ICYMI: NYS Senator Nathalia Fernandez Calls for Healthy, Affordable All-Electric Future

ALBANY, NY (02/09/2023) (readMedia)-- State Senator Nathalia Fernandez has a new op-ed in the Daily News urging support for the All Electric Building Act and the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (NY HEAT) Act. She writes that New York must protect communities most impacted by environmental injustice by banning gas and oil hookups – which are highly polluting and cause asthma – in new construction. Not only will these proposals keep New Yorkers safe in their homes, they will also save families money.

Senator Fernandez is the co-chair of the Climate Action & Environmental Justice Subcommittee in the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian legislative caucus.

Read the full text of the op-ed here or below.

New York needs to make a smart energy future

By now many of us have seen this study that's lit up our newsfeeds: 12% of childhood asthma in the U.S. -19% in New York - can be attributed to gas stoves. Now, a new study from WE ACT for Environmental Justice finds that nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide concentrations are higher in kitchens with gas stoves than in kitchens with induction stoves. Luckily in New York, we have a solution: the All Electric Building Act and the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (NY HEAT) Act. These bills will both protect our children and help us meet the environmental justice goals as laid out by New York's Climate Act.

The Climate Act requires New York to relieve low-income communities and communities of color of the disproportionate burden we bear from climate change. Nobody wants to live surrounded by pollution that will make them sick, and residents of the Bronx - predominantly families of color - like me know firsthand how our borough has literally been dumped on for decades.

Decision makers and corporations have placed hazardous industrial sites and infrastructure in our backyard - not theirs. The Bronx is home to four fossil-fuel powered "peaker" plants, which supplement the rest of the city's energy supply. Seven of NYC's superfund sites are located in the Bronx, and the South Bronx is known as "Asthma Alley" since the area is encircled by a ring of major highways with 15,000 trucks passing through daily. Because of this, the asthma hospitalization rate for children in the Bronx is 70% higher than the rest of NYC and 700% higher than the rest of the state. Asthma is the leading cause of school absence among Bronx children. Continuing to equip homes with gas stoves adds insult to injury. Our children deserve so much better.

Gas stoves produce high levels of harmful pollutants and we now know they only exacerbate negative public health outcomes in the Bronx. Nearly 19% of childhood asthma in New York can be attributed to these appliances, the third highest rate in the country. While 35% of homes across the country rely on gas stoves for cooking, the entirety of NYCHA's affordable housing stock is equipped with them.

Outdated building codes mean many dwellings don't even have ventilation hoods, and in many cases families can't afford to install them - that means polluted air is left to circulate around small living environments. If we are to meaningfully address environmental injustice - as the Climate Act requires by law - we need to make sure our homes are healthy and safe.

That's why I'm supporting two bills that would facilitate the state's transition away from gas. The All-Electric Building Act would ban gas hookups in new construction across the state. And the NY HEAT Act (formerly the Gas Transition and Affordable Energy Act) would enable investment in clean alternatives to the gas system, to accelerate the transition to clean heating and cooking, and put a price cap of 6% of income on electricity bills for low and middle-income families. Low-income households spend three times more of their income on energy bills than those living above the poverty line. These proposals would save New Yorkers money while helping kids stay healthy.

The fossil fuel industry blows tens of millions on misleading ad campaigns and lobbying efforts to lie to us that gas stoves are the most coveted option for our kitchens. They care more about raking in enormous profits than protecting New Yorkers' safety.

Last year, the industry's efforts derailed the passage of the All Electric Building Act. We have to act this year: burning gas in our kitchens has been making the already devastating problem of childhood asthma in the Bronx worse for too long. And it's not just the right thing to do, it's the law: Albany lawmakers must pass The All-Electric Building Act and the NY HEAT Act now.

Fernandez represents parts of the Bronx in the state Senate and is a sponsor of the All-Electric Building Act and NY HEAT ACT.