Indian Point closes
By MARIE J. FRENCH, SAMANTHA MALDONADO and MARCUS NAVARRO
04/30/2020 10:00 AM EDT
— Opponents of Indian Point’s scheduled shutdown today hold a Zoom protest starting at 2 p.m. The mayor of the village of Buchanan is scheduled to speak, according to organizers.
— While natural gas is likely to fill in the gap left by the plant’s closure in the short run, environmentalists supporting the closure and policymakers point to a regional cap on emissions from the power sector as evidence that overall carbon pollution will continue a downward trajectory.
— Parks in New Jersey will reopen, Gov. Phil Murhpy announced.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y. | AP Photo
NUKE NO MORE — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s quest to shutter Indian Point will enter the final stages as an operator at one of the nuclear plant’s units flips a switch Thursday. Under an agreement reached with Cuomo, Entergy is scheduled to shut down one of its 1,000 megawatt reactors at 11 p.m. The move will reduce the amount of zero-emissions power consumed in downstate New York and increase demand for gas-fired plants in the short run. Most environmental advocates have hailed the closure as a victory — and have for years raised safety concerns and issues with the plant’s impact on the Hudson River, They say it will not ultimately impede achievement of the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals, arguing new fossil fuel plants are not “needed” to replace the nuclear plant.
NJ PARKS TO REOPEN — POLITICO’s Sam Sutton: Democratic and Republican lawmakers in New Jersey are taking credit after Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Wednesday that will allow parks and golf courses to reopen in time for Saturday morning tee times. But Murphy said his decision to reverse his April 7 order to shut down state and county parks had little to do with the three weeks of pleading and cajoling that’s gone on publicly and behind the scenes. … Murphy said he decided to reopen parks and golf courses only after similar actions were taken in Pennsylvania and New York, thereby ensuring New Jersey’s facilities wouldn’t be inundated by out-of-staters.
— Following Murphy’s announcement, the New Jersey Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch and League of Conservation Voters — issued statements praising the move to re-open state and county parks and forests. (Note: New York never closed its state parks, but did briefly close golf courses.)
RGGI REGS OUT — Bloomberg’s Keshia Clukey: “New York state plans to lower its cap on carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.4 million tons in 2021, and by nearly 1 million tons annually through 2030, according to a proposal published Wednesday. ‘The RGGI program demonstrates how states can work together to respond to the climate crisis in a way that advances our economies,’ DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a news release. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state DEC won’t host a public hearing on its proposal, but will accept public comments through June 29.”
— Environmental advocates praised the DEC’s extension of the RGGI rules to small peaker plants that had previously been left out of the cap.
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Around New York
— Tesla’s solar energy business took a step backward to start the year, with installations dropping as the coronavirus outbreak started to spread through the economy.
— OPINION: State Sen. Todd Kaminsky says New York should begin reopening its economy with green projects.
— The South Fork offshore wind farm will “very likely” be delayed beyond its planned 2022 completion date, according to a top official for project developer Orsted, who cited a “prolonged” federal review of U.S. wind projects and the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Cleaning product manufacturers say the Covid-19 crisis should prompt New York state to delay by one year its ban on all but trace concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in their products.
— The New York Power Authority returns to the market after a multi-year absence, with a $1.1 billion bond offering including its first-ever green bonds.
— BLOG: Andrew Ratzkin, an energy sector lawyer and member of the Westchester County Climate Smart Communities Task Force, advocates for a carbon tax.
— Manhattan residents are using up to 25 percent more energy during the day amid the coronavirus lockdown.
— Flooding along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario may not be as bad as feared. Regulators of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River say water levels this year are expected to peak “well below” the record-highs of 2017 and 2019.
— The Cohoes Common Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium Tuesday night on the burning of firefighting foam with potentially hazardous PFAS compounds, effectively preventing Norlite from restarting the incineration process that it used to fuel part of its operations.
— Rockland County parks, which were closed April 7 in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, are readying to reopen, County Executive Ed Day announced Wednesday.
— Dairy farmers in upstate New York who faced the wrenching task of dumping their milk earlier this month as the novel coronavirus spread are now confronting a grim future: months of low prices that could squeeze them out of business.
Across the River
— Since the coronavirus, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority and plants around the country, have seen an increased number of disinfectant wipes, latex gloves, and face masks being flushed down toilets, creating clogs, blockages, and other damage to critical infrastructure.
— State regulators are giving solar installers more time to show that their arrays qualify for Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs), if they have not formally completed their applications by the end of April because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Residents of a community destroyed by Superstorm Sandy have won a court victory that will restart their long-delayed plans to rebuild more than eight years after the devastation, according to their attorneys.
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