Environment Roundtable: Rep. Paul Tonko

Q: What is your top goal in your new role as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy?

PT: Certainly our top priority is to wean ourselves off of our dependency on fossil fuels and transition to an innovation of our energy supplies through American know-how. Also, it is to respond to the menace of climate change in a productive manner. 

Q: What legislation is a top priority? And what are their chances?

PT: It’s very difficult, because with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, a focus on clean energy and environmental initiatives comes into conflict with the promotion of economic development and putting people back to work. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The two work hand in hand. When we focus on developing new technologies and new markets, we open up the potential to put millions back to work, all the while greening our environment for future generations and eliminating that insatiable thirst for foreign oil. It’s a dependence that really makes no sense. American energy consumers send hundreds of billions of dollars over to foreign treasuries, many of which are from nations fighting the U.S. It makes no sense. Environmentally it makes no sense and economically it makes no sense. The same goes for climate change. I’ll never understand how climate change—something that affects every one of us, regardless of politics and party affiliation—has become a partisan issue. If you can’t buy into a concept that 97 or 98 percent of scientists embrace, then see it as an economic development agenda. See it as putting Americans back to work in an innovative [way] that allows [us] to not rely on others for our resources.

Q: One local issue is the crude oil being shipped by train through Albany.

PT: I’ve been working with local groups and tying that message to the structure here. I believe we’re going to have Transportation Committee hearings, and I’ve sent a letter off to DOT for a number of reasons. Public notification should be addressed. Community first liners have a right to know, the community in general has a right to know and the healthcare community has a right to know. As you’re responding to an incident, you should know what’s in those cars. So classification and notification is very important. Also, the transport in “111” cars may be an inappropriate response. The Canadian government has denounced the transport by 111s, and I don’t think the technology is the right technology. And the Balkan crude may need to be listed higher as a hazardous substance. There are more concerns, too. Sometimes they are sitting in these districts, and the potential for spills and leakage and consequences is real. 

Q: Another local issue is the Lower Hudson Valley Capacity Zone, which was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and promotes the building of new power plants but has drawn complaints because it is expected to raise rates. 

PT: We should always see energy efficiency as our fuel of choice. While I understand the constraints within metro New York City, we have to embrace energy efficiency to avoid having to build plants. There are many ways in businesses and homes and skyscrapers to improve efficiency, which could provide a major benefit, and to encourage investment in infrastructure, which equates to lower costs down the road. The grid system was designed for a monopoly setting, but there needs to be an upgrading there.