In 2019, New York passed the nation’s most ambitious climate legislation, the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA), setting a target to decarbonize our entire economy by 2050. These goals require us to reach 70% clean energy by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 and to invest aggressively in offshore wind, rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and battery storage.

Despite these critical mandates, the fossil fuel industry is doing all it can to keep building out their toxic infrastructure. As we speak several state entities are reviewing proposals for new fracked gas power plants in Astoria, Sunset Park and the Danskammer plant upstate, in Newburgh. At a time when we should be scaling up clean, solutions like increased efficiency, wind, solar, and battery storage, these proposals would undermine our CLCPA goals and, if the permits are approved, they could set a dangerous precedent enabling more fossil-fuel infrastructure in New York State. There are other more sustainable ways to create jobs and generate tax revenue.

We call on our elected and appointed representatives to ensure that any permits for new plants are denied , and we urge them to pass the Clean Futures Act, which would prevent any unnecessary new fossil fuel plants from being built in the state of New York.