Even as New Yorkers feel the pinch at the pump, energy guzzling buildings consume 16% of the New York’s annual energy supply, costing the average family over $3,700 in home energy a year. That’s not because anyone forgot to turn off their lights, but because most homes aren’t energy efficient.
Majora Carter, Founder, Sustainable South Bronx
Last Friday, the Center for Working Families - the WFP’s favorite think tank - held a Green Jobs NY briefing to introduce an exciting plan to perform energy-efficiency renovations on one million New York homes over the next five years and create 30,000 skilled, living-wage “Green Collar” jobs.
Together, energy-efficiency improvements - like insulating walls, installing live green roofs, or switching to energy efficient appliances and alternative power sources- can slash more than 30% from homeowners’ energy bills, an average savings of $1110 a year back. With energy savings that high, the Green Jobs NY program can make owning or renting a home more affordable, and slash New York’s contribution to climate change.
Jason Angell, Director, Center for Working Families
The briefing brought together a broad coalition: over 100 people attending, spanning upstate and downstate; environmental, community, affordable housing, labor and energy groups; and government. Speakers included Judith Enck, Deputy Secretary for the Environment for Governor David Paterson, Ashok Gupta, Director of Air & Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council; legislative leaders from the Senate and Assembly Energy Committee and Environmental Conservation Committee; Van Jones, founder and president of nationally acclaimed, Oakland-based Green For All, and New York’s own Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx.
Read the full Green Jobs NY Briefing.
Sen. Kevin Parker, Assembly Members Robert Sweeney and Kevin Cahill
