May has been a heart-breaking month for victims of gun & racist violence - from the fallout of the Sunset Park subway shooting (one block from NYC-EJA’s and UPROSE’s offices) to the racist murders devastating our Buffalo friends and family to the still unfolding tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Please extend whatever support you can to our allies in these communities - and continue to demand gun safety accountability from our elected leaders.
To catch up on the latest climate justice news in NYS, please read on.
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NYS Draft Disadvantaged Communities Criteria: Public Comment Period Open |
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A cornerstone of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) is identifying and considering disadvantaged communities (DAC) in the State’s regulatory actions and clean energy investments undertaken to implement the law. The Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG, which includes the Executive Director’s of NYC-EJA and our member UPROSE) was established under the CLCPA to develop the criteria to identify these DACs. On March 9th, 2022, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released the Draft Disadvantaged Communities Criteria (DAC), for 120 days of public comment and review. Public comments will help the CJWG develop a final version of the Disadvantaged Communities Criteria. The DAC criteria is a crucial aspect of fulfilling the CLCPA climate justice mandate. It will guide the prioritization of New York State’s clean air regulations and community clean energy and climate resilience programs.
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DEC in partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will hold a total of 11 public hearings through June to receive public input on the Draft DAC Criteria and advance the finalization of the criteria.
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Additional information on draft DAC Criteria:
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Hydrogen in NYS - Webinar |
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On Tuesday, May 31, NYSERDA will convene a half-day educational webinar, ‘Hydrogen in NYS: State of the Science,’ to engage with stakeholders on many of the key topics and considerations shaping the discourse around hydrogen in New York. This foundational kickoff webinar is the springboard for a subsequent series of programming anticipated to further delve into hydrogen topics and applications of interest to stakeholders across New York and the Northeast region.
This series provides a forum where interested participants can engage and learn from balanced and fact-based discussions on the varying priorities, questions, and concerns related to hydrogen opportunities in this energy transition moment NYS finds itself in. These conversations will help shine a light onto the sorts of applications NYS (and by extension, possibly other state governments) may be considering.
Event Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Event Time: 9:00 a.m.– 1:00 p.m. ET
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Brooklyn Press Conference on NYS Climate Action Council Draft Scoping Plan Hearing |
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On May 3, NY State and City legislators joined with community leaders to hold a rally and press conference before testifying at the public hearing on the New York State Climate Action Council’s (CAC) Draft Scoping Plan. The Plan is mandated by the CLCPA and is a blueprint for a pathway for NYS to reach mandated greenhouse gas emission targets, increase renewable energy, protect public health from climate-change induced impacts, and support disadvantaged communities.
Elected officials at the rally included Comptroller Brad Lander, Councilmember Lincoln Restler, Councilmember Sandy Nurse and others who spoke in favor of a robust implementation plan for New York to meet its mandated climate targets.
NYC-EJA and NYC-EJA members El Puente, THE POINT CDC and UPROSE, alongside other NY Renews allies and Brooklyn residents were present and testified at the hearing. Community leaders called for the plan to center BIPOC and frontline communities in job creation, air quality, green public transit, energy security, and environmental justice while rejecting false solutions such as “renewable natural gas” and "green hydrogen" as New York seeks to address the climate crisis.
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Attorney General's Office Sues Bus Companies |
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On May 12, NYC-EJA joined NYS Attorney General Letitia James when she announced a lawsuit against three New York City bus companies for causing significant air pollution in communities of color by violating city and state bus idling laws. These bus companies repeatedly and unlawfully idled at schools, bus yards, and other locations throughout the five boroughs, polluting the air and endangering the health of low-income and Black and brown children. Attorney General James’ suit seeks monetary relief and a court order to ensure the companies’ full compliance with city and state idling laws. Now that NYC-EJA and our partners have successfully campaigned for $500 million in Bond Act funding for electric school buses, we hope the Attorney General confronts other bus companies and truck operators too.
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NYC-EJA & NRDC's Joint Memo of Opposition - "Advanced/Chemical Recycling" |
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On May 20th, NYC-EJA and NRDC issued a joint memo of opposition to S.7891 (Mannion)/A9495(Hyndman), an industry-drafted bill that would, under the guise of “chemical or advanced recycling,” exempt industrial processes that would convert plastic waste to fuel or to chemical components from laws applicable to other solid waste facilities, designed to protect New York’s environment and public health. These industrial processes raise serious health, environmental, economic, and equity concerns. |
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The real solution to the problems associated with ever-growing amounts of throw-away plastics are to produce less of them. That would be consistent with the New York State policy since passage of the 1988 Solid Waste Management Act, which sets forth a solid waste hierarchy that prioritizes “reduction” and “reuse” ahead of recycling, incineration and landfilling. Enacting a strong Extended Producers Responsibility law that incentivizes waste-prevention and passing laws that prohibit single-use plastics (for which more sustainable substitutes are readily available) are good alternatives. 99% of throw-away plastics are manufactured from fossil fuels. Thus, taking steps to reduce single-use plastics would also help achieve the ambitious goals of the CLCPA.
Read our opposition memo here.
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Nature Based Jobs Report Now Available in Spanish! |
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Find out more on the GAGE blog and access the full report in Spanish here. |
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Highlight: PEAK Coalition |
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This month we are highlighting the incredible work of the PEAK Coalition, of which NYC-EJA is a proud founding member. Listed below are some of the major accomplishments the coalition has achieved over the past year:
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- PEAK actively coordinated with and supported community-based organizations and local environmental justice leadership on efforts to oppose two major peaker plant projects: the first at the Astoria Generating Station in Queens, and second at the Gowanus Gas Turbine Facility in Brooklyn.
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UPROSE and PEAK won another major victory this year when Eastern Generation – a private owner of several fossil fuel peakers – announced the withdrawal of its application to install new fossil gas turbines at its Gowanus and Narrows generating stations, and an intention to instead pursue battery storage projects at these and other sites.
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In parallel to the coalition's campaign against privately-owned peakers, The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and PEAK executed an unprecedented agreement in 2020, committing to jointly study the feasibility of retiring the authority’s six gas-fired peaker plants in NYC. NYPA also agreed to fund technical consultants Strategen who would work directly for the PEAK coalition during an 18-month technical analysis and drafting process. In April, 2022 NYPA and PEAK released the results of this joint study finding that any of the authority’s peakers could be effectively retired and replaced by four-hour battery storage by 2030.
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As an immediate result of the study, NYPA, which had previously released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to convert peaker plants to hybrid gas-electric technology, also released a parallel RFP for bulk battery storage projects at its peakers, which could completely replace gas combustion at these sites. These environmental justice victories would effectively replace all six fossil fuel peakers in New York City with energy storage. PEAK and NYPA are now engaged in defining the scope of the next phase of this partnership, which may include a study on jobs and economic impacts of peaker retirements, development of distributed renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuel peakers, and a roadmap to ensure grid reliability needs during the transition from peakers to storage solutions.
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PEAK Coalition members Shelley Robbins and Daniel Chu recently spoke at the Pennsylvania Energy Storage Consortium hosted by the PA Department of Environmental Protection and Strategen Consulting. They discussed the potential for energy storage as a pathway to peaker replacements, our success in studying peaker transition with NYPA, and opportunities for peaker replacement in Pennsylvania.
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Appeared in articles in multiple media outlets, including Politico, Huffington Post, New Project Media, Gothamist, Energy Storage News, and QNS.com
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Released an op-ed in City Limits linking NYC’s expensive peaker plants to high energy prices.
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Prepared and disseminated a hydrogen fact sheet - Five Reasons to be Concerned about Green Hydrogen
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Released a statement on the use of hydrogen as a false solution
- PEAK members are actively seeking party status in the appeal process for the permit denial for NRG Astoria Repowering Project, backing up DEC's decision to deny construction of new peaker plants
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Sincerely,
Eddie Bautista
Executive Director
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
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