Climate Change and Environment
Congresswoman Velázquez believes a cleaner environment means working people will have healthier communities in which to raise their families. In that regard, she has worked to protect our environment nationally, while addressing public health and environmental concerns at home, in New York. She also recognizes that climate change presents an existential threat to our nation, our planet and our future. She supports bold, meaningful action to address this problem.
She voted against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which would accelerate a “race to the bottom” for environmental standards. She also opposed the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal, which would risk significant environmental degradation.
As the top Democrat on the Small Business Committee, she has supported policies that position entrepreneurs as leaders in the green energy revolution, enabling the development and adoption of cleaner energy sources to help slow climate change. The Congresswoman has also endorsed the "Green New Deal", a forward thinking plan to strengthen our economy, address climate change and tackle income inequality through public investments renewable energy.
Locally, the Congresswoman continues working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see progress made on Superfund sites in New York like the Gowanus Canal, Newtown Creek and the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company. She remains committed to seeing these sites remediated, while protecting the needs of the local community and area businesses.
As our City has recovered from Sandy, Rep. Velázquez has steered federal resources toward ensuring our communities are more resilient to future weather catastrophes. She helped bring $511 million in federal resources to Lower Manhattan and the Lower East Side for flood and storm resiliency projects. $100 million has gone to Red Hook for innovative flood protection systems and the Congresswoman is working to secure additional funds. As our climate changes, New York may see additional flooding and storms in the future and it is important our City and neighborhoods be prepared.
Finally, Rep. Velázquez recognizes that we still face public health and environmental challenges from 9/11. She helped successfully push the extension and full funding of the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, which care for first responders and others suffering from 9/11-related ailments.
For all these efforts the Congresswoman has been recognized as a steadfast champion of the environment, receiving a 100% vote rating from the New York State League of Conservation Voters. She will continue working to protect our environment.
More on Climate Change and Environment
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Nydia M.
Brooklyn, NY –Earlier today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and New York State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon held a press conference to voice their concerns with the City’s Gowanus Neighborhood Rezoning Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The lawmakers, both of whom represent the Gowanus neighborhood, are urging the City to reevaluate the study, which they argue does not adequately consider the consequences of climate change in Gowanus or combined sewer overflow into the canal Superfund cleanup.
“The science is clear: Chlorpyrifos are a dangerous threat to our farmworkers, children and the overall public health. That’s why last week we sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency urging them to take action and get this neurotoxic pesticide out of our food before the court-ordered August 20th deadline. We’re pleased the EPA listened to our call and is finally banning the use Chlorpyrifos on our nation’s crops.
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez (D-NY) reintroduced a The National Coastal Resilience Data and Services Act (bill text can be found here). This bill will address present and future flooding risks, develop innovative and science-based solutions to combat the climate crisis, and create an interagency subcommittee on coastal flooding and sea level rise.
Washington, DC – As climate-related disasters have displaced an average of 20 million people every year over the past decade, Representative Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) today reintroduced legislation that would establish a national strategy to address global climate-driven displacement and provide the support needed to implement durable solutions for climate-displaced persons. As climate change continues to accelerate, the number of displaced persons due to climate change is only expected to rise.
Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) builds upon her efforts to bring green infrastructure to the forefront with the introduction of H.R. 1993, the Energy Efficient Public Buildings Act. This bill would establish a $4 billion dollar grant program through the Department of Energy to aid public buildings in upgrading and retrofitting fixtures to reduce energy consumption. This competitive grant program would allow hospitals, public libraries, community-based non-profits, and additional state and local governments to apply.
Washington, DC – As spring draws near, more public schools could soon become hands-on, green workshops on the environment and sustainability through Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez’s (D-NY) bill. The legislation, titled the Public School Green Rooftop Program would allocate federal resources towards implementing green roofs at public elementary and secondary schools. These roofs offer a sustainable, energy-efficient way of bringing green space to urban areas and have myriad educational benefits for students and the community at large.
Washington, DC—Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) has introduced the Paris Climate Agreement Disclosures Act, a bill that would require the U.S.
Washington, DC – Concerned with the detrimental health impact of coal ash waste piles and other byproducts of the coal industry, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has led 37 of her colleagues in a letter to Acting Administrator Jane Nishida of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calling upon the Agency to restore the 2015 Coal Ash Rule, which aims to protect communities from hazardous coal ash waste by regulating means of disposal.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) announced today that under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, the federal government will award the U.S.
