To the Editor:
The Orange County Partnership President Maureen Halahan says Danskammer will “move the needle closer to renewable energy.”
It is an argument universally upheld among fossil fuel interests that more fossil fuels are necessary before we can get away from them. On the contrary, we need to get off fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy from wind and solar sources in order to combat climate change and stop air pollution harm.
Ms. Halahan also conjures the specter of rolling brownouts without Indian Point, as an argument that we need a new Danskammer plant to replace it. She ignores the assessment that we can close Indian Point as scheduled, according to a 2017 report from the New York Independent System Operator, without new power plants other than what was planned as of 2017, which did not include Danskammer’s proposed new plant. It is simply not needed to meet New York’s electricity needs.
New York’s powerful Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates clean energy goals. To comply with the goals of the law, more zero-emissions wind and solar installations are being permitted and built; on the flip side, no new fossil fuel infrastructure should be permitted. Now that Danskammer’s application is deemed complete and its review process can move forward, it behooves the Public Service Commission to rule against it.
The Orange County Partnership should support the economic opportunity of renewable energy in our area. A new Danskammer plant burning more fracked gas is not welcome here.
Alison White
Vice-Chair, Mid-Hudson Sierra Club Group
Kingston, New York 12401
The opinions expressed in the letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Mid Hudson News.
