Gov. Andrew Cuomo turned his attention to clean energy in Wednesday’s State of the State address.

Gov. Cuomo laid out a roadmap, powered by green energy, on how New York will reimagine and rebuild the state’s power grid and supply. 

“Nature is telling us, do something or I will,” said Gov. Cuomo, “We need a transformative green energy system that can sustain itself and the state’s needs.”

To make that happen, Gov. Cuomo announced a four-point plan. 

The plan includes building large-scale renewable projects, starting New York manufacturing, building green power transmission capacity, and creating a green energy workforce training program. 

“All four elements must be simultaneous and synchronized in order to achieve scale and a viable system. That is our challenge and that is what we must do,” said Gov. Cuomo. 

The plan also includes a $29 billion investment to create thousands of jobs and over 12,000 megawatts of green power. 

Gov. Cuomo says the changes would reduce the state’s carbon emissions by 16 metric tons each year. 

“These projects will allow us to meet the electricity demands of 1.2 million New York homes with renewable energy. This, my friends, is the boldest investment in any transmission system in the country and in New York, we know that we can get it done,” said Gov. Cuomo. 

One of the nearly 100 renewable projects is an offshore wind turbine hub at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. 

Councilmember Carlos Menchaca reacted to the news on Twitter writing, “This is a first step to create hundreds of well-paying jobs and commitment to protect our environment. “

Gov. Cuomo also stressed the importance of distributing this new clean power equally to Black and brown communities. 

“Communities of color have borne the brunt of dirty power plants and harmful emissions. This has led to higher rates of asthma and other adverse health effects. Many of these effects were actually the causes of the increased death rates from COVID,” said Gov. Cuomo.