This summer OpenAir worked closely with Assemblyman Robert Carroll (44th A.D.- Brooklyn) to produce the New York State Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Leadership Act. With input from no fewer than ten academic experts, advocates and industry stakeholders, the bill is the first in the state to directly take aim at the carbon emissions profile (and carbon removal potential) of concrete. The bill, which will have a number in a few days, would require the State to factor “embodied carbon” measurements in the procurement of concrete for public infrastructure projects – roads, buildings, sidewalks, etc. The policy includes a special incentive for concretes that involve the capture and storage of carbon in the material and specifically names “direct air captured carbon dioxide” as one qualifying source.
This will be the Collective’s first open legislation initiative. The timing is right and we have high hopes for the bill’s passage in New York State, but even bigger ambitions that the bill will be embraced by other states and therefore have a wider and deeper impact in time. For that to happen we are gearing up for a significant member mobilization to engage, educate and ultimately pressure our state assembly and senate leaders to sponsor and pass the bill in the 2020 session, which starts in January.
If you are up for joining this effort and taking a lead in your own district – be it in New York or elsewhere – please sign up in the Join Us form below. We’ll be in touch!!
For additional context and background on the bill and why it matters, check out this longer “deep dive” version of the explainer below.
