Efforts to directly remove carbon from the atmosphere would be funded under a proposed measure by Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, along with provisions meant to curtail more carbon from entering the environment.

The proposal was made as a key international climate change conference is being held in Scotland, meant for countries around the globe to negotiate ways of curtailing the effects of global warming.

Fahy's bill backs state funding meant to bolster efforts for direct carbon removal in New York. The bill would also bar the use of any carbon removed during this program in the extraction of either oil or gas.

It also not allow the newly procured carbon removal to be counted as part of an offset program.

"This law will not only reduce legacy carbon already in our atmosphere, it will also attract and stimulate growth of new companies, new jobs and new economic opportunities across the state," Fahy said in a statement.

New York is already planning a shift to non-fossil fuel sources of energy in the coming decades and an eventual phase-out of gas-powered cars and trucks. At the same time, lawmakers are calling for measures meant to protect the state further from the effects of devastating storms attributed to the changing climate.

Most recently, the remnants of a hurricane in the New York City area saw widespread flooding and dozens of deaths from a faster-than-expected storm surge.

The bill introduced by Fahy is meant to provide a complement to the law shifting New York's energy sources, known as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA.

"This bill sharpens the CLCPA – which allows for a 15% carbon removal or offset component in statewide climate goals – by setting a clear preference for durable carbon removal over carbon offsets," she said.