[BwayDems] IMPORTANT re yesterday's email about the IDC and the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act

[Pat Almonrode]

Dear all - after I posted the email from Environmental Advocates of NY
yesterday criticizing Senator Alcantara and the other members of the IDC
for their stance on the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), a few club
members called the Senator's office. Please read the response that Jennifer
Herring got from the Senator's Special Counsel, below. It appears that EANY
was less than honest in their original email.

Pat

*From:* Susan Russell <susanrussell.law at gmail.com>
*Date:* March 22, 2017 at 8:00:18 PM EDT
*To:* Jennifer Herring [email address suppressed]
*Subject:* *DERA*

Hi Ms. Herring:

I was able to get some clarity about what was happening with respect to
DERA. I am sorry to say that the public has been completely misled by some
environmental activists.

First of all, there was no vote on any bill yet this year. There was a bill
voted in 2016 in which every member of the Senate - every Republican and
every Democrat  - chose to continue the suspension of the retrofitting. The
apparent reason for this is that vehicles are being replaced with new ones
and it is considerably cheaper for the state to replace rather than
retrofit. As of last year sometime, over 82% of state vehicles are in
compliance.

As I am sure you are aware, Marisol Alcantara was not a senator in 2016 and
she had no part in that decision.  Prior to 2016, most all senators
regularly voted to delay implementation after 2009.

There is currently a bill in the Environmental Conservation committee that
has not yet been voted out and so it has not reached the Senate floor. It
is Senate Bill S4404, which you can read on the website.

What appears to have happened is this: the IDC published a document of
budget suggestions some days ago that may not have included money for
further vehicle retrofitting. The proposal certainly was not inclusive of
everything that would ultimately be included in the budget. This along with
other multiple existing proposals would be discussed, negotiated and
integrated into a final state budget as per the normal process.  For
reasons that are unclear, an advocacy group used the existence of this
unofficial document as a basis to accuse Sen. Alcantara and other members
of the IDC of actually voting against DERA, the environment, and our
children's health.

They published what can only be characterized as completely false - there
has been no vote of any kind. For additional political effect, Simcha
Felder of Brooklyn was included in the publication. You may know that Sen.
Felder has caucused and voted with the Republicans since he took office in
2013 and is quite proud of it.

As you can imagine we are quite concerned about this flat out lie and its
affect on the community's perception of Sen. Alcantara. Marisol is a strong
supporter of all efforts to improve and protect our environment in all
aspects and is particularly concerned about the health and welfare of the
community she represents.

Not only was her previous work directly related to health, but she is the
mother of a 3 year old child who lives with her on the west side of
Manhattan. And while some may choose to be snarky about whether she cares
about the community, I'm sure no one would question that she cares deeply
about the well-being of her own child.

This entire screw-up sounds unbelievable but it actually happened and I am
left shaking my head. I hope this email gives you enough information. If
you have any questions, please feel free to call again. I am happy to talk
with you at any time about any issue.

In unity,

Susan M. Russell, Esq.
Special Counsel, Sen. Marisol Alcantara
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