Today-Several dozen concerned citizens, hosted by The Sierra Club, were literally “calling” on LIPA to invest in clean, renewable energy.
Those calls were to let LIPA know that instead of sticking all of us into long range contracts that will keep Long Island fossil fuel-dependent for many decades to come, they must pursue clean energy.
LIPA is deciding over this week how they are going to replace their old power plants and how they are going to provide the additional power Long Island’s growth is demanding.
Today, The Sierra Club and Community Voices for Clean Energy are calling on all of us to let LIPA know that the only way is ahead to renewables, and not to go back to dirty fossil fuels!
You can make a difference, LIPA is listening!! heres how:
instructions for calling LIPA. Let them know you want renewable energy!
Rally Tuesday, September 25, 2012 here at the Town of Hempstead’s Point Lookout Clean Energy Park Wind Turbine. Let LIPA know we want them to move into the future for their energy generation needs by investing in and delivering more renewable energy!
Thanks for the wake up from Sea By The City about this rally tomorrow:
Very important: LIPA is deciding how they are going to make electricity for the next 30-50 years. They are going to invest in some kind of power plants. They need to decide NOW.
WE need to TELL them to do it with clean, renewable energy: wind, solar etc.
A recent report showed that by the year 2050, if we go full on into replacing all old power plants with renewable energy now, while doing moderate energy efficiency, the U.S. will SAVE over 5 TRILLION dollars versus not changing to renewable energy, while creating hundreds of thousands of permanent jobs!
If we don’t, and stick with old dirty energy, it will COST US THE SAME to build the power plants, PLUS THEN WE WILL SPEND that 5 TRILLION ON FUELS(coal, oil, natural gas etc) to generate the electricity!!! And all we’ll have to show for that extra $5 trillion will be more pollution, more climate change, and more of all the other problems we have right now because of those things.
We need to change over, we need to do it now, and we need to say so!!
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officials and Fracking Interests are running hand in hand… so what about the Environmental Conservation interests of New Yorkers?
Disturbing news is emerging that despite public outcry, the NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation(DEC) is succumbing to intense lobbying efforts from the fracking industry, ***stop press as we just learned ***
or worse may actually already be in bed with them.
several months’ (reports range from 6-10 weeks) early notification of impending regulations and recommendations so they could strategize, organize and maximize their lobbying efforts properly,
they have had input on tailoring upcoming regulations, and
may have even steered the environmental review process.
at best, the DEC have left all these accusations highly questionable-at worst they’re all true.
After Governor Cuomo said the regulations would be based on science conducted (which seemed to support the public outcry) and not politics, it seems state employees and regulators may not necessarily see it that way since they allowed fracking industry:
access to drafts of the state’s permit plans,… used that information to lobby hard against testing for radioactivity in wastewater, for example.
it goes on to say
seventy New York state legislators on both sides of the aisle pointed out six major issues they said were under-addressed …
Instead of focusing on issues like these, DEC staff were busy discussing zoning questions with industry lawyers and providing drillers with a chance to weigh in on the expense of complying with environmental protections.
We love the one where the fracking industry is now talking about getting rid of fracking waste “water”- by legally spraying it on local roadways!
You must read it.
****stop press*****
As if this all wasn’t outlandish enough…
it is now coming to light that the person at the DEC in charge of all this, is being outed as a fracking and drilling proponent who also publicly supports climate change denial.
Is that who we want in charge of our state’s Environmental Conservation!!
So is Bradley Field, the petroleum engineer and drilling proponent who can’t remember if he is a climate change denier; the holder of a singularly influential position to determine the outcome of shale gas development in New York state as the issuer of permits and the overseer of regulations — Is this Bradley Field nonpartisan? It’s a relevant question.
Not only relevant, it begs other questions:
should any singular unelected government official wield so much power?
Shouldn’t that person in charge of environmental conservation always err in favor of environmental conservation?
Our representation of what the proposed offshore wind farm will look like from the area beaches. Can you see the turbines? Well you won’t be able to, so we didn’t even bother to photoshop them in!
Two articles floating today you need to know about.
“U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., is sponsoring the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act of 2012 (H.R.6275), which would enable the continuation of the production tax credit (PTC) and other clean energy incentives for 10 years.
It would also give all Americans a way to invest in a clean energy future that creates energy independence, jobs and economic opportunities.”
Up to now, financial factors are probably the leading reason renewable energy has not experienced an even larger mass expansion than has already been achieved. Surprisingly, these financial factors may have little or nothing to do with the actual final cost of generating the energy that would be produced.
Although in most cases the “fuel” to be used -like sunshine and the wind- will be free once the project is built, Renewable Energy projects require a large amount of money up-front, which leads to..
Investment, financing and tax break opportunities are generally limited to: utilities, existing energy companies (usually dirty energy-most of whom are fighting against renewables) or deep pocketed hedge funds / private multi-millionaire investors.
This is mainly a US problem due to our investment laws. Theres much talk about getting around this by:
“Community” Renewable Energy programs (We love the concept-it’s just not easily viable in most areas). Check this current example from Great Britain. We would absolutely love to see something like this available here.
Virtual net metering. This is where the solar panels or energy generation do not have to be on your house to count towards your electric bill.
Crowdfunding: Not legal investments for projects in the US at this time, where a large number of people make small investments.
You know we’re always looking for new ways the average person can get involved, on any financial level.
“You mean there isn’t a set policy that supersedes all the political nonsense?”
The question posed by an audience member who, like for others nationwide, the little lightbulb has gone off as they start to understand why we have so little renewable energy.
Today the Long Island Association (LIA) hosted Long Island’s first Offshore Wind Conference.
Hundreds of legislators, business leaders, environmentalists, renewable energy advocates and concerned citizens were on hand as Long Islanders took the next step towards entering the offshore wind era.
Pete Grannis, First Deputy Comptroller for NY State opened things speaking about “perpetual investments” the state makes in order to protect the future of their pension fund, and the analogy to Renewable Energy is quite obvious…and in that, we haven’t been investing. “The cost of inaction is huge.”
He said we are continuously “faced with a false choice: allowing current levels of pollution versus disrupting business”.
Next Catherine Bowes From National Wildlife Federation spoke about her group’s pressing need to get the word out that “climate change is the single greatest threat to wildlife”… and thus they are “100% committed to large-scale Renewable Energy projects” like the offshore wind proposals being talked about.
Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island, Gordian Raacke spoke next with a great presentation showing how fossil fuel is to rotary phone as renewable energy is to smart phone. Our power plants are from the rotary phone era, that’s the “modern technology” we’re living with. In comparing the two, “Renewable Energy requires back-up… and costs a little more, but does so much more:
pollution free,
predictible price,
no water usage/destruction,
greater economic development
locally produced energy = money kept in the local economy, “
Adrienne Esposito, the outspoken voice of Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment gave a lively and informative presentation. “LIPA is making decisions now how they will generate the next 2000 Megawatts they need, what will we choose? We need to choose generation with the least impact: wind”.
She went on to highlight that inaction is not an option, “saying no to wind, is saying yes to more fossil fuel and nuclear power… unless you’re turning off your lights.”
Next followed the panel discussion “Economic Benefits of Offshore Wind for NY”. Moderated by LIA’s Kevin Law, who explained why the previous offshore proposal died:
It was too small thus too expensive –> needs economy of scale.
It was too close, thus too controversial –> eliminate the visual impact.
He explained that LIPA had unused land and proposed using that land for large turbine manufacturing, creating both an economical and convenient launch for any offshore wind farm… with further economical development potential as a manufacturing base for other farms.
Karsten Moeller; “Long-term stable regulations secret to renewables’ European success”
Bill Moore; “Wind energy can actually REDUCE ALL OTHER energy generation costs by 2.5 cents / kWh” and “Sea Breeze: Peak output coincides with peak demand”.
Carol Murphy; “8000 mw of renewable energy can be added without affecting grid reliability” and “every 1000 MW of Wind saves $300 million in worldwide energy costs.
Keynote speaker, congressman Tim Bishop was up next, and he didn’t disappoint. He spoke mainly of the difficulties he has in dealing with these issues in the face of unfathomable, and logically unexplainable opposition. “We are paralyzed because of the political difficulty that exists”…
“We are facing a denial of fact.. In energy policy..and to climate change,” he said. “An alarming number of my colleagues are in full-blown denial about what science is clear on.”
When asked by an audience member if he thought they really believed this denialist position, or was this “just politics”, he said “I have to take them at their face value that they really believe in their position” because “the consequences of not dealing with this family of issues is so dire… I hope my colleagues will see this is an avoidable crisis that is not to be ignored.”
He did add, when asked if money was to blame for the seemingly incongruent and completely hypocritical stances of the opposition, that “so far, for this year’s presidential election, 25% of all of the donated money has come from just 16 people”.
When asked what we can do to get the word out to the average voter, he said, “All we can do is just provide people with the facts…and hope they accept those facts.”
In positive news, to free up money to further renewables, he said we should look at lifting the cap on private activity bonds.
Of special interest was the final panel “Offshore Wind: Where Are We Now?” Moderator, Frank Murray of NYSERDA presented “NYS Coastal Management Program’s Offshore Wind Energy Planning” where he explained offshore wind is “inevitible”, and thus it isbeing planned for. He said “innovation will be the key to our economic resurgence.”
He said NYSERDA “can provide good reseacrch investments to indentify projects with benefits reaching beyond our local area”.
He asked YOU, the public get involved with the State Energy Plan:
Please click this picture to give NYSERDA your input on their Energy Plan
“Offshore wind is a key element and this will be a public process. Please read the plan for Wind and/or Solar and let them have YOUR input.”
All Our Energy says- You Can Do So here:
A fascinating day.
We welcome the beginning of the Offshore Wind Era to Long Island.
Tell LIPA- We need clean energy.
Today-Several dozen concerned citizens, hosted by The Sierra Club, were literally “calling” on LIPA to invest in clean, renewable energy.
Those calls were to let LIPA know that instead of sticking all of us into long range contracts that will keep Long Island fossil fuel-dependent for many decades to come, they must pursue clean energy.
LIPA is deciding over this week how they are going to replace their old power plants and how they are going to provide the additional power Long Island’s growth is demanding.
Today, The Sierra Club and Community Voices for Clean Energy are calling on all of us to let LIPA know that the only way is ahead to renewables, and not to go back to dirty fossil fuels!
You can make a difference, LIPA is listening!! heres how:
instructions for calling LIPA. Let them know you want renewable energy!
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