Roundtable: Paul Tonko

Q: The amount of crude oil being shipped by train through New York has increased significantly. Is that a problem?

PT: Yes, for many reasons. There are safety issues that put our communities and first responders at risk. There are noise problems that make some neighborhoods unlivable. And, in the long term, there are environmental problems with our continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Q: The state says it has taken action in response to concerns about oil trains. In your opinion, is New York doing enough?

PT: I agree that the governor’s office recognizes this as an urgent problem. However, New York can only do so much when we have a deadlocked Congress in Washington, D.C. I have worked with the administration, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, to expedite regulations, and I have urged members on the House Appropriations Committee to provide full funding for safe shipment of energy products like Bakken crude. However, we will never completely wipe out these problems until we “think outside the barrel” and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

Q: New York took funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to cover spending items in the state budget. Does that put the RGGI at risk?

PT: Any time that money gets reallocated from a program like RGGI, I am concerned. When we sweep these dollars away, we handicap our ability to spend less time and money on cleanup and rebuilding after the next natural disaster. RGGI is the kind of market-based approach that economists and environmentalists support. New York has led the nation in the way we approach and address climate change, and we just have to show the rest of the country that a cleaner environment and economic growth go hand in hand.