11 percent of total income The percentage of income going to the top 1 percent has nearly tripled since the 1970s

CORPORATION/BANKS

• In the past 5 years, Carnival Cruise Lines made over $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate was only 1.1%.
• · Ford's federal income tax rate was just 2.3 percent in 2009 even though it made $3 billion in profits.
• 2010 corporate tax revenue was 27% smaller than 2000, even though corporate profits are up 60 percent over the last decade.
• Large corporations are sitting on a record-breaking $2 trillion in cash on hand.
• Large corporations are avoiding $100 billion in taxes every year by using offshore tax shelters.
• In 2005 1 of 4 large corporations paid no income taxes at all even though they collected $1.1 trillion in revenue.
• Hedge fund managers who made $1 billion last year now pay a lower effective tax rate than many teachers & nurses.
• In 2008, Goldman Sachs only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion.
• Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year even though it earned a profit of $4.4 billion.    

HEALTH CARE

• The Republican budget would prevent an estimated 34 million uninsured Americans from getting health insurance.
• 50 million Americans have no health insurance and 45000 Americans die every year b/c they don't have access to health care
• The Republican plan will end Medicare by providing an $8000 voucher for seniors to purchase a private health insurance plan
• Since 2000, over 12 million Americans have lost their health insurance.

 Sen. Jim DeMint to GOP: Saving your job is more important than preventing economic meltdown

 Debt/deficit reduction must be born by rich, oil companies, corporate communities too. They must pitch in to help fellow Americans.

The poor and middle classes have suffered. It is time for wealthy corporations to contribute as well.

Uploaded by SenatorSanders on Jun 24, 2011

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

Shared Sacrifice Dear Mr. President, This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today - which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing.  In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth. Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit - a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and ins ur ance com panies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny. Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share.  At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions.  A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending. Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.  Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billiona ires who have never had it so good.     Respectfully, Sen. Bernie Sanders Co-signers