Adil Trehan, adil.trehan@sierraclub.org, 202-630-7275
Albany, NY — Today, 65 organizations from across New York State sent a letter urging Governor Kathy Hochul to reject a petition filed by the Independent Power Producers of New York (IPPNY), the NYS AFL-CIO, and BTC with the Public Service Commission that calls for adding to the State’s Clean Energy Standard a new tier of non-renewable “zero-emitting” electric generating resources such as hydrogen, nuclear, biogas, and new gas plants with carbon capture and storage.
The letter calls on Governor Hochul to reject the petition to protect the integrity of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and its zero-emission electricity mandates. The co-signers of the letter are groups advocating for climate justice, environmental protection, public health, and community welfare, including many individuals who served on the Power Generation Advisory Panel to the Climate Action Council.
The organizations raised serious concerns with how the petition defines “zero-emission.” When coupled with the petition’s false sense of urgency, the result would be to force ratepayers to subsidize additional fossil fuel generation resources rather than truly zero emissions dispatchable technologies the petition purports to advance. These are unproven in New York and not commercially available meaning electric customers will end up subsidizing the fossil fuel status quo and further burdening environmental justice communities from the development of facilities releasing harmful emissions and co-pollutants. Advocates urged the state to instead focus on accelerating deployment of proven zero-emission technologies like battery storage, which are excluded from the petition’s proposal, and pursue other means to bring promising technologies like multi-day storage to market.
The petition has been published in the State Register and the Public Service Commission is requesting comments on it.
“This petition presents an Orwellian attempt to make “zero emissions” a tent large enough to include fracked gas plants and polluting combustion technologies, undermining the intent and impact of the Climate Act,” said Allison Considine, NY Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club. “New York’s near term focus should be on achieving, and exceeding, the 70% by 2030 target for renewable energy, with livable wage standards and labor provisions that advance equity and opportunity in the green economy without any pollution.”
“New York can’t achieve a zero emissions future if it accepts power plant owners’ proposal to force ratepayers to subsidize fossil fuel-based energy production. We know burning fossil fuels harms the climate and threatens public health, particularly in environmental justice communities, and there is simply no basis to pretend that fossil fuel resources can be zero emissions. We have to reject all efforts aimed at undermining our climate goals and focus on truly renewable solutions that include robust labor standards,” said Mandy DeRoche, Deputy Managing Attorney in the Coal Program at Earthjustice.
“Fighting back against the climate crisis makes one major demand of us: stop burning things. If we are to be successful in our efforts, we cannot afford to waste precious time and resources continuing to find new ways to prop up the dirty fossil fuel industry. Our focus must remain steadfast on proven zero-emission solutions,” said Conor Bambrick, Director of Climate Policy at Environmental Advocates NY.
“New York ratepayers should not be subsidizing new fracked gas plants, but that’s what could happen if this petition is approved,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. “For too long, environmental justice communities have borne the burden of polluting fossil fuel infrastructure. New York must advance climate justice and reject false solutions like those proposed in the petition that will further pollute communities and make it harder to build the equitable and healthy energy system that New Yorkers deserve.”
“The Western New York Environmental Alliance believes it is imperative that Governor Hochul reject the deeply flawed and misguided petition to incentivize non-renewable energy sources in New York State,” said John Whitney, Chairperson of Western New York Environmental Alliance. “This is the opposite of what New York State needs to be doing if we hope to have timely and meaningful impacts on climate change prevention, mitigation, and resilience and as we work to achieve the critical climate and clean energy goals and objectives of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.