New Yorkers vote for $4 billion in environmental bonds

Voters in New York approved a ballot measure Tuesday that would issue more than $4 billion in bonds for climate and environmental infrastructure in the state.

The measure, the largest bond issue in the Empire State’s history, passed with just over 59 percent of the vote, according to data from the New York State Board of Elections. Just under 29 percent of voters opposed it, with 12.1 percent leaving the question unanswered.

The measure — the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act — includes $4.2 billion for environmental projects, including about $1.5 billion for infrastructure such as air and water pollution mitigation, $1.1 billion on flood resilience, $650 million on land conservation, and $650 million for wastewater and sewage.

Specific provisions in the measure also include $500 million to electrify the state’s school buses by 2035 and another $500 million for offshore wind projects.

Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) first proposed the bond issue in 2020 but had it pulled that summer, saying the COVID-19 pandemic made it financially untenable. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a budget including the issuance of the debt in April of this year.

Hochul, who was elected to a full term Tuesday, hailed the results of the vote in a tweet Wednesday, writing, “New Yorkers had a historic opportunity to invest in clean water, upgrade our infrastructure, and create good-paying jobs — and they took it!”

In 2019, New York state passed a legislative mandate to cut emissions by 40 percent by the end of the decade compared to 1990 and by 85 percent by 2050 as well as a completely zero-emissions grid by 2040. The mandate also requires the state to obtain 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.