The Sustainable Future Fund Is a Down Payment on New York’s Clean Energy Future
New York has long been a national leader in protecting clean air and investing in healthier communities. Sometimes that means putting your money where your mouth is. With the creation of the $1 billion Sustainable Future Fund, Governor Kathy Hochul did just that, taking another meaningful step toward ensuring our state continues to lead, protect public health, create family-sustaining union jobs, and strengthen communities.
And while President Trump may joke that the United States is the “hottest country on the planet,” New Yorkers are feeling the very real consequences of the hottest years in recorded history. Governor Hochul showed what real leadership looks like: investing in solutions that protect New Yorkers’ health, jobs, and future.
The Sustainable Future Fund represents a deliberate choice to invest in the future of our state and the well-being of New Yorkers today.
Its reach will be felt across campuses, homes, and communities:
- SUNY and CUNY will receive $200 million to build out thermal energy networks, cutting emissions while modernizing infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of students.
- Programs like EmPower+ and expanded weatherization efforts will deliver $200 million in efficiency upgrades — cutting energy waste, lowering costs, providing relief to families facing high bills, and helping residents withstand extreme temperatures.
- $200 million will help kids get to school on clean electric school buses and deploy charging stations in communities next to dirty diesel truck depots.
These investments will improve air quality, reduce pollution, and create jobs.
These commitments show what it looks like when government puts people’s health and economic opportunity first. They also illustrate the everyday benefits of climate action: lower utility bills, cleaner air, and more resilient neighborhoods.
By investing in the Sustainable Future Fund, Governor Hochul has positioned New York to keep moving forward even as federal funding cuts threaten critical protections. Her decision underscores the fundamental truth that protecting the environment and creating good jobs are not competing priorities, but two sides of the same coin.
This investment is a beginning, not an end point. To meet our state’s climate commitments and deliver the healthier future New Yorkers deserve, we need to build on this foundation. That means long term funding to scale up renewable energy projects, ensure workers have access to training for union jobs, and continue to direct resources to the neighborhoods with the most pollution. It also means strengthening partnerships among government, business, labor, and community leaders so that every public dollar delivers maximum benefit.
New York has proven time and time again that we are resilient – and now in the face of national headwinds, we are ensuring that forward progress continues.
The challenge before us is not whether we can build a sustainable future. It is whether we will have the commitment to keep building on the progress already made. The Sustainable Future Fund points us in the right direction. Now we must seize the opportunity to go further and ensure that the benefits of the clean energy transition reach every New Yorker.
Julie Tighe is President of the New York League of Conservation Voters.
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