New York Climate Week Snapshot: Activists and State Government Push For Environment

Representatives from around the world gathered in Manhattan for New York Climate Week last week. Across the state, nonprofits and local governments are resisting President Trump’s cuts to environmental protections.

Dr. Alonzo Plough, Vice President and Chief Science Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, affirmed the severity of the crisis, stating: “I don’t use the term existential that often, but (climate change) is an existential threat.”

In agreement with this sentiment, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $30 million in funding awards for 19 projects statewide as part of Climate Week. The funding comes from the Bond Act, passed in 2022. This initiative aims to enhance community resilience to flooding and extreme weather events across New York.

Governor Hochul underscored the state’s proactive stance: “New York is continuing to make historic investments to protect our communities from the growing risks of inland and coastal flooding.” She added that these projects “will strengthen local infrastructure, restore natural protections, and make neighborhoods more resilient in the face of climate change.”

New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said in the press release that the distribution will “deliver the resources local governments need to strengthen critical infrastructure, protect shorelines, and restore natural systems that help keep people safe.”

Within infrastructure repairs, activists are also reimagining how to build in an eco-friendly way.

Mikhail Haramati, who leads state-level industrial decarbonization work at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told Radio Catskill about an initiative designed to mitigate climate degradation, rather than adapt to existing damage. These include “a set of recommendations for near-term actions that New York could take right away.” From Haramati’s department, this means changing the way New York uses building materials. Ideally, infrastructure could reuse supplies from old buildings or experiment with products or designs that use less carbon. Haramati cited the waffle ceilings in the D.C. Metro stations as an example.

A major theme during Climate Week discussions was the tension between aggressive state and global efforts and lagging national support from the leaders of the United States. Governor Hochul stated that “the federal government refuses to protect us.”

Dr. Plough cited numerous decisions that concern him, including “the reduction in resources to FEMA, the drastic cuts to the Health Department… the cuts to the weather service that have reduced the satellite monitoring that lets us know when hurricanes are forming,” and more.

Despite these setbacks, Dr. Plough noted that “New York State and New York City Health Departments have been amongst the leaders,” stepping up to “fill in some of the gaps.”

Climate change discussions also addressed social justice. Dr. Plough pointed out that “climate change is an amplifier of structural racism’s impact on health.” When extreme heat and weather are placed on marginalized communities already dealing with substandard housing and higher rates of chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, the result is “disproportionate, unfair larger impacts.”

Ultimately, the impact of climate events transcends political lines, argues Dr. Plough. He emphasized that “science isn’t red and blue.” If a storm causes flooding in the Northeast, “it’s gonna flood every community. (It) doesn’t matter where you voted or how you voted; you’re gonna be affected by that.”

Photo Credit: January 21, 2025 – Albany, NY – Governor Kathy Hochul presents the Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget in the Red Room at the State Capitol. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)