![]() ![]() “NRG’s announcement that it is abandoning its push for a new fossil fuel power plant and instead seeking to use its site to advance New York’s renewable energy future is a win for the community and the climate,” said Rachel Spector, senior attorney at Earthjustice. For now, we celebrate this development as a victory brought about by fearless and tireless advocacy. “However, we must make sure that this transition is truly just and that communities like ours are centered in any and all discussions and decisions on clean energy. ![]() A transition to renewables will begin to address this injustice.” said Arif Ullah, executive director of South Bronx Unite. ![]() And we have paid for that with our health and lives - our rates of asthma and other pollution-related illnesses are alarmingly and unacceptably high and our quality of life has been diminished. Frontline communities like Astoria and the South Bronx have borne the brunt of the fossil fuel economy in the form of disproportionate pollution. “We are encouraged by NRG’s announcement. “After years of advocacy from so many to shut down the gas-fired power plant in Astoria’s asthma alley, this announcement shows that environmental justice communities are always right - that there is no need for dirty fossil fuel power plants in New York City, and that healthier alternatives exist today.” “The announcement to transfer ownership of the land under the existing gas-powered peaker plant to Beacon Wind for electrical interconnection to their 1,230 MW wind project is an exciting step forward to renewable energy and environmental justice in New York,” says Sonal Jessel, director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. We are proud of New Yorkers who knew we could build a better future than NRG offered, and we look forward to new energy projects being publicly owned once we pass the Build Public Renewables Act.” Now NRGs fracked gas plants will be replaced by wind energy infrastructure. We were told there were no other options besides burning fossil fuels, and that we were making a mistake. “When we organized against the NRG fracked gas power plant proposal, we were told the alternative was an older, more polluting fracked gas power plant. “It turns out the fossil fuel executives were wrong and the socialists were right,” said Stylianos Karolidis, organizer with the NYC Democratic Socialists of America. We remain steadfast in our fight for an emissions-free future for Asthma Alley residents and all New Yorkers in line with New York’s climate goals,” said Daniel Chu, NYC-EJA Energy planner on behalf of the PEAK Coalition – UPROSE, THE POINT CDC, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), and Clean Energy Group (CEG). New York is at an impetus where a just transition is no longer just a permitting requirement but an economic reality for a clean future. Fossil fuel power plants and the disproportionate impact they have on the environment and public health must be eliminated as soon as possible. “This victory is for Astoria and all other environmental justice communities that have long maintained enough is enough. This action is the culmination of years of advocacy from community members, environmental justice and climate organizations in the No Astoria NRG Coalition and the PEAK Coalition, along with public officials and community leaders who oppose the polluting and unnecessary development of a new gas-fired power plant in Astoria, Queens. As a result, the peaker plant is required to shut down, ending a legacy of pollution that has contributed to Astoria’s nickname of “Asthma Alley.” The existing peaking units at the Astoria site spew harmful climate and air pollution at levels that exceed the DEC’s nitrogen oxide regulation, which requires facilities to comply with emissions limits or shut down by May 1, 2023. Approval of this sale would result in NRG’s withdrawal of its proposed gas power plant, which New York denied the permits for in 2021, and end its appeal of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Title V air permit rejection. NRG-owned Astoria Gas Turbine Power and Beacon Wind filed a joint petition with the New York State Public Service Commission yesterday seeking approval of a sale transferring ownership of the land under the existing gas-powered peaker plant to Beacon Wind for electrical interconnection to their 1,230 MW wind project. ![]()
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