SOURCE:
https://www.eastendbeacon.com/congressional-candidates-talk-climate-2/
By Beth Young - October 25, 2024
When it comes to climate change, “if ever there was a Ground Zero for Long Island, it’s really the First Congressional District,” says Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, of the district that encompasses the entire East End. “It’s very critical to hold our congressional leaders accountable for climate change. People still actually don’t believe in climate change, as if it’s a faith based system. You can’t believe or not believe in gravity. You have to understand it is real.”
Ms. Esposito joined with activists from Renewable Energy Long Island, Citizens Climate Lobby and Students for Climate Action grilled Long Island congressional candidates on their climate positions in a series of online “Climate Chats” last week:
Both candidates for CD1 hewed the middle ground as they answered a series of four questions about the impact of climate change on the district. Nick LaLota, the Republican incumbent and a former Naval officer, focused on the national security importance of resiliency and energy independence. John Avlon, a former speechwriter and political commentator for CNN, highlighted strategies for taking the politics out of science-based policy decisions.
Here’s what the candidates had to say on four climate-related issues here:
When moderators asked how they would work with the new administration to advance climate policy, citing the quip that “climate change doesn’t care who’s in the White House,” Mr. Avlon doubled down on the importance of policy set by the executive branch.
“It’s much more than divergent opinions. It’s an outright re-embrace of climate change denialism, which promises to literally do nothing,” said Mr. Avlon, who had worked as a journalist on a CNN project documenting “A Brief History of Climate Change Denial.” “Donald Trump is telling oil and gas executives they can save millions on lobbying if they just give him campaign dollars now.”
“You’re right. Climate change doesn’t give a damn what party you belong to, but it is political because one party doesn’t want to deal with it,” he added. “We have an obligation to work with anybody who wants to work in good faith to solve this problem. I’m concerned about the good faith because we’ve already seen, in the first Trump term, the embrace of anti-science climate denialism with appointees in key positions…. We can depolarize and create a win-win with the environment and the economy. But one path would push us further back on the timeline and would increase the cost of the suffering, and the other outcome would have us taking a leadership role.”
Mr. LaLota said he “goes to Washington to do good work and reach across the aisle,” adding that he was voted more bipartisan than 85 percent of his colleagues.
He added that a dozen-and-a-half House Republicans recently signed a letter asking their colleagues to keep elements of the Inflation Reduction Act that would fight climate change if Mr. Trump again takes the White House and plans to dismantle the IRA.
“There are things in the IRA with respect to the environment and energy tax credits that are good,” said Mr. Lalota. “Regardless of who is in control, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater if my party takes control of everything. There are some great energy tax credits in there. We need to make sure we respect things that are good for the long-term sustainability of our country.”
When asked about what they would do to help New York’s nascent offshore wind and other renewable energy industries, Mr. LaLota said he serves as the co-chair of the Offshore Wind Caucus, a bipartisan committee “working together to educate more members of Congress from other parts of the nation who haven’t embraced wind yet to understand the positive impacts and the economic upside, both in terms of energy independence and jobs. Hopefully that will turn into policy action going forward.”
Mr. Avlon said he believes community consultation will be key to the success of offshore wind farms.
“That’s a key criteria for why it’s worked where it is and why we’ve had some holdups, around Long Beach,” he said, adding that labor unions on Long Island that are supporting him in this race believe the renewable energy field will be “not just a job but a rewarding career.”
On what to do to ensure Long Island’s infrastructure is resilient enough to face future storms, both candidates agreed that it is better to protect properties before storms than deal with the repercussions afterward.
“We can’t always just be responding. We need to invest proactively. That’s less expensive than responses. It’s an all-of-government approach,” said Mr. LaLota. “We have to invest in our future, and we don’t get our fair share (of federal money) here on Long Island. I want to make my constituents whole with investments in infrastructure.”
Mr. Avlon said the money in the Inflation Reduction Act is essential for providing tax credits for energy upgrades, and he also supports investing in FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and a bill championed by former Congressman Steve Israel, the Disaster Assistance Fairness Act, that would make homeowners associations and condominiums eligible for FEMA funds.
“To do repairs after a disaster hits is six times more expensive than investing on the front end,” he said. “We need to get back in the prevention business… That is a win-win, but we need to take a leadership role and get ahead of it, not react to it…. This is a massive cost imposed on working class families over and above the affordability crisis.”
On what they see as the most important climate issue facing CD1, Mr. Avlon said he wants to focus on mitigation and innovation, and making sure the funding through the IRA and the infrastructure bill remains intact under the new administration.
“Unfortunately, a lot of our Republican colleagues want to call back a lot of the funding that was put in place — billions of dollars — to combat climate change and coastal erosion,” he said. “I think we can depolarize the issue if we work together and are not simply greenwashing the rhetoric and then undercutting the efforts and investment.”
Mr. LaLota highlighted energy independence and protecting Long Island’s infrastructure.
“Battery, solar and wind are good for our national security and our economy,” he said. “There are a lot of wins when we endeavor to make ourselves more energy independent.”
“Like Ken LaValle and Ed Romaine and others before me, I have a big eye on our environment, and our climate,” he said, highlighting Republican office holders with a strong environmental record. “I will continue to hold my office responsibly with that future in mind.”
Mr. Avlon said that, if elected, he would want to serve on the Infrastructure and Transportation Committees, particularly the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, which “does more to combat climate change and deal with issues of water quality that affects all of us.
“Climate change doesn’t give a damn what party you belong to, but that should galvanize us to deal with the problem together,” he added. “But we should know that there is a fundamental difference between the two parties in how much of a priority it is to deal with the problem. We’re already on the back foot because of decades of denialism…. Understand the stakes of this race. Let’s turn the page on this chapter we’re in. It does affect all of us and we need to find common ground.”