TCCPI is a multisector collaboration seeking to leverage the climate action commitments made by Cornell University, Ithaca College, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca, and the Town of Ithaca to mobilize a countywide energy efficiency effort and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Launched in June 2008 and generously supported by the Park Foundation, TCCPI is a project of the Sustainable Markets Foundation.

We are committed to helping Tompkins County achieve a dynamic economy, healthy environment, and resilient community through a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy. 

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. Photo by Tony Fischer licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"A Reckless Distraction"

Hochul directed the New York Power Authority to build at least one new nuclear facility in upstate New York in order to strengthen the state’s grid with zero-emission energy production. With large load projects in the pipeline, like the new Micron chip fabrication factory set to come to Central New York and an expansion of AI data centers, New York officials are anticipating significant new strain on the power grid that will require reliable sources of electricity as fossil fuel plants get shut down.

“So to power New York's future, we need three things: reliability, affordability, and sustainability,” Hochul said. “And nuclear drives all three.” The presidents and CEOs of Tech:NYC and Micron, and a top official with GlobalFoundries, all praised the governor in a press release announcing the nuclear facility, which they said will be a boon for the tech industry in New York.

The governor acknowledged that some will oppose the move. “I know there's going to be critics, there already are critics of nuclear,” Hochul said. And those critics, mostly clean energy and environmental advocates, quickly came out to condemn the planned return to nuclear energy after the state invested greatly to shut down old nuclear reactors. 

“Governor Hochul’s nuclear gamble is a reckless distraction from the clean, affordable energy New Yorkers actually need,” said Alex Beauchamp, northern region director at Food & Water Watch. “Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous, and wildly expensive — and this project will leave New Yorkers footing the bill while delaying urgently needed progress on renewables.” The Public Power NY Coalition, which has focused on getting NYPA to build 15 gigawatts of renewable energy, claimed that building a nuclear facility serves only to distract from wind and solar generation. 

Nuclear energy certainly comes with risks, including the threat of catastrophic meltdowns, radiation leaking into nearby communities and the waste disposal process. But the energy it produces is both zero-emission and steady, which are necessities according to the state’s independent grid operator. The New York State Independent Systems Operator (NYISO) has acknowledged, however, that financial considerations could limit the feasibility of expanding nuclear power. The 2025 Power Trends report concluded that “the commercial availability of advanced nuclear designs is uncertain.”

Next TCCPI Meeting

Friday, July 25, 2025

9 to 11 am

TCCPI meetings have moved online. Contact Peter Bardaglio, the TCCPI coordinator, for further details at pbardaglio@gmail.com.

Compromise Led to 100-Foot Repeal

But while the measure has passed in the Senate multiple times, it’s faltered on the floor of the Assembly, where critics say it could raise ratepayers’ costs and upset the reliability of the state’s energy infrastructure.

This year, sponsors state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Jo Ann Simon hedged their bets, rebranding the NY HEAT Act as “The Customer Savings and Reliability Act” and paring down some of its provisions to address Assembly concerns. They also introduced a stopgap measure — a single-issue second bill that would solely repeal the “100-foot rule,” a key provision of both the NY HEAT Act and its stripped-down successor.

The 100-foot rule had required utility companies to cover the cost of the first 100 feet of a new gas line connected to a customer’s property. By eliminating that charge, proponents hope it will deter people from getting gas hookups and also lower the costs for other ratepayers.

“I was nervous that the Assembly might not get there on the full package,” Krueger said. “At the end of the day, as the clock ticked and the Senate was literally leaving town, we both thought it was an important idea to just do a straight 100-foot rule repeal. So even if we didn’t get all the other pieces put together this year, we could at least get that done, because it’s crucial.”

Indeed, the Assembly moved only on the standalone bill Monday night, shifting the rest of the Customer Savings and Reliability Act’s provisions onto Democrats’ to-do lists for next year’s legislative session. Republicans in the Assembly rejected even the revised version of the bill, arguing that it would drive up costs for consumers by forcing them to retrofit their homes for electrical heating.

Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie said repealing the 100-foot rule wouldn’t “force” anyone to transition away from gas in their homes or take away the ability to connect homes to gas. Instead, he argued, it would cut costs for the existing utility ratepayers who currently shoulder the expense of connecting new homes to gas lines under the existing law.

Advocates were quick to claim the compromise as a victory. Laura Shindell, the New York State Director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement that repealing the 100-foot rule put an end to “one of the most egregious fossil fuel giveaways” in New York.

“It’s a really positive step,” Lisa Marshall, director of organizing and advocacy with New Yorkers for Clean Power, agreed, adding that the rest of the Customer Savings and Reliability Act leaves a roadmap for further action.

“The Assembly had multiple opportunities this session to do more about energy affordability,” she said. “This bill does cut bills for all New York gas ratepayers, but not in a dramatic amount that people are really going to notice — and we are in a time of rapid energy debt.”

Krueger said she is “very comfortable saying” that she would redraft a version of the bill that excluded the 100-foot rule repeal but took other steps to lower utility rates and facilitate the state’s gradual transition away from natural gas. Simon added that she plans to spend some of her off-session time answering questions from both members of the public and her fellow lawmakers about the impacts of the bill, although she said she is still in the “scheming stage” of how to facilitate that public education.

Cascadilla Creek flowing through the city. Photo by Franklin Crawford licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The following report is from Sujoy Chakma,a 2024-25 Fulbright Humphrey Fellow in the Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, at Cornell University. Sujoy has a master's degree in rural development and works with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a field program assistant in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, his home in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, a South Asian nation mostly surrounded by India, is considered one of the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to climate change. In fact, it was ranked as the seventh most vulnerable country in 2021 (Eckstein et el., 2021, Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Bangladesh).

Flashflood in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, 2024.

Climate Change Underway in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has 82 internationally recognized wetlands, the world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, and one of the most densely populated delta regions on the planet. Climate change is already significantly affecting ecosystems, livelihoods, and infrastructure in Bangladesh (Huq et al. 2024). Tropical cyclones, which cause severe economic loss in coastal Bangladesh, are becoming increasingly severe (Huq 2024). Pre-monsoon flooding probability has doubled due to climate change, with devastating consequences for rice production (Huq et al. 2024), and extreme heat is causing stress, death, and loss of productivity (Letsch et al. 2024).

Regional Variations in Bangladesh

As a result, climate migration has emerged as a critical challenge, with rising sea levels and frequent cyclones displacing millions from coastal regions. Research indicates that by 2050 over 13 million Bangladeshis could be forced to migrate internally due to climate-related impacts, particularly salinity intrusion and river erosion.

Bangladesh’s monsoon season runs from June to August, during which heavy rainfalls are seen. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly unpredictable, with unusually heavy rainfall leading to rivers overflooding and plain lands underwater. In addition, hilly areas experience a greater risk of landslides.

Bangladesh has two hill regions, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet. They are both vulnerable to climate change, although their issues are distinct due to their terrain and location. The Chittagong Hill Tracts are undergoing rapid change due to population pressures, agricultural expansion, and increased domestic tourism. Traditional cropping systems are being displaced by permanent agriculture, and unregulated tourism is endangering biodiversity-rich landscapes, rural villages, and fertile farmland. The unchecked development of hotels, businesses, and infrastructure poses a threat to lakes, forests, and sensitive ecosystems. Springs and springheads an essential source of water for local communities, are also drying up. The region's unstable hill slopes are under increasing strain from environmental uncertainty, human activity, climate change, and unsustainable land use, and these threats pose significant issues for populations that rely on these ecosystems.

Sylhet also faces increasing climate-related risks, including flash floods, waterlogging, and wetland degradation. Heavy rainfall and upstream river flow frequently submerge low-lying haor (wet land) areas, damaging crops and fisheries. Unplanned urban growth and changing land use further strain its sensitive wetland ecosystems and rural livelihoods. The recent floods in Sylhet reveal much about the impact of climate change.

A Question of Climate Inequity

Poorer people in the developing world are likely to be disproportionately affected by climate change. They are predominantly engaged in agriculture and industrial production and face greater resource constraints. In Bangladesh, the largest share of the workforce (40%) is employed in agriculture, followed by manufacturing (14.4%) (Bangladesh Labour Force Survey 2016-17). One in every three households dependent on agriculture and one in five dependent on manufacturing live below the poverty line (“Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016,” 2019).

As a country, Bangladesh emits only a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. In 2023, the average person in Bangladesh emitted 1.61 metric tons of CO2e per year. The US, in contrast, emitted 17.61 metric tons per person, nearly 11 times more.

Yet this crisis is not equitably borne. Historical data show that over 90 percent of global CO2 emissions until the mid-20th century emanated from industrialized economies of the Global North. The US and the European Union together emit more than 60 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Nations such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Chad, whose people continue to suffer from floods, droughts, rising sea levels, and food insecurity, have contributed insignificantly to these emissions.

The Bangladesh government is working to promote laws protecting the environment. The country has enacted robust legislation, including the Environment Conservation Act (1995), the Environment Court Act (2010), the Wildlife Conservation and Security Act (2012), and the River Protection Commission Act (2013). Yet enforcement remains uneven, hindered by bureaucratic inertia, a lack of adequate environmental tribunals, technical resources, and limited public awareness.

Collaboration with the US and other developed nations could help accelerate the adoption of clean energy technology and mitigation measures that would further reduce the impact of climate change in Bangladesh. Despite significant gains in reducing the human toll from climate disasters, Bangladesh continues to face severe and increasing climate risks. Without urgent action, including further adaptation and resilience measures, the country’s future could be at risk.

References:

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bangladesh. https://moef.gov.bd/

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://www.fao.org/bangladesh/en/

The Daily Star News, Bangladesh. https://www.thedailystar.net/environment

BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, Bangladesh. https://bigd.bracu.ac.bd/

https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/climate-adaptation-bangladesh