Broad Coalition Calls on Governor Cuomo to Launch Offshore Wind Power for New York
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Environment New York
350 Brooklyn · Accabonac Protection Committee · ALIGN · Alliance for Climate Education · All Our Energy · Alliance for Clean Energy New York · Alliance for a Green Economy · American Lung Association in New York · Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition · Campaign for Renewable Energy · Catskill Mountainkeeper · Citizen Action NYC · Citizen Action of New York · Citizens Campaign for the Environment · Citizens’ Climate Lobby – Long Island East · Citizens Committee for New York City · Citizens for Local Power · Concerned Citizens of Montauk · DefendH2O · East End Climate Action Network · Environment America · Environment New York · Environmental Action · Environmental Advocates of New York · Environmental Defense Fund · Frack Action · Food & Water Watch · Fossil Free Tompkins · Gas Free Seneca · Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes · Hudson River Sloop Clearwater · Long Island Businesses for Responsible Energy, Inc. · Long Island Metro Business Association · Long Island Progressive Coalition · Mothers Out Front NY · National Wildlife Federation · Natural Resources Defense Council · New York Interfaith Power and Light · New York State Sustainable Business Council · New York Working Families · NYPIRG · North Fork Environmental Council · OCEANA · OLA of Eastern Long Island · Pace Energy and Climate Center · Physicians for Social Responsibility/New York · Quiet Skies Coalition · Renewable Energy Long Island · Rockaway Wildfire · Sane Energy Project · Save East Hampton · Seneca Lake Guardian · Sierra Club · Singlebrook · Southampton Town Sustainability Committee · Surfrider Foundation, Eastern Long Island Chapter · Sustainability Institute of Molloy College · Syracuse Peace Council · United For Action · Unitarian Universalist Women’s Association – Metro NY District · United University Professions · Western New York Peace Center
June 29, 2016
Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State Executive Chamber
New York State Capitol Albany, New York 12224
Dear Governor Cuomo,
On behalf of the local, state, and national organizations signed below – representing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers – we urge you to make a strong commitment to a long-term, large-scale, megawatt-certain offshore wind power program for New York. New Yorkers know too well that climate change impacts our coastal and low-lying communities. To protect our health, wildlife, economy, and the quality of life of future generations, we must reduce pollution and launch a new clean energy chapter for New York.
We appreciate your commitment to tackling climate change by setting a 2030 goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, producing 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy, and cutting energy consumption in buildings by 23 percent. While there is much more that must be done, these programs and policies – along with the Reforming the Energy Vision
process and development of the Clean Energy Fund – are great steps in the right direction that will help position New York as a national renewable energy leader. We urge you to finalize a “50 by 30” Clean Energy Standard without further delay and ensure that offshore wind power plays a major role in meeting these important climate and clean energy targets.
Recognizing that offshore wind power is critical for meeting New York’s 50% renewable energy goal, we applaud New York State Energy and Research Authority’s (NYSERDA) recent leadership on this massive clean energy opportunity. By announcing its intent to bid in the upcoming federal offshore wind lease auction, NYSERDA has signaled a strong interest in moving an offshore wind project forward. This is an important first step toward building the long-term, large-scale offshore wind program needed to maximize the potential for clean energy development off our shores.
New York has a world class wind resource far off our shores that can deliver clean, reliable power right where we need it. Offshore wind has tremendous potential to deliver utility-scale, locally- sourced renewable power to New York families and businesses. Offshore wind blows the strongest during times of peak demand – afternoons, winter cold snaps, and summer heat waves – and can diversify our energy mix with large amounts of valuable, clean power when we need it most. Reducing pollution throughout New York helps protect the most vulnerable among us, including children, the elderly, and low-income communities.
Countries around the world are already reaping the many economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind power. In Europe, this booming industry currently supports 75,000 long-term, quality jobs in both coastal and inland communities. This incredible economic development story can be replicated here in New York, creating thousands of jobs across a range of high tech, manufacturing, construction, and operations sectors. The U.S. is poised to benefit from more than 25 years of lessons learned across the Atlantic, including technology advancements that have lowered costs and enabled development in areas far offshore where stronger wind resources can deliver even greater environmental and economic benefits.
Recent progress by the federal Department of the Interior in advancing the offshore wind leasing process for New York underscores the need to take action now to seize this opportunity. With a large area already leased for offshore wind development far off the East End of Long Island, a newly designated area off the Rockaways on track for a lease auction this year, and a process currently underway to identify additional areas for development off of Long Island, now is the time for New York to make a firm commitment to offshore wind power that ensures the market certainty needed to drive projects forward in these areas.
We call on you to commit to the following actions to finally launch offshore wind power for New York:
- Commit within the Clean Energy Standard to a long-term, large-scale offshore wind program of at least 5,000 megawatts by 2025 that establishes the certainty, longevity, and scale needed to launch this new clean energy industry.
- Capitalize on near-term opportunities to advance offshore wind projects off Long Island and New York City.
- Ensure an efficient, transparent, and environmentally responsible offshore wind leasing process that protects wildlife.
- Invest in key research, initiatives, and infrastructure needed to spur offshore wind development.
New York’s citizens are depending on you for bold leadership to ensure a clean energy future. New York has much to gain from harnessing our offshore wind power potential in a manner that protects wildlife and their habitats throughout every stage of development. We thank you for your consideration of this promising clean energy solution, and we look forward to working with you to develop a successful strategy to bring this transformational new power source online.
Sincerely,
Mimi Bluestone, Co-Coordinator
350 Brooklyn
George Povall
All Our Energy
Maayan Cohen, Deputy Director of Partnerships
Alliance for Climate Education
Anne Reynolds, Executive Director
Alliance for Clean Energy New York
Adam Flint, Program Manager
Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition
Jessica Roff
Catskill Mountainkeeper
Kristina Andreotta, Deputy Organizing Director
Citizen Action of New York
Don Matheson, Chapter Leader
Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Long Island East
Jen Metzger, Co-Director
Citizens for Local Power
Kevin McAllister, Founding President
DefendH2O
Rob Sargent, Energy Program Director
Environment America
Peter Iwanowicz, Executive Director
Environmental Advocates of New York
Marjorie Latham, Steering Committee Chair
Accabonac Protection Committee
Matt Ryan
ALIGN
Jessica Azulay
Alliance for a Green Economy
Michael Seilback, Vice President
American Lung Association in New York
Brian Eden, Vice-Chair
Campaign for Renewable Energy
Tony Schlein
Citizen Action NYC
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Peter Kostmayer, CEO
Citizens Committee for New York City
Jeremy Samuelson, President
Concerned Citizens of Montauk
Scott Bluedorn, Co-Director
East End Climate Action Network
Heather Leibowitz, Director
Environment New York
Drew Hudson
Environmental Action
Rory Christensen, New York Director, Clean Energy
Environmental Defense Fund
Irene Weiser, Coordinator
Fossil Free Tompkins
Yvonne Taylor, Co-Founder and Vice President
Gas Free Seneca
Bob DeLuca, President
Group for the East End
Helene Forst, Chair
Long Island Businesses for Responsible Energy
Lisa Tyson, Director
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Curtis Fisher, Northeast Executive Director
National Wildlife Federation
Glenn Jacob
New York Interfaith Power and Light
Bill Lipton, Director
New York Working Families
Russ Haven, Legislative Counsel
NYPIRG
Isabel Sepulveda-de Scanlon, President
OLA of Eastern Long Island
Shannon Gearhart, MD, MPH, NY Chapter Board Member
Physicians for Social Responsibility/New York
Gordian Raacke, Executive Director
Renewable Energy Long Island
Patrick Robbins and Kim Fraczek, Co-Directors
Sane Energy Project
Yvonne Taylor, Co-Founder and Vice President
Seneca Lake Guardian
Elisa Miller-Out, CEO
Singlebrook
Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director
Food & Water Watch
Julia Walsh, Campaign Director
Frack Action
Maribeth Rubenstein, Board Chair
Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes
Manna Jo Greene, Environmental Action Director
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Ernest Fazio, Chairman
Long Island Metro Business Association
Lisa Marshall
Mothers Out Front NY
Kit Kennedy, Energy and Transportation Program Director
Natural Resources Defense Council
Laura Ornstein, Coordinator
New York State Sustainable Business Council
William Toedter, President
North Fork Environmental Council
Claire Douglass, Climate and Energy Campaign Director
OCEANA
Karl R. Rábago, Executive Director
Pace Energy and Climate Center
Kathleen Cunningham, Chair
Quiet Skies Coalition
Alexis Smallwood
Rockaway Wildfire
Lynne Brown and Richard Janis, Co-Chairs
Save East Hampton
Lisa Dix, Senior New York Representative
Sierra Club
Dieter von Lehsten, Co-Chair
Southampton Town Sustainability Committee
Stephen Mahoney, Vice Chair
Surfrider Foundation, Eastern Long Island Chapter
Carol Baum
Syracuse Peace Council
Ling Tsou
United for Action
Charley Bowman, Environmental Justice Task Force
Western New York Peace Center
Neal Lewis
Sustainability Institute of Molloy College
Reena Kondo, President
Unitarian Universalist Women’s Association – Metro NY District
Lynne Alderman
United University Professions
CC:
Jim Malatras, Director of State Operations, Office of the Governor
Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York, Office of the Governor
John Rhodes, President and CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Audrey Zibelman, Chair, New York State Public Service Commission
Basil Seggos, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation
Rosemary Powers, Deputy Director of State Operations for Programs, Office of the Governor Venetia Lannon, Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Office of the Governor
Kate Dineen, Assistant Secretary for the Environment, Office of the Governor
Jared Snyder, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation
Lois New, Director, Office of Climate Change, Department of Environmental Conservation