NYC Climate Week shines spotlight on Queens’ fight for renewable energy
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Queens activists, including New York Communities for Change leader Patrick Houston (right), have led efforts to champion renewable energy over fossil fuels Eagle file photo by Victoria Merlino
By Rachel Vick
Once a swath of swampy wetland, dense forest and lush farmland, Queens now confronts the devastating impact of climate change.
The climate crisis threatens to submerge the Rockaway peninsula, flood low-lying communities and exacerbate health problems, particularly among low-income residents, in the borough of 2.3 million people.
New York City’s Climate Week, an international initiative that began Sunday, forces lawmakers, business leaders and everyday residents to consider these effects — and to take up policies and initiatives to mitigate global warming.
Climate Week NYC features over 450 virtual panels, workshops, art shows, and film screenings, organized by people in more than 20 countries.
“New York City is famous for its resilience, boldness and commitment to building a better future,” said Helen Clarkson, CEO of international non-profit the Climate Group, which organized Climate Week NYC.
The city has in recent years taken action to reduce carbon emissions, such as establishing policies like Climate Mobilization Act and Green New Deal for New York City. The legislation, introduced in 2018 by Astoria Councilmember Costa Constantinides, imposes efficiency standards on skyscrapers and other large buildings.
On Tuesday, councilmembers considered enforcing those standards on some rent-regulated apartment buildings that were not part of the initial law.
The state has also moved to cut emissions through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, but development and other activities that prioritize fossil fuels jeopardize New York’s climate goals.
“Right now across the city and state there are numerous proposals to build or rebuild fossil fuel infrastructure, and New York State won't meet its climate goals if we permit those new and existing applications” said New York Communities for Change organizer Patrick Houston.
Queens, located in the western corner of an island and home to dozens of miles of coastline, has been a flash point in the fight to mitigate the climate crisis.
The devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy along the Rockaway Peninsula and Broad Channel demonstrates the very real threat residents face from rising sea levels.
The shores off the Rockaway Peninsula have remained a hotspot in the fight to reduce the city’s reliance on fossil fuels.
An initiative known as the Empire Wind Project will establish a wind farm producing 816 megawatts of wind energy for New York City. The project, combined with another wind farm off the coast of Long Island, would produce enough energy to power 1 million homes, according to state estimates.
That project will continue, while another plan focused on fossil fuels has failed.
National Grid and natural gas company Williams proposed running a pipeline from New Jersey into the peninsula to connect with the gas network. After years of grassroots activism the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the Williams Pipeline in May — a major victory for climate activists who say that investing resources in non-renewable energy only moves New York further from the goals outlined in legislation like the CLCPA and the Green New Deal.
That’s the argument made by opponents of the Astoria peaker plant — a polluting East River power plant tapped when demand for electricity surges. NRG Energy, which owns the site, has proposed switching from oil-burning to natural gas-burning equipment and awaits approval from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Earlier this month, however, hundreds of New Yorkers protested continued dependence on fossil fuels at the site and urged the state to double down on the commitment to the Green New Deal.
“The science clock is ticking and Cuomo’s not feeling the urgency,” Houston said. “Until he takes greater action we're going to see the greater cost of heatwaves, the next Hurricane Sandy, increased sunny day flooding.”
“The cost of devastation is far greater than the investment.”
