This Friday, April 22, will mark the 46th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebrations. On that day, the United States and China–who together emit a staggering 40 percent of global greenhouse gases–will sign and join the Paris Climate Agreement along with more 130 nations. It’s a critical step to reign in rising global temperatures within the  2°C mark–an increasingly elusive goal that might not go far enough.

The signing ceremony will be at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, just a few blocks from where some of the first-ever Earth Day gatherings took place back in 1970. Then-Mayor John Lindsay agreed to close roughly three miles of major Manhattan thoroughfares to traffic for the event including Fifth Avenue from Union Square to Central Park, and 14th Street between Third and Seventh Avenues.

In an interview with NBC that day, Mayor Lindsay emphasized the city’s efforts to expand its transit network and actively discourage car use in central business areas to reduce pollution. Then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller reportedly biked to Prospect and Union Parks to deliver his speeches.

That grand transit expansion plan, however, never fully manifested as the city narrowly skirted bankruptcy in the following years. Nearly a half-century later, the subway network is largely the same. Funding capital projects, improvements and even system maintenance remains a surprisingly controversial issue, and the likelihood of seeing Governor Cuomo pedaling (or even taking the bus) to a speech is about as likely as Senator Jim Inhofe finally learning the difference between weather and climate.

Transportation is the single largest source of ghg emissions in New York. Luckily Governor Cuomo isn’t a climate change denier — in fact his office put out an Earth Week press release today listing a number of climate initiatives, such as signing onto the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) MOU, the International ZEV Alliance and the 12-state Transportation and Climate Initiative. These are welcome moves, but there continues to be a disconnect between the state’s climate goals and how the governor directs transportation funds.

Governor Cuomo signed the Under 2 MOU and established a state clean energy plan, which are key actions. But he hasn’t put real dollars for the MTA capital program into the state budget as he had for roads and bridges. The governor also included funding in the state budget to study an underwater tunnel that would encourage more driving and proposed another toll break for drivers, this time for Thruway drivers meeting an incredibly low threshold of only $50 in tolls a year. And he has not supported a plan that could simultaneously provide much-needed revenue to the MTA and encourage more people to opt out of driving.

Governor Cuomo is certainly light years ahead of many other governors when it comes to his environmental record, and he has taken some (largely symbolic) measures toward reducing ghg emissions. But to be a leader in fighting climate change, these actions must accompanied by serious investments that support a less car-dependent future.

Support our fight for stronger transit networks and safer streets for biking and walking this Earth Day by making a contribution to our fundraising campaign.