This morning, after five years of tireless organizing in the Hudson Valley and across NY State, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation denied Danskammer and Astoria’s article 5 permit applications. “After years of organizing the community, attending several five hour long hearings, and testifying against Danskammer, we finally won back our right for clean air!” said MHVDSA member and endorsed candidate for City Council of Newburgh’s first ward Giselle Martinez. “Communities like the City of Newburgh already suffer disproportionately from environmental racism and pollution. We need to protect public health to ensure good quality of life for all residents. Now is the time to invest in clean energy solutions and I am excited for the direction our community is heading.” Simply put, both of these projects would have had generational impacts on communities like the City of Newburgh, polluting their air and water. Today, they have been stopped dead in their tracks. We won.
Members of Mid-Hudson Valley DSA have spent hours of their time speaking to people across the Hudson Valley about this issue as well as participating in public hearings held by the Public Service Commission and Department of Environmental Conservation voicing their concerns over this proposed plant. “The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision today is an important step that comes as a huge relief to our communities who organized and spoke against this plant and the Astoria NRG plant,” says our Ulster County and Ecosocialism Working Group Co-Chair Sarahana Shrestha. “Today’s decision signals hope for our state’s fight against climate change but we cannot stop now, there is more work to be done. We urge Gov. Hochul to also stop other new fossil fuel infrastructure and commit to championing public renewables.” In the year 2021, new fossil fuel infrastructure is fundamentally antithetical to state climate law and the principles of environmental justice and equity that are central to any meaningful framework for addressing the climate emergency.
Mid Hudson Valley DSA continues to organize and fight for an anti-capitalist vision of a post-fossil fuel world. It is in this vision that we see policies like the Build Public Renewables Act and Clean Futures Act as essential parts of meeting state climate goals and mitigating the worst impacts of the climate emergency. Let us be clear: We are hurtling towards climate disaster. Although huge victories, the end of Danskammer and Astoria leave much work to be done ensuring that this generation and the next have a livable planet and energy system that puts people over profits. “I never want to have to organize against another fossil fuel project in my lifetime,” says our Orange County and Ecosocialism Working Group Co-Chair Michaelangelo Pomarico. “It’s high time the NY State Legislature pass the Build Public Renewables Act and Clean Futures Act so we can finally start focusing on solutions instead of the problem.”
The ball is once again in the court of the State Legislature and office of the Governor who have failed to pass any meaningful climate legislation since the CLCPA in 2019. We are out of time. The 2022 legislative session represents our last best chance to do what is necessary to lead the nation in passing legislation that will pave the way for other states by moving towards collective action, as well as doing our part to reduce emissions. For now we celebrate a historic victory for the climate movement in NY, tomorrow we continue the fight building this movement to win public power for all New Yorkers and put an end to fossil capital.
For more information please contact us at: organize@mhvdsa.org
Visit Website: https://mhvdsa.org
For Immediate Release
October 27, 2021
Contact: Michaelangelo Pomarico, Phone: 8457284005, Email: michaelangelopomarico@gmail.com