Climate Jobs NY Update: State of the State Signals Climate Action that Creates Good Union Jobs

In Governor Hochul’s State of the State this week, she signaled important steps forward on climate action that creates good union jobs, including significant investment in the offshore wind supply chain, movement toward necessary transmission upgrades, and much-needed investments in schools.

We applaud these important steps forward and look forward to working with the Hochul administration in the budget process and beyond to ensure that these investments in climate action both reduce emissions and create good union jobs and careers for New Yorkers and their communities. Commitments announced in conjunction with Governor Hochul’s address included:

Offshore wind

• Investing $500 million in critical offshore wind infrastructure, including ports, manufacturing, and supply chain infrastructure, projected to leverage more than $2 billion in private investments and create 2,000 jobs
• Moving forward on planning to upgrade the transmission grid to accommodate New York’s nation-leading goal of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind power, bringing 6,000 megawatts of electricity into New York City, enough to power 4 million homes
• Launching the next solicitation for offshore wind power, expected to procure an additional 2,000 megawatts in new projects, enough to power 1.5 million homes
• Initiating a new Offshore Wind Master Plan 2.0 to continue building the offshore wind industry in New York

Investing in schools

• Expanding New York State’s Clean, Green Schools program to bring retrofits like geothermal heating and cooling, solar power, and upgrades to improve air quality and ventilation to more schools

Green Hydrogen

• Directing the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), New York Power Authority (NYPA), and Empire State Development to take steps to make New York a hub for green hydrogen, including competing for billions of dollars in federal funding to support green hydrogen research and development made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and releasing $27 million in NYSERDA Hydrogen Innovation.

“We are encouraged to see today’s announcements on climate and jobs from Governor Hochul, which signal that the Governor is serious about meeting the State’s emissions-reduction goals, upgrading our infrastructure, and creating a clean-energy economy that works for everyone," said NYC CLC President and Climate Jobs NY Director Vincent Alvarez. "We look forward to working with the Governor and her team to make sure the State’s investments in clean energy include strong labor standards and create the kind of good union jobs New Yorkers and our communities need.” Read more here!