Wake up, Long Island! Wake up, New York! Climate Change is Real.

Glen Cove, NY— Today, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) held a press conference to call out the Administration’s revocation of the ‘Endangerment Finding’ that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare—a move widely seen as a major setback to U.S. efforts to combat the climate crisis.

“We are here with a very simple message for the people of Long Island and New York: Wake up! Your insurance rates are going up, and Moody’s Investor Services reports that Long Island is the fourth most vulnerable place in the United States of America for the effects of climate change,” said Congressman Tom Suozzi. “This is affecting the quality of your life. We here on Long Island, right by the water right here, are subject to the effects of rising sea levels because the glaciers are melting. We are going to be affected when the permafrost in the arctic region starts to defrost, and all the methane gas comes out and causes more of these greenhouse gases. It affects our trees, it affects our wildlife, it affects nature, but it also affects us in real ways, like causing your insurance rates to go up, like damaging your properties, like making it so you are more subject to more floods and more storms.”

Suozzi was joined by Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment Adrienne Esposito, Michelle Lapinel McAllister and Nino Luciano from the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor, Eric Swenson of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, Matt Salton of the New York League of Conservation Voters, and Pete Budden of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Mr. Budden announced that the NRDC will be filing a lawsuit to challenge this decision tomorrow.

“We are messing with the divine creation of the earth: a thing that’s been gifted to us. And it’s been very resilient over most of history. But now the effects of what we are doing as human beings are punching it every single day, and I can’t take it anymore. So we have to wake up,” Congressman Suozzi added.

On February 12, President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the rollback of the ‘Endangerment Finding,’ a 2009 policy that concludes that greenhouse gasses are a threat to public health. This ruling underpins federal action to curb planet-warming gases and is the legal bedrock of efforts to rein in harmful emissions.

“The ‘Endangerment Finding’ was found in 2009, based on sound, good science. The reason it was called the ‘Endangerment Finding’ is because it put in danger our health, our economy, and our future… Climate change is costing us billions. In 2004 alone, we had 27 different climate tragedies throughout America. Extreme climate events, each one cost us 1 billion dollars per event, equating to over 30 billion dollars,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of the Citizens’ Campaign for the Environment. “We are impacting our planet. We need to act. We need to fight. When Congressman Suozzi called me yesterday, I said, ‘I’m so glad that you’re going to speak up and speak out because the silence from others is deafening.’ And silence portrays that we accept or we agree. We do not accept this. We do not agree with this. And we will not.”

“The ‘Endangerment Finding’ is the legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gasses... repealing it would significantly weaken federal authority to address pollution from major sources and protect public health. The evidence is clear. Climate change is increasing risk to our communities, infrastructure, and economy. These impacts are measurable and growing, and sustained action at the federal level is necessary to reduce them. Maintaining the ‘Endangerment Finding’ ensures continued progress for clean air, environmental stability, and regulatory certainty. We have a responsibility to uphold science-based policy and protect the health and security of future generations,” said Michelle Lapinel McAllister, Program Director of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor.

“The water body you see behind us and all the other water bodies on LI are part and parcel of the quality of life that we have here on LI. It’s the reason why people move here, it’s also very important to the economy of our land. 31 years ago, the nine local governments that share this harbor formed the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee to look out for its water quality. We made a lot of progress… We can do a lot, and we spent tens of millions of dollars to improve this harbor, and we’re enjoying the benefits of it. We don’t want to see that go backwards, and we will if this continues the way it is with the ‘Endangerment Finding.’ We need EPA to stand up, to do its job it’s designed to do and it’s created to do, and we need them now. Science is real, we need to base our decisions on science, not politics, and we need to start now,” said Eric Swenson, Executive Director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee.

“With the repeal of the ‘Endangerment Finding,’ President Trump and the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are accelerating their assault on our health, environment, and economic future. Clean air is not a partisan issue—it’s a human right. With this decision, it rewards polluters, weakens competitiveness of the necessary car manufacturers, and leaves families bearing the unacceptable cost of dirtier air. We are proud to stand with Congressman Suozzi and our fellow advocates to defend clean air and protect the health and the future of every New Yorker,” said Julie Tighe, President, New York League of Conservation Voters.

“Thank you to the Congressman for holding this event and for speaking out against the outrageous repeal of the ‘Endangerment Finding.’ By rolling it back, the Trump Administration is launching the single biggest attack in US history on the federal government’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis. It amounts to pure climate denial. Quite simply, this will make climate change worse, this will make air pollution worse, and it will raise costs for people across the country. It is stunning that once again this Administration is asking people not to believe what they see with their own eyes… The NRDC will not stand for it. It’s irresponsibly, it’s unscientific, and it is illegal. We will take this fight to the courtroom. We’re filing a lawsuit tomorrow, and we will win,” said Pete Budden, Senior Advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

“Long Island is the fourth most vulnerable place in the United States of America for any population center for the effects of climate change. Number one is San Francisco, number two is Cape Coral in Florida, number three is New York City—I also represent a piece of Queens—and number four is Long Island,” Congressman Suozzi said. “Over the past 50 years, Long Island has had more disaster locations than any other place in all of New York State. There have been dozens of dozens of disaster events. In the United States of America, in 2024, there were 27 severe weather events that caused over $1 billion in damages, $183 billion in total. In the year 2000, there were five. 27 in 2024, and five in 2000. So, this is real life.”

“The reason we are out here today, in the cold, out on the water here, is because we want to get more people who care about the earth; who care about climate change; who care about the effects this is going to have on your wallet; to actually start speaking up and speaking out about this issue. There is so much noise every day as they flood the zone with things to get us agitated, but this is an existential threat to us here on Long Island that we need to stand up and get people motivated to speak out against,” concluded Congressman Suozzi.

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