RAC-NY

RAC-NY's Climate Covenant

This initiative is a multi-year campaign to combat climate change and reduce New York's reliance on fossil fuels.

Our focus for 2025 is to ensure that New York State meets its climate goals, especially given New York's impact on global warming as the 10th largest economy in the world. To this end, RAC-NY is advocating for sufficient funding for climate measures and for the passage of two pieces of priority legislation:

1. The NY HEAT Act -- which will gradually reduce the use of gas (a fossil fuel) in NY's homes and buildings.
2. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act - which will reduce single-use plastics (a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions).

To get involved in the campaign and stay up to date, sign up here.

The 2025 NY legislative session ended in June with mixed results on the two major climate bills that RAC-NY supported. Read the report. 

Update

On Friday, August 15, members of RAC-NY's Strategy Team submitted the following letter expressing concern about newly re-proposed gas pipelines in New York:

Dear Cheryl A Sandrow, NYSDEC Division of Environmental Permits, and Honorable Michelle L. Phillips, Secretary to the NYS Public Service Commission, 

RE: NYS DPS Case 24-G-0248 and NYS DEC Application ID 2-9902-00209/00009 WQC 

We are submitting comments as members of the New York Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC-NY), a faith-based organization. RAC-NY represents New York’s 99 Reform Jewish synagogues and their 150,000 congregants. We urge you to deny all permits for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline. 

Our tradition teaches us that we have a responsibility to look after the earth and ensure that we pass on a livable world to our children and grandchildren, L'dor V’dor. As a powerful Midrash says, "Do not destroy My world, for if you do, there will be nobody after you to make it right again." Consistent with our commitment to these values, RAC-NY strongly opposes the proposed Williams NESE Pipeline. 

New York already rejected this exact project in 2020 – because it violated state water quality standards, disturbed critical habitats, and posed risks to public health and coastal communities. This project is unnecessary and environmentally damaging. It would impose exorbitant costs on downstate New Yorkers who are already struggling with rising energy bills and deepening energy insecurity. 

Approval would also directly contradict the trajectory dictated by the CLCPA, significantly undermining the landmark Climate Law. Instead of locking New Yorkers into more fossil fuel infrastructure that is incompatible with our state’s climate goals, New York must direct National Grid to conduct a true, transparent cost-benefit analysis of Accelerated Electrification, Energy Efficiency programs, and Non-Pipe Alternatives (NPAs). These alternatives are cleaner, safer, reduce energy burdens, and advance climate justice – particularly for the working-class communities most impacted by rising utility costs and fossil fuel pollution. 

We urge you to reject the NESE pipeline and require that National Grid pursue a comprehensive evaluation of clean energy alternatives before proposing more toxic and costly infrastructure that may not even serve the very customers expected to foot the bill. 

Thank you for your attention and for considering the voices of RAC-NY who have been working diligently for a just, sustainable energy future. 

Learn about our work across the country to organize, mobilize, and advocate so that all people can thrive in multiracial, inclusive democracies in North America and Israel.

Climate Change Superfund Act (2024) -- requires oil and gas companies to pay some of the costs of preparing New York State for extreme weather events caused by climate change.

New York Equal Rights Amendment or "Prop 1" (2024) -- enshrines a wider set of anti-discrimination protections in the NY constitution, including the right to an abortion.

All-Electric Buildings Act (2023) -- first-in-the-nation legislation mandating that new construction in New York State be fossil fuel-free.

The "Less is More" Parole Reform Act (2021) -- protects those who have completed their prison sentences from being sent to jail for minor parole violations. 

The Protect Our Courts Act (2020) -- protects judicial integrity by ensuring that every immigrant New Yorker can access state courts without fear of arrest by ICE. 

The Green Light NY Act (2019) -- ensures equal access to driver's licenses for all New York residents, regardless of their immigration status.

• State Organizer: Ben Elkind 
• Follow us on Facebook 
• National RAC Phone Number: 202-387-2800