Governor Kathy shuts off the gas

 

NY Post

Siding with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the environmental left, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday killed two proposed natural gas-powered projects in Queens and upstate Newburgh.

State Department of Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos said both proposals failed to comply with the state’s “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” to reduce carbon emissions.

Power company NRG said the project would retrofit its 50-year-old natural gas-burning plant near the Robert Kennedy/Triborough Bridge and claimed it would cut polluting carbon emissions.

The Astoria plant is called a “peaker” facility because it provides needed additional power to the electric grid during peak usage, such as during summer heat waves when millions of New Yorkers blast their air conditioners.

“Our review determined the proposed project does not demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The proposed project would be inconsistent with or would interfere with the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits established in the Climate Act,” Seggos said in a statement denying the permit.

“Astoria NRG failed to demonstrate the need or justification for the proposed project notwithstanding this inconsistency.”

Seggos rejected the Danskammer Energy Center’s proposed natural-gas powered project in Newburgh on identicial grounds.

Hochul hailed the action taken by her environmental agency.

“I applaud the Department of Environmental Conservation’s decisions to deny the Title V Permits for the Danskammer Energy Center and Astoria Gas Turbine Power, LLC in the context of our state’s clean energy transition. Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, and we owe it to future generations to meet our nation-leading climate and emissions reduction goals,” the governor said in a statement.

The proposed project is in the district of Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) — opponents of the project .

Ocasio-Cortez, a proponent of the Green New Deal to phase out carbon-spewing fossil fuels, rallied against the Astoria power plant, which would burn natural gas produced by fracking, during an Earth Day celebration in April.

“We’re not going to allow our water to be compromised. We’re not going to allow our air to be compromised,” the congresswoman said.

NRG, in a statement, called Hochul’s decision a mistake, saying there are “not enough renewable resources” to “keep the lights on in New York City today.”

“It’s unfortunate that New York is turning down an opportunity to dramatically reduce pollution and strengthen reliable power for millions of New Yorkers at such a critical time,” said Tom Atkins, NRG’s vice president of development.

“NRG’s Astoria Replacement Project would have provided immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and would have been fully convertible to green hydrogen in the future.

NYCHA residents give green light to green energy hub

 

 Queens Eagle

 Over 1,000 residents from Western Queens NYCHA developments and leaders of the NYCHA branch of the NAACP endorsed a project that would bring renewable energy from upstate through the Ravenswood Generating Station on Monday.

The Catskills Renewable Connector is in the last phase of review by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as part of an initiative to ease the city’s reliance on fossil fuel energy.

“Environmental justice is a civil rights issue,” said Lynn Spivey, president of the NAACP-NYCHA branch. “For generations, communities of color have been forced to live next to toxic plants – poisoning the air they breathe, spreading illness and asthma, and limiting the spaces where their children can play.”

“Now is the time for justice,” she added. “This proposal, this moment, is our opportunity to come together and create healthy, sustainable communities for everyone.”

The 1,200 MegaWatt project would transform the fossil fuel-powered plant into a conduit for renewable energy, slashing the city’s carbon emissions equivalent to taking nearly 400,000 cars off the road, according to Ravenswood Generating owners Rise Light and Power.

If the proposal is selected by NYSERDA, it would lower carbon dioxide emissions by 15 percent in New York City and by 10 percent across the state by 2030 through the delivery of wind and solar power.

In addition to CO2, fossil fuel-powered plants emit other greenhouse gases and particulate matter which contribute to air pollution — a problem residents of the neighborhood dubbed “asthma alley” are eager to remedy.

de Blasio comes out against Astoria power plant because it's not green enough

 

 LIC Post

Mayor Bill de Blasio has come out against NRG Energy’s proposal to overhaul its Astoria power plant, saying that the plan should be nixed since the plant would continue to rely on fossil fuels.

The mayor joins more than a dozen elected officials who have come out against the proposal over the past year arguing that the plant should tap into renewable energy sources.

NRG plans to replace its 50-year-old Astoria Generation Station with a natural gas-fired generator that it says would significantly reduce its carbon footprint at the site.

But the mayor, like many other elected officials, argues that the plant should rely on green energy.

“We must break our addiction to fossil fuels,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “The best way to do that is to champion projects that put us on a path to clean energy and stand against projects that reinforce our addiction.”

De Blasio also announced his opposition to the replacement of a power plant located in Gowanus, Brooklyn, operated by the Astoria Generating Company. That company plans to overhaul one of its two plants—which is powered by natural gas‐fired units. It will also close the plant that isn’t upgraded.

The mayor says that NRG and Astoria Generating Company should be building plants that don’t depend on “fracked gas.”

“Replacing the Astoria and Gowanus plants are the wrong projects. We need our partners to explore solutions that advance our transition to a green economy, because those are the solutions that ensure a healthy and safe future for all New Yorkers,” de Blasio said.

The Mayor, at his press briefing Monday morning, added that the plants “would take us backwards, not forwards.”

“They are plants that would unfortunately place us in the past,” he said, noting that it would continue “a fossil fuels dependency.”

“They should not be allowed to go forward,” he said.

It's going to get pretty dark in LIC and Astoria pretty soon. On the bright side, at least a lot of people moved so some energy will be conserved.