New Yorkers needed only to look outside this summer to know that the climate crisis is upon us. In just one month we were hit with heat wave after heat wave, saw our air choked with wildfire smoke, and watched our streets become lakes after flash floods. Our phones even lit up with tornado warnings.

Climate chaos is the new normal that corporate-funded leaders chose for us. Unless we act now, the crisis will only get worse. New York has the tool to build the livable future we deserve: public renewable energy. It’s time we use it.

Publicly-owned energy already exists in New York and across the country. Most of our upstate hydropower was built by the public sector and continues to provide some of the most affordable energy we use. Across the country, public power customers pay 14% less and have more reliable service. When we treat electricity as the essential public good that........

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