Remembering the Five Year Anniversary of Super Storm Sandy

NEW PALTZ – Recently, students, environmental organizations, and community members marked the five-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. The storm, which hit the northeast with such power that it took lives, destroyed homes and transit infrastructure, flooded subways and greatly impacted people from the NYC-metro area to the Hudson Valley.

The students and community members marched from the SUNY New Paltz campus with signs and chants to raise public awareness and to demand that our elected officials take immediate climate action. The march ended at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Region 3 office, where the group rallied and heard from special guest speakers including NYS Assemblymember Kevin Cahill’s office.

Laurie Wheelock, Assemblyman Cahill’s Legislative Director and Counsel, spoke on bills that the Assemblyman has introduced that are meant to help mitigate the effects of climate change. “The fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy is a fitting opportunity to pause and reflect on the devastation to our region.  Unfortunately the people of Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida will be doing this same reflection in the years to come.  Despite multiple communities living through the real-life effects of climate change there still remain those who outright deny the science or refuse to recognize human involvement.

With efforts including legislation I authored such as the Green Jobs-Green New York Program (A.8901/S.51031-2009) and the formation of a stand-alone State Energy Board to support sound  energy planning and policy development (A.5877B/ S.2501B-2009), New York has made it a priority to address this reality.  Looking ahead to the 2018 Legislative Session I will continue this crucial work as I advance legislation which would require the full review of existing fossil fuel subsidies (A.8675) ensuring that pollution is paid for by its creators so that the taxpayer does not subsidize these bad actors and another measure (A. 107) that will reduce carbon emissions by making the producers of them pay for the privilege.

I thank the SUNY New Paltz Chapter of NYPIRG for organizing today’s event.  Superstorm Sandy taught us what happens when we only play defense against climate change, now is the time act proactively.  We owe it to future generations,” said Assemblymember Cahill.

Other Quotes
Matthew Nash, an intern for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) was a lead organizer for the event. “More category 5 hurricanes have made landfall than ever this year. The impact of the climate changing is becoming more apparent, and the time to take action is now” said Nash. Nash also added “Governor Cuomo must move us off of natural gas, gas that is fracked in other states, and start making serious steps towards energy efficiency and energy use reduction programs to replace it.”

Brian Obach, -Director of Environmental Studies at SUNY New Paltz
“The science is in; the debate is over.  Climate change is affecting us right now.  It has already killed thousands of people and caused damage in the billions.  Scores of species are being driven to extinction.  The destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy five years ago was just the beginning.  Those who continue to block measures to address climate change bear responsibility for the ongoing havoc.  They are guilty of crimes against humanity and history will judge them harshly. “

Aumma Begum, -SUNY New Paltz Student From Bangledesh
“Now that I am old enough to understand what was happening to Bangladesh, I am really traumatized of its future because things are worse now than it was when I was back home. It floods many times every year now and people often lose their crops due to it. We have all the proof that we need to say that this is today’s issue and something must be done.”

Nicholas Leone, President of SUNY New Paltz Climate Action Club
“I’ll never forget swimming through the streets that I walked through just the day before. I was never able to reach up and touch the top of a street sign until Sandy hit my area. The devastation that Sandy caused to my town resonates with me to this day, and the fact that this disaster is perceived as “natural” aches me, and we must do something to prevent this extreme weather that is striking us too often.”