Cuomo gets climate change message

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POUGHKEEPSIE – A waterfront rally promoted as “Earth to Cuomo: The Rally for New York’s Climate” was held at Waryas Park Sunday afternoon.  Organizers billed the rally as an attempt to draw attention to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s failure to honor a campaign promise to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Dean Nizypher was handing out rally signs and noted that even though the process of fracking for fuel in New York is not allowed, Governor Cuomo is allowing the fracked gas to be imported into the state.  “We need a consistent policy,” Nizypher said of Cuomo’s banning of fracking but allowing the gas to be imported.

A major promoter of the event was Mothers Out Front (MOF), a Boston-based organization founded in 2013 that now boasts a presence in nine states throughout the country.  According to documents provided by a member of the group, the organization consists of “mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers dedicated to convincing elected officials and business leaders to work for a swift, complete, and just transition away from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy.”  MOF representative Tatiana Orlov noted that a major portion of the Sunday rally was to draw attention to the Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVEC) under construction in Dover on Dutchess County’s eastern border.  “Cricket Valley is a project that should not have happened in the community,” said Orlov.

Construction on the CVEC began in 2017 and will rely on natural gas delivered to the $1.5 billion dollar plant from the adjacent Iroquois natural gas pipeline.  The Iroquois line begins on the Canadian-NY border in Waddington, NY and terminates in the NYC metro area.  It draws natural gas from from states that allow the fracking process. The CVEC website addresses the fracked gas supply by saying “CVEC is a recipient, not a producer, of natural gas and has no control over the source of natural gas that runs in the pipeline.”  The CVEC is slated to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2020 and is designed to provide electricity to over one million homes.

Orlov, in protesting CVEC said that “Tax dollars should have been invested in renewable fuels as opposed to subsidizing fossil fuel power plants.”  MOF plans to continue shining light on the irony of Governor Cuomo’s policies of banning fracking in New York while allowing fracked gas to be consumed in the state.  “We believe that mothers are an untapped power block that can make a difference when mobilized in everything from local fracking projects to bigger national campaigns,” said Orlov.




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