Albany, NY More than 80 New York advocacy and grassroots groups joined more than 500 national organizations in releasing a letter to Congress yesterday calling for a truly clean, renewable energy standard as part of the evolving infrastructure package.
To meet its new climate goals, the Biden administration is expected to back a national Clean Energy Standard (CES), which some advocates argue can pass under existing budget reconciliation rules.
But the groups releasing the letter including Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, Riverkeeper, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, New York Youth Climate Leaders, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and 350Brooklyn are critical of current CES plans that qualify fracked gas, carbon capture and storage, factory farm biogas and offsets schemes as forms of clean energy. They point out that these technologies either do not effectively reduce emissions, or create pollution burdens in environmental justice communities
The Indian Point nuclear plant was shut down on April 30. (File photo by B. Cronin)
It was supposed to usher in a golden age for nuclear power in New York, and initially had little opposition. But eventually a network of environmental groups as well as everyday citizens who were wary of nuclear power in the wake of Three Mile Island, and then Chernobyl, turned against it. The public questioned the wisdom of building a nuclear power plant so close to New York City. Activists led protests, serenaded by folk singer Pete Seeger, a resident of Beacon. The evacuation plan the plant created was deemed to be unrealistic, and state officials refused to certify it. Finally, after many tumultuous years, Gov. Cuomo announced the decommissioning of the plant.
By Susan Arbetter City of Albany UPDATED 7:41 PM ET Apr. 30, 2021 PUBLISHED 6:29 PM ET Apr. 30, 2021 PUBLISHED 6:29 PM EDT Apr. 30, 2021
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The last Indian Point nuclear reactor, located 25 miles north of midtown Manhattan, will stop making nuclear power at 11 p.m. Friday.
At the height of its capacity, the 60-year-old Westchester County plant provided about 25 percent of New York City’s power. But its age, proximity to a population center, reduced revenues and political pressure forced Indian Point’s owner, Entergy, to enter into a negotiated agreement to close the facility with New York state and the environmental group Riverkeeper.
Under the 2017 agreement, Unit 2 was shut down last year. Unit 3 is legally obligated to shut down Friday.
The power station on the banks of the Hudson has no place in the state’s plans switch to renewables but critics say in the short term it means lost jobs and increased emissions
End of an era: closure of nuclear plant is pointer for New York's energy future msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.