Reed Hundt, CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital, congratulates Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York for his proposal yesterday, in his State of the State message, to create a $1 billion New York State green bank “to leverage public dollars with a private-sector match to spur the clean economy for the state of New York”.
The Governor’s message states that “a NY Green Bank offers a cost-effective market mechanism to capitalize on this opportunity, unleashing green technologies and the many benefits that will come with them.” It also states that “the NY Green Bank would overcome a number of obstacles and uncertainties in the clean energy sector, including unstable federal funding and policy, uncoordinated action and disparate one-time subsidies at the state level, a lack of appropriate financial instruments. The lowering of other barriers would enable clean energy markets to function more fluidly, connecting green projects with investors and capital.”
Hundt praised Governor Cuomo for his leadership in energy policy finance and innovation. Hundt stated that New York has now joined the State of Connecticut in setting up the nation’s first green banks and that the Coalition for Green Capital will be working this year in many other states to set up these banks. Hundt said that green bank financing will substantially lower the cost of clean energy and move us towards the goal of producing clean energy at or lower then the price of existing sources of energy. He added that green banks provide loans that will be repaid, thus echoing Governor Cuomo’s statements that green banks will take the burden of funding off taxpayers, and that green banks will provide many green jobs, bringing long-term benefits to society and the environment by contributing to the mitigation of climate change.
Governor Cuomo also announced that former member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition for Green Capital, Richard Kauffman, will join his cabinet as the new Chairman for New York Energy Policy and Finance. One of his first responsibilities will be to develop the Governor’s newly proposed NY Green Bank. Hundt said that Richard Kauffman’s extensive work in the US Department of Energy as a senior advisor to Secretary Chu combined with experience in the private sector working for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Good Energies, Inc., ensures that New York’s energy programs have first rate leadership.
Source: Coalition for Green Capital, January 10, 2013.