New York’s NIMBY Suburbs Are on a Winning Streak. Will They Destroy Renewable Energy Too?

Aside from short stretches filled with apocalyptic smoke, New York has been enjoying a delightfully temperate spring. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is either currently on fire or boiling. We're seeing unprecedented atmospheric deviations, as climate change redefines what we consider to be "normal" weather. The time to decarbonize the economy was well before yesterday, but today works as well. 

Which is good—because the New York State Assembly is back in session today, to finish up some urgent business before taking the rest of the year off. (None of that urgent business includes anything related to the state's housing crisis, just for the record.) Last week, New York's nonprofit energy operator warned that some of the state's dirtiest fossil fuel plants will probably have to remain online longer than anticipated. Why? Permitting holdups and supply chain slowdowns, which have held up much-needed power lines that would bring renewable energy from upstate and Canada into New York City. 

It's fine for New York to cut it close between building up renewables and guaranteeing reliability—the closer we cut, the less fossil fuels the state will burn, and the more urgent the need to quickly build renewables becomes. What probably can't happen is the state just dragging its feet on the building of renewables, idly blowing past its climate commitments while allowing fossil fuels to burn, which is why this week in Albany might end up being extremely important. 

A bill called the Planned Offshore Wind Transmission Act has already passed the State Senate, and awaits passage in the Assembly. The bill would allow the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the state's energy authority, to play a larger role in the construction of wind energy projects, and bypass approvals needed from every township or locality that a power line might need to pass through. 

Right now, New York's carbon-neutral future relies on a massive build out of offshore wind, with several projects already going through the permitting process. As Hell Gate reported this April, New York could still hit its 2030 climate goals, but that would mean building infrastructure at an unprecedented pace, and not delaying projects even further.

But NIMBYism has reared its ugly head once again. 

The town of Long Beach on Long Island has brought up "concerns" around the legislation, regarding the laying of a power line under a beach. The bill, in addition to giving important powers to NYSERDA, would specifically target that project, expressly giving the state permission to continue building the much-needed project without Long Beach tying it up forever. (Long Beach would still have to give permission for needed park alienation, however.) Without passage, environmental advocates and unions warn the state's climate plan will fall even further behind schedule. 

So will the Assembly act on a vital piece of climate legislation before it's already too late? If the housing battle is any indication, we wouldn't bet on it. 

Links that don't require parkland alienation or endless environmental review: 

• In addition to the wind energy law, the legislature is possibly taking up a bill that would make it easier for people to overturn their criminal convictions, as well as bills on gaming rights for the Seneca Nation (which is not looking good for the Seneca already) and an expansion of subsidized healthcare to undocumented New Yorkers. 
• An NYPD officer says higher-ups conspired to have him institutionalized after he reported fellow officers who were getting drunk at a music festival. This would not be the first NYPD whistleblower to make this kind of allegation. 
• The mayor reiterated that he was ordered by God to become mayor and also that he visualizes himself being whipped (figuratively, by the press), like Denzel Washington's character was whipped in the film "Glory."
• The mayor's most trusted advisor reportedly said that migrants should stay in Mexico, because they speak Spanish. 
• And the mayor went all House Republican on a lifting of a shelter rule. 
• Four people are dead after a Chinatown fire that started in an e-bike service store. 
• Yes, you can pay $5,750 to live in this apartment. No, you cannot cook meat. 
• The Pride flags outside of the Stonewall Inn keep getting vandalized.
• New York's retail jobs are disappearing, hurting young workers of color.  
• And finally, we love our beautiful, lonesome coyotes: