Environment

Stewardship of our environment is a serious responsibility. Too often this issue is presented in politics as a binary choice between being pro-environment or pro-business. Americans can and should encourage both. George believes government, businesses, and citizens should work together on common-sense solutions such as the Manhattan Project for Clean Energy Independence. Sen. Alexander’s bold and comprehensive five-year plan of action to put America on the path to clean energy independence would include:

• Doubling federal funding for clean energy research.
• Bringing carbon sequestration into broad-scale use.
• Encouraging private innovation for emerging technologies.

This would result in a cleaner environment, reduced trade deficit and lessened reliance on foreign oil.

George also believes in:

• Reforestation to reduce urban heat islands: New York, like all cities, experiences heat retention which drives energy use; contributing to this issue is urban deforestation. The U.S. loses approximately 36 million urban trees every year. Reforestation would yield many positive benefits including urban climate moderation, improved air and water quality, and reduced CO2 and building energy use.
• Property protection: George supports the continued study and construction of barriers—berms, wetlands restoration, raised parks, and sea walls—to protect our city and property against traumatic events like Hurricane Sandy.
• Moving past bisphenol A (BPA): As an endocrine disruptor, BPA is a severe threat to human and animal life. We need to catch up to the rest of the world by phasing out the use of BPA plastics.
• Eliminating plastic in the ocean: China alone dumps more than 3.5 million metric tons of plastic into the ocean annually; it is the world’s worst culprit in this regard. This practice that every country contributes to is destroying water-life ecosystems. A scalable and reliable method of cleaning up plastic needs support and focus from our government. We must do what is economically feasible to continue moving towards biodegradable plastics and increased recycling.

Suozzi supports Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s “Green New Deal.” This radical agenda will take over and destroy the American economy: the estimated cost to the taxpayer is $93 trillion. Suozzi and AOC’s absurd plan would eliminate all fossil fuels but offers no plan for replacing the 98.5% of our energy dependent on traditional sources. As a result, agricultural production would collapse, supply chains would be significantly disrupted, and all air travel would be eliminated. This is a reckless and dangerous plan that George will fight to thwart an economic ruin.