Archive for January 17, 2017

Countdown to the Long Beach BYO Bag Law

The Long Beach checkout bag law takes

effect on Earth Day, April 22, 2017.

 


 

there will be a commemorative kick off from the City of Long Beach with events to coincide, to help the public come together and make this positive change.

 

stay tuned for more info…

 Governor Cuomo commits to 2400 megawatts of off shore wind

 

 

img_5284In today’s state of the state address at Farmingdale State University, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced some fantastic news for off shore wind power.

New York will commit to *up to* 2400 megawatts of off shore wind power by 2030, including 800 in the area off Long Beach and the Rockaway Peninsula – enough for 1.25 million homes, and LIPA will go forward with the 90 megawatt project off Montauk.

Press release here

We thank Governor Cuomo for this and our work towards the largest realistic rapid deployment of climate protecting and environment-saving off shore wind will continue.

We believe it’s a solid beginning and will continue to advocate it not be too little,  too late, on such a long time line that anything could derail it.
Activists have been pushing for a large-scale, megawatt-specific commitment, and they got that part. They had been pushing for development of 5,000 of the 35,000 potential megawatts off our shore by 2025, with further commitments made  to achieve the amount needed for the Governor’s plan for New York to be powered by 50% renewable energy by 2030.  

Seen in context of this, though a solid beginning, there’s just no way the math will work to reach this goal in those 13 long years with this smaller amount of offshore wind.
The math:

2400 MW of rated wind power capacity would equal 

960 MW (40% capacity) which would produce 

8,409,000 MW hours of electricity a year: New York State currently uses 

137,122,000 per year. That would make off shore wind, eventually, 

6% at the END of the race. (Info courtesy US Energy Information Administration )

Can enough solar come to the rescue of that? We would have to have a 1200% increase in solar electricity production. That’s doubling what we have built so far in just the next year and continuing at that pace until 2030. It could be a compounded 30% increase every year- hard to imagine with incentives slashed, financing gone, and the easiest, most profitable sites already done.

The governor did also announce plans to fund the long sought after study on making New York State run on 100% renewable energy.

Governor Cuomo directs the Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to undertake a comprehensive study to determine the most rapid, cost-effective, and responsible pathway to reach 100 percent renewable energy statewide.

Happy for the commitment and thanks to the Governor for putting us on the path. We will take it, and it doesn’t mean we’re satisfied. We know together we can and must do more!

Event: 2017 Team Build Talk

To start the year, on Wednesday 1/4/17 at 7pm we will hold an informal talk at Long Beach Public Library
RSVP Here

Find out how together, we will support each other in the current political climate. Then, we will strengthen your ability to act, and be the solution to the issues at hand. Teams are forming now that will define our work this year- be a part of it!

Be part of the talk as we team up to discuss how to make our advocacy count this year with your volunteer help.

Help establish our media / quick response team to address the media as well as attacks on social media and other teams.

Work to help Long Beach eliminate single use bags, advocate for renewables-maybe even start our own project, fight bad investments in fossil fuels that can block renewables, and insist leaders take climate action.

We will talk of advocacy in the new bullying atmosphere, as environmental gains brace for attack. Instead, let’s build your power and organize around a message that makes the most impact.