Environment – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Hudson Canyon: a National Marine Sanctuary

David Posnett — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 15:45:40 +0000

On Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 9:02 PM Judith Weis <jweis@newark.rutgers.edu> wrote:

Hi Friends-

I just wrote to Dr. Richard Spinrad, Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to urge him to continue supporting the designation of Hudson Canyon as a National Marine Sanctuary. The protections afforded by Sanctuary status will maintain this essential ecosystem for generations to come. The nomination was made by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the organization that runs the NY Aquarium in Coney Island, as well as the zoos in the city.

Hudson Canyon, just off the coast of New York and New Jersey, is a key ecological hotspot for marine wildlife, including deep sea corals, sharks, whales and dolphins, turtles, seabirds and numerous fish species. It’s also a driver for the local economy, fueling commercial and recreational fishing, shipping, and tourism. However, this undersea treasure remains vulnerable to oil, gas, and mineral exploration and extraction, which would threaten its valuable living resources. Please write to Dr. Richard Spinrad today, thanking him for beginning the designation process and urging him to continue to support the future of Hudson Canyon:

https://secure.wcs.org/campaign/designate-hudson-canyon-as-a-national-marine-sanctuary-today?ms=M_EML_ADV_01_F04_2206-ADV-SC-Hudson-Canyon&utm_content=2022-6-9_20220609-SC-hudson-canyon&utm_medium=email&utm_source=WCS-EmailCampaign&utm_campaign=owned

Climate Change Resources

David Posnett — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 19:58:25 +0000

April 25, 2022

If you don’t already receive this excellent weekly climate-round up newsletter, read on. And sign up.

Climate Change Resources was created in 2016 by publishers Lena Tabori and Mike Shatzkin to educate and empower us all to be climate change activists, and to take the critical steps necessary to rescue humanity’s future. There is simply no time to waste.

Take a look at their invaluable and beautifully designed website https://climatechangeresources.org/. Lena’s weekly newsletter was just selected as one the top climate newsletters in the country. I’m honored that she highlighted one of my recent articles. MCF Morgan

This is your weekly newsletter from Climate Change Resources, keeping you informed and involved in the fight against climate change as we all search for solutions. Each week, you’ll find breaking news, valuable resources, actions to take, answers to common questions, and more — even sustainable shopping suggestions.
• The hideous war continues. CCR’s People Are Talking About (PATA) are keeping track of the way war and climate change interact here.
• For Earth Day, climate reporters from The Washington Post wrote about some of their favorite stories–from Juliet Eilperin’s magnificent piece about a tree in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to Michael Robinson Chavez’s terrifying photographs of Hurricane Ida slamming the Gulf Coast. Our lead story on CCR’s Earth Day PATA is both angry and somber as Bill McKibben is struck by what we haven’t done.
• Disinformation reporting ramped up with the first of a 3-part series from PBS on big oil, a new report on social media companies, and, not surprisingly, rampant corporate climate denial on Earth Day. Much more on CCR’s Greenwashing page and CCR’s PATA…misinformation page.
• Americans are beginning to migrate in the hope of finding more climate friendly homes. The Northeast is where they should be heading, reports CNBC. More on CCR’s Migration page.
• They took a poll in Massachusetts and discovered that residents are less concerned about climate change now than they were in 2019; Democrats were more alarmed than Republicans; Latina women considered climate change a more serious issue than any other group; nearly half of the respondents are considering acquiring an electric car, and climate change trailed several other priorities.
• Just in time for Spring, one of our wonderful contributors, Mary Foster Morgan, reminds us of the power of eating locally, wasting little and composting much in her latest blog, Farm Stands Open, Don’t Look Up, Kiss The Ground.

FYI• Our website, Climate Change Resources, has now been live for nine months! Press materials are here. Please forward this newsletter to anyone you feel should know more about climate change with the intention of doing more.
–Lena Tabori, Co-Founder & Publisher The description of each item below is drawn from copy provided in the article or website cited.

NATIONAL NEWS

TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook Are Letting Climate Denial Run Rampant
By Lauren Leffer
Gizmodo, 4/22/2022
Twitter is the worst of the bunch, followed by TikTok. YouTube and Pinterest are a bit better. Fossil fuel companies have known about climate change since 1966, and for almost as long, they’ve been buying TV, radio and newspaper ads trying to make sure you don’t. Decades later, lies about climate change haven’t disappeared; they’ve just gone digital. Almost half of people in the U.S. regularly get their news from social media, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey. Those social networks are often chock-full of lies. Social media companies like Facebook have claimed to be combating false information on climate change, but their efforts are inadequate to the challenge, according to a new report by the environmental non-profit groups Friends of the Earth, Avaaz, and Greenpeace USA. In order from best to worst, the report ranked the platforms as follows: Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and, lastly, Twitter. More here.

Greenwashing 101: How to decipher corporate claims about climate
By Douglas MacMillan
The Washington Post, 4/21/2022
Companies are eager to tout their environmental progress on Earth Day. As big businesses face more pressure to act on climate change, corporations have unleashed a tsunami of environmental pledges, net-zero commitments and sustainability certifications, all designed to show they are part of the solution. Here are five tips for investigating whether their claims tell the full story. More here.

Biden restores climate safeguards in key environmental law, reversing Trump
By Dino Grandoni and Anna Phillips
The Washington Post, 4/19/2022
The White House on Tuesday announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways and other projects that President Donald Trump had swept away as part of an effort to cut red tape. The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a 1970 law that required the government to assess the environmental consequences of federal actions, such as approving the construction of oil and gas pipelines. More her e.

Low-producing oil wells cause 50% of methane emissions
By Carlos Anchondo
E&E Energy Wire, 4/21/2022
Low-producing oil and gas wells are to blame for roughly half of the methane emitted from all U.S. well sites, despite making up 6% of the country’s total production, according to new research published this week. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first comprehensive look at low-production well site emissions nationwide, researchers said. The paper found that low-producing or “marginal” wells emit methane at a rate 6 to 12 times higher than the national average — releasing some 4 million metric tons of the potent greenhouse gas a year. “Our research shows that the total methane emitted from the country’s half million low-producing wells has the same impact on the climate every year as 88 coal-fired power plants,” said Mark Omara, a scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund and lead author, in a statement. More here.

Natural gas-fired generation peaked in 2020 amid growing renewable energy production
By Ethan Howland
Utility Drive, 4/13/2022
The Institute for Energy Economics and Finance expects wind, solar and hydroelectric generation will make up a third of U.S. power production by 2027, up from about 19% in December, according to its report. “The transition has just started,” Wamsted said. “We do believe that the takeoff is right now.” More here.

STATES

Green infrastructure helps cities with climate change. So why isn’t there more of it?
By Lauren Sommer
NPR, 4/15/2022
Federal agencies are beginning to hand out billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, the largest investment ever made in the country’s water system. Much of it will go to improving pipes, drains and stormwater systems. But some scientists and urban planners are pushing to fund projects that are better adapted to the changing climate. Instead of just gray infrastructure, supporters say the answer is green. Green infrastructure, whether it’s large rain gardens or plants along a street median, has the same purpose as big storm sewers: to manage large amounts of water that can build up during heavy rains. Plants and soil absorb and slow runoff from rainstorms, while a stormwater drain captures water that runs down a street gutter and diverts it underground into pipes. More here.

Big fight brewing over California ballot measure to reduce single-use plastics
By Suzanne Rust
Los Angeles Times, 4/17/2022
Oakridge Mall food court overflow with plastic spoons, forks, soft drink cups and takeout food containers. Paper frozen yogurt containers are mashed in with plastic boba tea cups and soda bottles. The same can be seen across California — piles of single-use plastics that can’t easily be recycled, pollute roadsides and waterways and add to the garbage that clogs landfills. In November, Californians may get a chance to shrink that waste. An initiative designed to reduce single-use plastics and polystyrene food containers will be on the ballot, a move by environmentalists to bypass the Legislature, where such measures have repeatedly failed in the face of industry lobbying. The initiative — known as the California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act — would require all single-use plastic packaging and food ware used in California to be recyclable, reusable, refillable or compostable by 2030, and single-use plastic production to be reduced by 25% by 2030. More here.

Gas Hikes Prompt New York to Investigate Potential Price Gouging by Oil Companies
By Lauren Leffer
Gizmodo, 4/15/2022
Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and BP, four of the largest petroleum companies, are raking in record profits. Meanwhile, prices at the pump have surpassed the (non-inflation adjusted) highs of 2008. If that dynamic seems fishy to you, you’re in good company. First, U.S. House Democrats and President Joe Biden raised concerns. Now, Letitia James, New York State’s attorney general, is officially suspicious, as well. On Thursday, the attorney general’s office launched a statewide investigation into whether or not the gas industry is engaging in price gouging. The probe was first announced in a CNN report. More here.

In Pennsylvania, Ukraine invasion and urgent climate report drive new interest in renewables, efficiency
By Jon Hurdle
WHYY, 4/17/2022
Pennsylvania’s renewables industry may have an opportunity to sell more solar panels or wind turbines as prices of fossil fuel-powered energy spike in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and warnings of climate chaos intensify, analysts said. With U.S. natural gas prices at their highest in more than a decade, and electricity costs rising in tandem, individuals and businesses are more inclined to seek alternative energy sources that will be less costly and more sustainable, energy industry observers said. More here.

As Earth’s temperature rises, Massachusetts residents’ sense of urgency on climate change declines
By Sabrina Shankman and Darma Noor
Boston Globe, 4/19/2022
Despite increasingly urgent international warnings and an onslaught of catastrophic wildfires and weather linked to global warming, fewer Massachusetts residents see the climate crisis as a very serious concern than they did three years ago, according to a new poll. It’s not that respondents weren’t aware of the climate threat; a large majority acknowledged that symptoms of the crisis such as increased flooding, extreme heat waves, and more powerful storms are either already happening or very likely within five years, according to the poll, a collaboration of The Boston Globe and The MassINC Polling Group. And more than three quarters called climate change a “very serious” or “serious” concern.” But with a pandemic and war in Ukraine as a backdrop, fewer than half, 48 percent, ranked climate in the highest category of concern, down from 53 percent in 2019, the last time the poll was taken. Less than half said they would vote along climate lines or take steps such as switching their home heat off fossil fuel. More here.

Unregulated Texas gas pipeline triggers a huge methane leak
By Aaron Clark and Naureen Malik
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 4/19/2022
A natural gas pipeline in Texas leaked so much of the super-potent greenhouse gas methane in little more than an hour that by one estimate its climate impact was equivalent to the annual emissions from about 16,000 U.S. cars. The leak came from a 16-inch pipe that’s a tiny part of a vast web of unregulated lines across the U.S., linking production fields and other sites to bigger transmission lines. Although new federal reporting requirements start next month for so-called gathering lines, the incident highlights the massive climate damage even minor parts of the network can inflict. More here.

New York green lights massive renewable energy projects to cut fossil fuel reliance
By Shirin Ali
The Hill, 4/15/2022
New York state has made a big step in cutting off its reliance on fossil fuels, announcing contracts for projects that will channel clean, renewable solar, wind and hydroelectric power from upstate New York to New York City. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Thursday that the State Public Service Commission approved contracts for the Clean Path NY project and the Champlain Hudson Power Express project. Both are expected to reduce the city’s reliance on fossil fuels by more than 50% in 2030, pushing towards the goal of having 70% of the state’s electricity fueled by renewable sources by 2030. New York hopes to have a zero-emission electricity grid by 2040. Hochul’s office said both projects are expected to deliver $5.8 billion in overall societal benefits statewide and $8.2 billion in economic developments across the state. More here.

LEARN MORE

The Next American Migration: What Cities Should Know About Climate Change and Populations on the Move
National League of Cities, 4/22/2022
Climate change is no longer just a problem for future generations – it is here now, with storms, wildfires, droughts and extreme temperatures becoming more prevalent in our cities, towns and villages. As these impacts intensify, more Americans are being forced out of their homes or are voluntarily relocating in advance of catastrophes. With new sources of federal funding now flowing directly to cities, local leaders have a critical opportunity to transform their communities into equitable and resilient places to live. Download the report to learn more. More here.

The hottest electric vehicles at New York’s auto show have two wheels
By Maria Gallucci
Canary Media, 4/15/2022
A staggering number of electric vehicles are projected to hit roads worldwide this year as automakers launch new plug-in models and drivers ditch their oil-guzzling engines. But another mode of electrified transportation is booming and, in the United States, even outpacing sales of battery-powered cars: bicycles. More here.

In a comparison of life-cycle emissions, EVs crushed combustion cars
By Prachi Patel
Anthropocene Magazine, 1/13/2022
Electric vehicles have lower tailpipe emissions compared to fossil fuel-burning cars, but they don’t go scot-free when it comes to the environment. Mining the raw materials for batteries is dirty business, and manufacturing and charging them can produce emissions. Those overlooked indirect emissions have led skeptics to argue whether EVs are really as green as touted. New research from Yale University should put those arguments to rest. The study finds that the total indirect emissions from EVs pale in comparison to the indirect emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles. And if a carbon price is placed on all the emissions, both direct and indirect, from a vehicle’s full life cycle, EVs become far more attractive to buyers. “The elephant in the room is the supply chain of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, not that of electric vehicles,” says lead researcher. More here.

WATCH

‘Truth Has Nothing to Do With Who Wins the Argument’: New Details on Big Oil’s Campaign to Defeat Climate Action
Frontline’s latest documentary, 4/22/2022
Through new documents and exclusive, on-camera interviews, “Denial”, the first episode of The Power of Big Oil, reveals the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to forestall action on climate change and to sow seeds of doubt. Among those efforts was the media campaign spearheaded by the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an industry group comprising major fossil fuel companies, trade associations and corporate consumers of fossil fuels. More here.

TAKE ACTION – INDIVIDUALS

TAKE ACTION – BUSINESSES

Salesforce Ramps Up Investments in Global Fight Against Climate Change
By Gary E. Frank
Triple Pundit, 4/19/2022
Salesforce is giving a total of $11 million to 12 global nonprofits in the first round of donations from its $100 million Ecosystem Restoration and Global Justice Fund. The donations, which were announced April 12 at the company’s Net Zero Summit, support key programs that have embarked on various strategies to tackle climate change, including ones that enhance natural carbon sinks, protect biodiversity and create green jobs. “We believe that philanthropy can be a powerful tool in fighting climate change,” said Naomi Morenzoni, senior vice president of philanthropy at Salesforce, in a public statement. “Climate change impacts everyone, and it disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable communities. Through our philanthropic donations, we aim to support organizations that work with local communities to find meaningful, nature-based climate solutions.” The organizations receiving the funds include American Forests, the Arbor Day Foundation, Conservation International, Fundación Natura, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, One Tree Planted, Restor, Save The Bay, the Nature Conservancy, the Ocean Foundation, Wetlands International, and the World Resources Institute. More here.

FAQs

Q: Why are we talking about anything but climate change?

A: This is a question I ask myself every time scientists release one of their consistently alarming reports on the projected countdown to doomsday. Doomsday being the moment when the ability to lower the atmospheric temperature has slipped from our control. The moment when we puny humans are finally and irrevocably at the mercy of hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, drought, food shortages, rising sea levels and all the socio-political carnage that will accompany same. The moment that, by the latest estimates, is l ess than 10 years away. So the first thing we need to do is stop using the term “climate change,” which makes the situation seem relatively benign and natural, as if the Earth were entering menopause and all those scientists just want us to know that hot flashes can be expected. The man-made shift they are predicting will cause a large number of humans to regularly die by heat, fire, water, drought and famine. More here.

Find elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officialsFax legislators for free: Reps: https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.phpSenate: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php White House contact: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house

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Life on Earth Can Recover … Humans Cannot.

David Posnett — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 18:26:00 +0000

From Joanne Young Doesschate (Port Jefferson)

I’ve gotten lots of great news links sent to me about so many different subjects, but then the leaked IPCC report put all but the environment and climate change on the back burner.

When the ground temperature in the Arctic Circle on the summer solstice last week was 118 degrees, the report says

“Life on Earth can recover from a drastic climate shift by evolving into new species and creating new ecosystems … humans cannot.”

“Tipping points are triggered when temperatures reach a certain level, whereby one impact rapidly leads to a series of cascading events with vast repercussions. For instance, as rising temperatures lead to the melting of Arctic permafrost, the unfreezing soil releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that in turn causes more heating.”

We’re reaching those tipping points faster than imagined, and the fear is that we may have already started a cascade we cannot stop. We are about to enter a mini-heat wave on Long Island (high 80’s). Nothing compared to the other side of the US:

“[T]his heat will be historic, dangerous, prolonged and unprecedented. ” “We can’t stress enough how impactful this heat will be to nearly every person and community in the Pacific and Inland Northwest region.” – Spokane Weather Service –

All Politics Is Local. All climate change is local too and we won’t meet the Paris Climate Accords (which are already too little too late), without local politics helping national politics helping global politics.

This is the 50th anniversary of Joni Mitchell’s Blue album. But her Big Yellow Taxi best describes what we have done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFB-d-8_bvY

They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique and swinging hot spot

Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone

They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.

Took all the trees and put them in tree museum

And they charged the people a dollar and half to see them

Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone…

The final conclusion of the IPCC report:

Climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can tame planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Species extinction, more widespread disease, unliveable heat, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas — these and other devastating climate impacts are accelerating and bound to become painfully obvious before a child born today turns 3

While it has been dire reading, this, by Prof Waleed Abdalati of the U of Colorado, Boulder, may say it best:

“The science does clearly point to a challenging future, one in which climate change places significant stresses on every aspect of our lives. Science, by its nature, avoids hyperbole and those who have spoken out most aggressively about the climate crisis have been derogatorily labeled as alarmists. But sometimes, when the outcomes and risks are so severe, alarm is warranted.

Alarm, however, should not necessarily equate to hopelessness. On the contrary, alarm can and should be a motivator for action, action that brings out — and takes advantage of — the best in our scientific, technological, policy, industrial and humanitarian capabilities to rise to the climate challenge and successfully overcome it.

The content of the upcoming IPCC Assessment Report will, like those before it, present us with an opportunity to take an honest and sober look at the future we may be in for and help us determine the trajectory of humanity in the face of that future. Just as science shines a light on the challenges, science can light the path to success.”

Will the world be willing to meet the challenge? Today’s article in the NY Times, “What If American Democracy Fails the Climate Crisis?”, has lots of intriguing ideas but doesn’t make it sound promising. Take this comment about the the original infrastructure jobs bill, not all of which dealt with climate:

In particular, the scale is simply too small; $900 billion on climate is not enough to catalyze the pace of decarbonization we will need in order to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2030, while providing millions of good jobs. That’s more like $10 trillion over 10 years.

The new bipartisan bill is only $1.2 trillion and most not for climate change. One project, linked below, hoping to get some of that federal funding, is for protecting the Houston coastline from rising sea levels. It has a projected cost of $26 million. That is only one city. Which cities do we save, which ones move inland, which ones die? That is a global question, not just an American one.

And it’s not just cities. What parts of Long Island do we save? Can we save?

Lots of reading, lots of thinking. Will you meet the challenge? Please try to read it during this moderate heat spell by challenging yourself and doing it without turning on the AC!

Take care, JoAnne

Right whale #3720

David Posnett — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:39:18 +0000

On March 18^th Chris Paparo, the manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center reported a sighting of a mother right whale with her calf just 300 yards off an East Hampton ocean beach! #3720, as she is called, had travelled from waters near Wassaw Island, Georgia, where she and her calf were last seen on Jan. 19^th 2021, their final destination perhaps Cape Cod bay, or as far north as the gulf of St. Lawrence.

We all know that the right whale is a critically endangered species with less than 400 individuals still alive and perhaps less than 100 reproducing females. Spotting calves with their mothers represents a glimmer of hope.

With plans to build an offshore South Fork Wind Farm 35 miles east of Montauk point and run a submarine cable coming ashore on a Wainscott beach, I could not help wonder how the developer (Ørsted) plans to safeguard these magnificent marine mammals.

Here is my lay person report.

Ørsted takes this very seriously. I spoke with Sophie Hartfield Lewis, Ørsted Head of U.S. Permitting. Safeguarding whales are clearly deer to her heart. Together with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution they are tackling issues like the correct distance between a source of submarine noise, such as pile driving, and a whale straying into the area. At what distance is there assured harm to the whale’s hearing (permanent or temporary)? At what distance do all drilling operations need to be halted? Currently that stands at 1 km depending on what marine species is involved and the type of noise emitted, including the noise frequency. F.ex. frequencies above 200 mHz are deemed safe because whales don’t hear them or because they don’t have adverse reactions to them.
I also learned about techniques used to dampen noise. (a) There is something called a ‘Big bubble curtain’ (BBC): it consists of a flexible tube fitted with special nozzle openings and installed on the seabed around the pile. Compressed air is forced through the nozzles producing a curtain of rising, expanding bubbles. These bubbles effectively attenuate noise by scattering sound on the air bubbles, absorbing sound, or reflecting sound off the air bubbles! (b) There is the Hydro-Sound Damper (HSD): it consists of a fisher net with different sized elements, laid out at various distances from each other, and encapsulating the pile. HSD elements can be foam plastic or gas-filled balloons. Noise is reduced as it crosses the HSD due to reflection and absorption. (c) There is the AdBm, Helmholz resonator: it consists of large arrays of Helmholtz resonators, or air filled containers with an opening on one side that can be set to vibrate at specific frequencies to absorb noise, deployed as a “fence” around pile driving activities. Sophie told me that if operations were to start tomorrow, they would use BBC.
I spoke with Catherine Bowes of the National Wildlife Foundation. Key recommendations include: seasonal & temporal restrictions on pile driving; real-time monitoring of science-based exclusion zones; underwater noise limits; vessel speed restrictions; and commitments to pre, during & post-construction monitoring to ensure we learn as we go, in launching this new clean energy industry. This last point is essential for informing impact mitigation strategies along the coast.

Sophie Hartfield Lewis directed me to an online pdf. Pages 100-166 directly concern mitigation strategies for the SFWF. It is titled “Protected Species Mitigation and Monitoring Plan South Fork Wind, LLC.“ I warn the reader: it gets pretty involved.

The world has seen an increasing and alarming number of extinctions in recent years. And that’s only the ones we know about. Ultimately, protecting threatened species protects us, the human species, because loss of biodiversity has health impacts among many other ill effects. Just google ’loss of biodiversity.’ Simultaneously, we are existentially threatened by climate change. Thus, we have no choice. We need to save species like the right whale and we need offshore wind energy.

Win With Wind invites you to attend a virtual seminar on

Offshore Wind Farms & Protection of Endangered Species

Q&A with 2 renowned experts:

Catherine Bowes, Program Director, National Wildlife Federation

Sophie Hartfield Lewis, Head of Environment & Marine Affairs, Ørsted

Wednesday Jun 9, 2021, 4.00 – 5:30 PM

South Fork Wind Farm Cable Approved by PSC

David Posnett — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:48:28 +0000

Press Release:

For Immediate Release

South Fork Wind Farm Cable Approved by PSC

East Hampton, New York – March 18, 2021 — This morning the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) voted unanimously to grant South Fork Wind (“SFW”) a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for a transmission cable needed to connect the South Fork Wind Farm to the electric grid. This is a critical step in authorizing construction and operation of 15 wind turbines in the ocean 35 miles east of Montauk. The PSC approved the landing site for the cable at Beach Lane in Wainscott. The cable will then be buried under the roads of Wainscott and ultimately be connected to the electric grid at the Cove Hollow Road substation in East Hampton.

SFW is scheduled to begin construction early in 2022 and the wind farm is projected to be operational by late 2023. The South Fork Wind Farm will generate enough clean renewable energy to the South Fork to power 70,000 typical homes, reducing carbon emissions, creating clean jobs, and assisting both East Hampton and New York State in meeting their commitment to combat climate change with 100% clean energy.

Wind With Wind (WWW), which was organized to produce fact-based information regarding the benefits of renewable offshore wind energy, has been actively advocating for the South Fork Wind Farm for years. As the first sizable offshore wind farm in the country, the project has faced opposition from very well-funded groups. WWW and its attorneys actively promoted the project, participating in the lengthy settlement discussions and public hearings, filing written comments with the PSC, participating in site visits, and keeping the public informed on the issues.

WWW commends the PSC for its historic vote since it puts New York State and East Hampton in a leadership role for offshore wind energy with SFW serving as the foundation of a more sustainable and resilient future. When the South Fork Wind Farm becomes operational it will be the largest offshore wind farm in the country, and the first in New York. SFW’s battle has been carefully observed by the offshore wind industry and is emerging as a template for a collaborative and community driven approach for clean energy development.

“Win With Wind has worked hard for this, and we are grateful for the help of our supporters and especially the law firm Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. We are lucky to live in a town with such forward- looking political leadership,” said Judith Hope, President of WWW.

“Now it is time for all of us to come together and support SFW. Instead of worrying about the inconvenience of a cable being buried under the roads of Wainscott, let us focus on saving our seriously battered planet,” said Jeremiah Mulligan, a member of the WWW Steering Committee.

Contact:
Judith Hope
weneedwindenergy@gmail.com
East Hampton, NY

Update on the South Fork Wind Farm & Call to Action

David Posnett — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 17:19:45 +0000

To: Win With Wind supporters
From: Win With Wind steering committee
Date: Feb. 14, 2021
Topic: Update on the South Fork Wind Farm

Dear friends of WWW,

We would like to update you regarding where we stand in the 4-year-long process of getting the South Fork Wind Farm approved, built and operational.

Permits for this project are on 3 tracks:Local (Town of East Hampton)State of New York Public Service Commission: article 7Federal: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)Regarding local permits, the town of East Hampton has voted to grant an easement for Orsted/Eversource to lay the underground powerlines coming ashore on Wainscott’s beaches. The Trustees have also voted to lease the beach area for the cable landing to Orsted/Eversource. See the East Hampton Town website and the East Hampton Star.

Regarding NY State Article 7 Proceedings, a yearlong public comment session has terminated with about 70 “interveners” many of whom tried to slow down the process. A final decision for the Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need is expected by end of March.

The federal BOEM process is wrapping up too. The following graph shows where we are: We are in the late phases of BOEM’s environmental and technical reviews after which there will be a decision on COP (construction and operations plan) approval.

Many of you have asked how to help support the South Fork Wind Farm. One thing you can do this coming week is to join a ZOOM call managed by BOEM. It is educational as BOEM officials will present the entire project. It is also an opportunity to give an oral (and/or written) commentary in support of renewable energy and SFWF in particular. Several of us took part in BOEM’s first two ZOOM events earlier this week. Would you participate next week? Here is the sign-up link:

Tuesday, February 16, 2021
5:00 pm ET
Registration: Webinar Registration – Zoom
Webinar ID: 991 6301 7012
Phone: 888-475-4499
https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/south-fork-wind-farm-virtual-meetings

Here is an example of Michael Hansen’s testimony:
https://youtu.be/SIjwegR2Tas?t=4826

Sincerely,

Support Win With Wind

Zeldin’s complete Environmental Record

David Posnett — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 18:37:54 +0000

Latest update of Zeldin’s environmental voting record below.
The spreadsheet itself (all 193 bills since Zeldin was first elected) is linked in Excel format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing

This is our last update before the November 3rd election. It covers the 21 bills tracked by the League of Conservation Scorecard so far in 2020.So far in 2020, Lee Zeldin has voted against the environment in 14 of these bills and for the environment in 7, for a year-to-date score of 33%. Zeldin’s lifetime score (to date) is 15%. Although Zeldin’s lifetime score has crept up by a few percentage points over the last 2 years, it remains embarrassingly low when viewed in context: the average LCV score of a Member of Congress last year was 59%. Some highlights of Zeldin’s environmental voting record so far in 2020: He voted to permit Trump’s EPA to issue weak standards on soot pollution. He voted against more federal infrastructure funding for clean energy, clean water and mass transportation. He voted not to restrict funding for resumption of nuclear testing. He voted against increases in funding for climate, oceans, coastal science, energy efficiency and renewable energy. He voted against increases in federal funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds. And he voted against funding for replacing lead service lines providing drinking water to predominately minority and low income neighborhoods. On the plus side, Zeldin voted for full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program he has long supported. LWCF funds are used to protect and enhance public lands and to provide community recreational facilities. This bill passed the Senate and was signed into law. Finally, and in seemingly contradictory fashion, on the same day Zeldin voted for greater regulation of PFAS chemicals, which are suspected carcinogens, but against a bill to close a loophole in the Clean Water Act that permits PFAS to be discharged into waterways. Details can be found in the linked spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing

To sum it up, he has voted the wrong way on bills to mitigate climate change 92% of the time, to be exact, despite the double talk, evasions & obfuscation he dished out in his video presentation at the NYLCV climate change forum a few days ago.

Best, Marc Rauch and Suzi Kondic

Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record

David Posnett — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 20:00:03 +0000

Lee Zeldin’s League of Conservation Voters (LCV) score for 2019 was 28%. This seems like an improvement from his scores from prior years, which hovered around 10%, but to put things in perspective: The average Member of Congress score in 2019 was 56%, twice Zeldin’s, and true friends of the environment routinely score in the 90’s or even 100%.

Zeldin’s lifetime score, covering all 3 of his terms in Congress, remains a dismal 13%.

Since our last update, in August 2019, Zeldin voted 5 times to preserve or expand the rights of fossil fuel interests to explore and drill: Off the Gulf Coast of Florida, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, near Chaco Canyon National Park, near the Grand Canyon, and in 200,000 acres of Colorado Wilderness. He also voted to permit seismic air gun blasting (for oil and gas exploration) that harms marine mammals.

Also since our last update, Zeldin voted against closing a loophole in the Clean Water Act that allows companies to discharge unlimited amounts of toxic PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”) into our nation’s waterways, and Zeldin voted in favor of the Trump North American trade deal that completely failed to address climate change.

On the other hand, since our last update and sometimes in seemingly contradictory fashion, Zeldin voted to ban oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, to impose a moratorium on seismic blasting off the Atlantic Coast, to ban all trade in shark fins and to increase some regulation of PFAS in drinking water and consumer products.

Full details can be found in the linked Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record Spreadsheet. https://www.facebook.com/notes/lets-visit-lee-zeldin/complete-lee-zeldin-environmental-voting-record/1703500749943694/

By Marc Rauch and Suzi Kondic, see post on Facebook

And here is the prior post from 2017:

Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record

Plastic Pollution of the Oceans

David Posnett — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 22:48:25 +0000

LTE: Washes Up
East Hampton Star
January 13, 2020

To the Editor:

On Jan. 5 Lee Zeldin tweeted, “So ridiculous. Apparently, this is from a new county law here in Suffolk.” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of a sign in a Dunkin’ Donuts that read, “We can no longer offer you straws or put them out for you to help yourself . . . you must ask us for a straw.”

So this is news to Mr. Zeldin, and he thinks it’s ridiculous? Legislation banning plastic straws that has been talked and written about since the beginning of last year and signed into law on Earth Day, April 22, is news to him? That this legislation had the support of many restaurants is probably also news to him.

Wake up, Mr. Zeldin. We live on an island. Anyone who has taken an early morning walk on the beach can tell you the amount of plastic that washes up is disturbing.

We deserve a representative who is not only aware of what is going on in this district but who is willing to step up and support solutions to the urgent environmental issues of the day. We can do better than a climate change denier whose contributions are a cavalier attitude and snarky tweets.

Sincerely,

CAROL DEISTLER

Climate and Real Estate

David Posnett — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 03:58:28 +0000

GUESTWORDS in the East Hampton Star

By David Posnett

January 1, 2020

There is already evidence of a real estate slump in the United States. A housing recession is predicted for 2020. The average price of luxury home sales is falling, as is the number of sales. Long Island specifically is suffering as sales decrease and homes lose value. This is rather astonishing given that the rest of the economy is still on steroids.

What are the reasons? The following have all been suggested.

First, baby boomers from New York are downsizing and moving to lower-tax states. Second, millennials seem to have a distaste for buying second homes and would rather rent. Third, bonuses on Wall Street fell 17 percent in 2018 compared with 2017.

Fourth, the tax changes brought on by Donald Trump: a cap of $10,000 on the amount of state and local taxes (SALT), including property taxes, that can be deducted from federal income tax. For an expensive home with property taxes of $50,000 per year, this means that $40,000 can no longer be deducted.

Fifth, as mentioned by some real estate professionals: chronic flooding, which threatens the values of houses here. According to Aidan Gardiner writing for The Real Deal, a website focusing on New York real estate news: “Chronic flooding threatens to sink the value of Hamptons homes. Hamptons homes are very likely to lose value given that they’ll face chronic flooding as climate changes and sea levels rise over the coming years, according to Bloomberg. Behind only central California, the area has the second-highest level of its property tax revenue at risk among U.S. municipalities with a high likelihood of chronic flooding in the next 12 years. Climate change is expected to bring constant floods that would tank property values, erode infrastructure, and sink tax revenue, all of which will make it harder to fund projects to battle the rising seas.”

You can check for yourself on ss2.climatecentral.org, where you can find a “risk zone map for surging seas.” See the figure appended below. You can input anything from “unchecked pollution” to “extreme carbon cuts,” depending on how you predict future policies will rein in carbon emissions.

I assumed unchecked carbon emissions along the lines of our present-day emissions, and I asked for maps of a 10-foot water level rise. The program produces maps with dark blue shaded areas that will be underwater. Here are some of the highlights for the not so distant future (2050 to 2100).

Montauk will become an island, the Napeague stretch will be underwater, and much of downtown Montauk will be too, including Route 27. Flooding of Route 27 across Napeague will start with just a three-foot rise in sea water levels, shutting down access to Montauk.

Homes all around Accabonac Harbor will be flooded. Gerard Drive and Louse Point will be submerged. Maidstone Park, Sammy’s Beach, and Cedar Point will be gone. Barcelona Point and the Sag Harbor Golf Course will become an island.

Beach homes in Amagansett, homes along Two Mile Hollow Beach, homes around Hook Pond, Georgica Pond, and Wainscott Pond will all be underwater. Indeed, a few homes on Beach Lane in Wainscott will be submerged. That is where the cable from the South Fork Wind Farm is proposed to come ashore and where some of its opponents own property.

Much of Sag Harbor Village will be underwater, and North Haven will be a real island.

Up and down Long Island, the homes close to the South Shore will be underwater, and Fire Island will no longer exist.

The North Shore, too, will be flooded, and Greenport will be on an island.

Kennedy International Airport will be underwater.

It is not just someone else’s problem. Loss of value of high-end homes means loss of significant local business and loss of jobs, and it spills over, resulting in loss of the value of your own property regardless of whether it is in particular danger of flooding.

Showtime’s “The Affair” recently wrapped up its final season, and part of it was set in mid-21st-century Montauk, with warming temperatures and rising seas. The show forecasts what life will look like in 34 short years, including mass transit that routinely short-circuits because of flooding, coastal communities plunged into near-total darkness, and shoreline towns without basic municipal services.

We had better support clean energy (including offshore wind) and work to decrease our carbon footprint. It is urgent.

https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#12/41.0339/-72.0864?show=satellite&projections=0-K14_RCP85-SLR&level=10&unit=feet&pois=hide