Campaigns

Spring Street Climate Fund invests in high-impact campaigns working to build grassroots power and win scalable climate policy solutions in New York State. We focus on these priority areas:

NY HEAT

  • Transition our state off gas in a planned way that saves money for utility customers.

  • Win the NY HEAT Act, which would wind down New York’s gas distribution network, stop the expansion of gas pipelines, and save money for utility customers in the process.

  • Last year, the Governor endorsed key elements of the bill and we won support for NY HEAT from the State Senate — but not the State Assembly. In the year ahead, we will be doubling down on our efforts to pass this bill in the State Assembly and make NY HEAT a reality... Last year, Spring Street coordinated a statewide accountability effort that targeted more than 30 Assembly Members in their districts, highlighting their failure to pass a common-sense bill that would save money for utility customers. This year, we are already planning to ramp up the operation, holding our elected leaders accountable for their actions… or in this case, their inaction.

Local Law 97

  • Retrofit New York City’s existing buildings to be energy-efficient and fossil fuel-free.

  • Win full enforcement of Local Law 97, New York City’s landmark building decarbonization law.

  • To succeed at enforcing Local Law 97, we will need to win on two fronts: political accountability to enforce the law, and support for building owners to comply. As part of this work, we launched the Green Co-op Council, a new grassroots organization of co-op owners pushing for support to help clean up their buildings. Just months old, the Green Co-op Council has taken the lead role in pushing for New York City to renew a tax abatement that would help more than 160,000 New Yorkers save money on steps they take to comply with Local Law 97 and decarbonize their buildings.

Bucks for Boilers

  • Win 100% emissions-free buildings across New York State! Last year, we won statewide legislation requiring new buildings to be fossil fuel-free. Working with the same coalition, we are now fighting to decarbonize New York’s six million existing buildings.

  • Pass the Bucks for Boilers proposal, which will create new requirements to phase out gas and oil boilers in the coming decades, paired with significant state subsidies to ensure that households save money in the transition.

  • Last year, we helped coordinate a strong coalition effort to launch the Bucks for Boilers campaign from the ground up: to recruit partners, negotiate legislative language, and lay the groundwork for a powerful organizing effort that can build support for the campaign. Using data commissioned by Spring Street, the campaign launched publicly in April, and has signed on more than 20 co-sponsors so far across both houses of the legislature.

Clean Rides

  • Shift billions of dollars of federal and state investment away from highway expansion and toward transit, biking and walking as reliable alternatives.

  • In the coming years, billions of dollars in federal transportation funding will be distributed nationwide, largely through state governments. Our campaign is pushing to ensure that those funds are invested strategically and equitably in sustainable modes of transportation. As a first step, we are supporting a statewide coalition backing a new law that would require New York State to achieve a 20% reduction in vehicle miles traveled by 2050.

  • Spring Street is managing the coalition work for New Yorkers for Transportation Equity, a powerful group of advocates convening to demand that our elected leaders invest in transit, biking and walking — a key component of the state’s long-term climate strategy.

Movement Building

  • Spring Street launched a leadership training program for campaign staff and volunteer leaders; to date, we have trained more than 100 participants on legislative strategy, press and media engagement, and selecting and managing successful campaigns.

  • Through our grantmaking to grassroots partners, we help to resource vital power-building and advocacy efforts to win our priority goals.

  • We also now offer fiscal sponsorship to emerging mission-aligned organizations and projects. We help grassroots partners to receive and manage funds, adhere to legal compliance, and streamline logistics so they can focus on their policy, communications and organizing work.

Interested in learning more?

We continue to expand our efforts to build power and strengthen the fight for bold climate policy. Thank you to our donors who make this work possible and add vital capacity and support to the climate movement in New York.