FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Contact: Lee Ziesche, info@publicpowerny.org, 954-415-6228
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Helps New Yorkers Break 4000 Public Comments for 15 GW of PUBLIC Renewables by 2030
Days after NYPA CEO puts 15 GW on the table, AOC, AM Marcela Mitaynes, and organizers keep momentum snowballing on 1000 person call
New York, New York – New Yorkers blasted past 4000 public comments calling on New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build 15 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030 during a mass organizing call hosted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and NYC-DSA, a member of the Public Power NY Coalition.
After calling on viewers to come together and fight back against fascism, the Congresswoman citing the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA)–whose passage she contributed to over the course of the campaign– as an example of a way to “take our own power back, and organize.” She passed to Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, who detailed the stakes of the fight for New Yorkers in general, and her heavily polluted Sunset Park district in particular, before calling for more public comments to NYPA ahead of the December 9 deadline.
“We passed the Build Public Renewables Act to build renewable energy we need to get off fossil fuels. The Governor has released a draft plan that is far short of what we need,” said Assemblymember Mitaynes. “Over the past few months, thousands of New Yorkers have already sent in public comments calling for the state to construct the full 15GW of clean energy we need to achieve New York’s climate mandate by 2030. While Hochul has wanted to sacrifice our futures by stalling our climate progress, the New York Times recently reported that our pressure is starting to work. But with less than a week left in the public comment period for the state’s renewable energy plan, we need one big last push to put us over the top.”
New Yorkers continue to leave public comments at an unprecedented rate. For comparison, in 2022 the Stop Danksammer campaign historic victory was in great part credited to New Yorkers sending 4500 public comments against it over two years. By comparison, New Yorkers have left nearly as many comments for 15 GW of public renewables in less than two months since the comment period began.
“The reason we’re seeing a massive outpouring of public comments from across the state is because Governor Hochul and NYPA CEO Justin Driscoll are not doing enough to address the climate crisis and skyrocketing electric bills,” said Alex Patterson, Public Power NY Campaign Coordinator. “NYPA isn’t fully utilizing the most powerful tool the state has in its solutions toolbox right now and people are rightfully enraged. In the face of intensifying climate disasters, spiraling utility costs, and dangerous air pollution, and an incoming Trump administration that plans to destroy the EPA and sabotage federal climate action, we cannot afford half measures from the state. New York must lead the way and build 15GW of public renewables.”
NYPA recently concluded its statewide public hearings on its draft plan to implement the BPRA, which, as reported everywhere from New York City (NY Times) to Buffalo (Buffalo News), were similarly packed with demands for 15 GW. NYPA’s draft plan proposes to build only 3.5GW of renewable energy, with very few projects planned for the Hudson Valley and downstate New York, where electricity demand is greatest.
These New Yorkers join calls for15 GW from the AFL-CIO, Building Trades Council, and environmental groups. Advocates, electeds and energy experts who fought for and won the BPRA say NYPA’s proposal does not go far enough to meet state climate goals. The message to Hochul at hearings across the state has been to send the plan back to the drawing board and return with one that builds enough renewables to shut down harmful peaker plants, create tens of thousands of good paying union jobs and lower energy bills for those who need it most.
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Note to the editor:
About Public Power NY
Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.