Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his opposition today to the replacement of two peaker power plants using fracked gas in favor of projects.
That explore options for long-term energy storage and renewable generation while maintaining the reliability of the grid.
The first peaker plant replacement is located in Astoria and is operated by energy company NRG. The second is the proposed peaker plant replacement located in Gowanus, operated by Astoria Generating Company.
“We must break our addiction to fossil fuels,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “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. Replacing the Astoria and Gowanus plants are the wrong project. 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.”
“We are facing a climate crisis and we don’t have any time to waste. We need to be investing in the clean and renewable electricity of the future, not doubling down on the fossil fuel electricity of the past,” said Ben Furnas, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability. “I’m proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mayor de Blasio and community leaders across the City and State in calling for a halt to these projects and an embrace of the cleaner, safer, healthier alternatives we need.”
Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris said, “To support more fossil fuel plants is to deny climate change and its damaging consequences. Since we enacted our nation-leading state law to combat the climate crisis, it is clear that building more fossil fuel infrastructure does not fit our energy future. I am pleased Mayor de Blasio is joining the people of Queens in opposing the construction of this unsustainable and undesirable power plant.”
“The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that the State Legislature passed two years ago came with a mandate to aggressively tackle climate change by moving towards a renewable energy future. In order to meet these goals, we have to act now,” said State Senator Jessica Ramos. “My legislation S.5939 will prohibit the permitting of new fossil fuel powered plants. This will prevent companies like NRG from building fracked gas plants in our district which will harm our communities and warm our climate. Seventy-one climate groups agree that this legislation is the right step at the right time. I would like to thank Mayor de Blasio for raising his voice in opposition to these fracked gas plants that seek to harm districts like mine, and I look forward to working with him toward a cleaner and greener energy future.”
“The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that the State Legislature passed two years ago came with a mandate to aggressively tackle climate change by moving towards a renewable energy future. In order to meet these goals, we have to act now,” said Senator Jessica Ramos. “My legislation S.5939 will prohibit the permitting of new fossil fuel-powered plants. This will prevent companies like NRG from building fracked gas plants in our district which will harm our communities and warm our climate. Seventy-one climate groups agree that this legislation is the right step at the right time. I would like to thank Mayor de Blasio for raising his voice in opposition to these fracked gas plants that seek to harm districts like mine, and I look forward to working with him toward a cleaner and greener energy future.”
“The fight for our future is taking place right now. New fracked gas infrastructure like the Astoria and Gowanus replacement plants lock us into dirty energy for years to come — even when The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) commits us to be on 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040. I am so excited that today, Mayor de Blasio joins our neighbors in calling for a stop to these fracked gas plants. We deserve clean air, plentiful jobs, and a promise for a greener future — and these dirty energy plants don’t provide that,” said Assembly Member Zohran K. Mamdani.
“NYC needs a Green New Deal, not huge new fracked gas plants. We’re happy to see Mayor de Blasio put the city’s weight behind stopping the Astoria NRG and Gowanus Generating proposals,” said Patrick Houston, Climate & Inequality Campaigns Associate with New York Communities for Change.
“We applaud Mayor de Blasio for acknowledging that the era of fossil fuels is over and that New York City is ready to embrace a future powered by green jobs and clean, renewable energy,” said Georgi Page, chair of 350Brooklyn’s City Action committee.
“To avoid climate catastrophe, we must end the era of fossil fuels in New York City, and that starts with rejecting new fossil fuel infrastructures like the Gowanus and Astoria power plants. Governor Cuomo must join the Mayor in standing up for public health and reject these dirty proposals and all fracked gas infrastructure,” said Laura Shindell, New York Organizer, Food & Water Watch.
“The Mayor has sided with the people today. No longer can corporations like NRG who got us into this mess, be allowed to continue building fossil fuels. It is now time for a surge of new renewables. We invite the Mayor to join us in supporting the Public Power NY coalitions bills at the State level to create 35,000 new jobs in renewables and highlight that we can leave the NRG’s in the past forever,” said Joseph Stanton from NYC DSA Ecosocialist Working Group.
Photo credit: Indian Point air pollution frack.
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