Ellen Cardone Banks, Atlantic Chapter Conservation Chair
After several years of working to get the Climate Leadership and Community Protection act (CLCPA) signed into law in 2019, we are beginning to witness its implementation through the Climate Action Council and its various working groups, especially the Power Generation Group. The Sierra Club has been represented on the Power Generation group by Lisa Dix, Senior New York Manager of the Beyond Coal Campaign, who has been sharing reports of the working group’s process with chapter volunteer leaders.
The working groups delivered their reports at the end of April, with an overall scoping document to be prepared by the Climate Action Council in late 2021. Meetings at both levels are online and open to the public at https://climate.ny.gov.
We knew that the NY fracking ban was only the beginning of the end of fracked gas in our state. The gas industry will not give up easily and is finding new and creative ways to stay in business. It proposes to start new gas-fired power plants on the sites of existing plants, claiming that these are just upgrades, including Danskammer in the Hudson Valley and others in Queens and Brooklyn, all in heavily polluted environmental justice zones.
In effect, these plants would become stranded assets as the CLCPA will prohibit gas-fired power generation by 2040; meanwhile, Danskammer Energy proposes to convert to hydrogen some time before the 2040 deadline for carbon-emission-free electricity. The Sierra Club and other local and statewide groups in the Stop Danskammer Coalition object that there is neither a technological nor a realistic economic path to implementation of that plan.
Meanwhile, there are positive developments in power generation. Offshore wind in the Atlantic has already begun. On land, the Office of Renewable Energy Siting appears to be living up to its intention of reducing the delays in permitting that have caused wind and solar projects to be delayed for years. For example, the first utility-scale renewable energy project endorsed by the Atlantic Chapter, Heritage Wind, about 30 miles south of Lake Ontario in Orleans County, has received preliminary approval and is in a final public comment stage. (For information on how to participate in public comments, see below - the deadline is May 21st, 2021).
Before the Atlantic Chapter decides to support — or deny support to — a utility-scale renewable energy project, a process for evidence-based decisions must be followed. It will start with evidence gathered by local groups, with assistance from chapter and locally based national Sierra Club staff. It will then move to a chapter committee on utility-scale renewable energy, then to a chapter’s executive committee for a vote. There are many proposals for wind and solar projects in planning stages that will need to be reviewed.
While polls show that public approval for renewable energy is increasing, pockets of opposition and a national anti-renewable fear-mongering campaign remain, so we need to continue with fact- and science-based public education. The Atlantic Chapter and allied supporters of clean, renewable energy expect that local support will grow when neighbor communities see the benefits of utility-scale wind and solar projects, including negotiated PILOT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) agreements and other community benefits, as well as training and hiring for jobs with family-supporting wages, as well as when they see that the fears being promoted do not materialize.
While small solutions to clean energy to combat the climate crisis are important, such as rooftop solar, and while there is a massive need for energy conservation, storage and upgrades in transmission (all of which are included in the CLCPA), many scientific and economic studies conclude that the energy needs of the future cannot be met by small solutions alone and that utility-scale clean, carbon-free power generation is a necessary part of the mix. This can be accomplished on a small fraction of available land.
For example, a study in Maryland by Manhikjani (2021) reports that 4% of farmland in Maryland used for solar generation would meet the electricity needs of the entire state while much of this land can be simultaneously used for agricultural purposes. Like Maryland, New York State has a great deal of unused farmland. Solar energy not only helps farmers to stay in business by supplementing their income, but is also a far better alternative for farmers than selling land for non-reversible industrial development, such as warehouses and housing developments that contribute to sprawl and increase fossil fuel use for transportation.
Solar installations do no harm to soil and can be removed and restored if new forms of safe, renewable energy are discovered. Similarly, wind turbines occupy about one-fourth of an acre and are fully compatible with grazing and crops. We can meet our energy needs, mitigate climate change and have a healthier population while preserving land for growing food and for rural vistas.
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To send a comment to the Office of Renewable Energy Siting supporting Heritage Wind - Due May 21st, 2021:
1. (Preferred method:) https://ores.ny.gov/permit-applications, select Project DMM, matter #21-00026, then “post comments.” OR,
2. Email ORES at general@ores.ny.gov and reference Matter # 21-00026. OR,
3. Postal mail to: Office of Renewable Energy Siting, Empire State Plaza, 240 State St P-1 South J Dock, Albany NY 12242.
More information on wind and solar energy can be found on the Chapter webpage under “Clean Energy Bulletins.”