Loss aversion is built into us as humans. Psychologists say that to accept a potential loss, we may even need a possible payoff twice as big before we're willing to take the risk.

This may partly explain New York's slow-walked implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Reaching our renewable future means leaving behind fossil fuel habits that have grown comfortably familiar.

Yes, the energy transition involves loss. But not acting fast enough will bring even bigger losses, and we're not talking enough about that risk.

Climate risk is dynamic, and destabilization progresses inexorably. The portion of the Earth that is already unbearable is growing. As can be seen in the 2024 New York State Climate Impacts Assessment, we're in danger of significant, effectively permanent, harm here at home in this generation. No one would knowingly risk this.

Some decision-makers are using affordability concerns to argue we should slow implementation. But the New York Independent System Operator has shown that electricity prices are closely linked to gas market volatility, not expenditures on renewables. Lower dependency on gas insulates states from this upward price pressure.

We need to cart out "Don't risk our livable climate!" signs and insist that local, state and federal elected officials answer the question: "What's your plan for protecting us from the relentless destabilization of our climate system?" We must insist on a public discussion of the costs of delayed action.

The future is bright, but only if we protect the CLCPA and channel the state's resources towards implementing it.

The writer is the environmental specialist for the League of Women Voters of Albany County.