Trouble ahead for environmentalists under Cuomo?
The green community has been scrambling to get the pulse of Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo.
Unlike Eliot Spitzer, Cuomo doesn’t have a big track record from his time as Attorney General as an enviro-policy guy.
So in my conversations with conservation leaders, I’ve been hearing a lot of tea-leaf reading, a lot of speculation about early indicators about his attitude and agenda.
Now comes the news that Cuomo is reappointing Larry Schwartz to continue as Senior Advisor on the second floor.
Larry Schwartz has agreed to remain in the Executive Chamber to serve as Senior Advisor to the Governor. Mr. Schwartz’s role will be to assist with the transition. Mr. Schwartz currently serves as Secretary to Governor David A. Paterson.
Schwartz made headlines earlier this year when he fired Environment commissioner Peter Grannis — a green-group favorite — for writing a memo opposing DEC job cuts. The memo was leaked to reporters.
“Many of our programs are hanging by a thread,” it stated. “The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas. DEC is in the weakest position that it has been since it was created 40 years ago.”
Schwartz responded with an email (which Grannis gave to reporters) that read as follows:
“This is to remind you that you are not to report to work tomorrow. If I don’t hear back from you by 10 a.m. tomorrow a press release will go out without your input. Failure to comply with this request and what I discussed with you today will result in your immediate termination tomorrow morning and the press release will reflect that.”
Grannis has since joined one of the state’s most prominent conservation groups in New York.
There have also been rumbles that Schwartz opposes spending taxpayer money to acquire more parcels of state land in the Adirondacks.
None of this is definitive. But until we know more about Cuomo’s policy agenda, news like this will make green leaders nervous.
Tags: environment, politics
“There have also been rumbles that Schwartz opposes spending taxpayer money to acquire more parcels of state land in the Adirondacks.”
As would almost any reasonable person. I mean, next year’s deficit is only 10 billion.
Most of the land purchases over the past few years have been unwise economically.
People always grumble about land purchases at the time but in retrospect they almost always turn out to be very good.
I have to disagree Knuck. I don’t see why it’s “very good” for the State to own all that land. Just my perspective, but it just removes all that land from use forever and ever.
Seems perfectly normal for the State to buy additional land or acquire easements within a State Park; especially if they are priority parcels identified in the Open Space Plan.
Myown,
Perhaps in ordinary times, but these are far from being ordinary times. The fact that so many people refuse to acknowledge the need for cuts in nonessential services is why the state is in its current situation.
This will not be a winning strategy for the Dem Pres nomination in 2016, which is what it’s all about. He’s not a Democrat, and progressive NYers will demonstrate to that effect. He can expect a serious primary challenge in 2014.
There are many options for addressing the budget gap which would actually improve the NY economy, and build Cuomo’s base; neither job layoffs nor land purchases are among these.
One would be to make a big deal of the fact that NY only gets back $.80 on every dollar it sends to Washington. That 20% would more than fill the state budget gap.
A longer term strategy would be to more aggressively incentivize decentralized development of renewable energy infrastructure; this could be done through creative tax incentives for financiers and NY-based equipment manufacturers as well as homeowners. A new profit center for Capital, non-exportable jobs, energy import substitution, climate change mitigation… now there’s something one could take to the next Dem convention…