Author: Phoebe Galt

For Immediate Release

Yesterday, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation public comment period for the Astoria NRG fracked gas power plant ended. Over two and a half months, 6,000 comments were filed in opposition to the project, which would bring more fossil fuels onto the grid and intensify the pollution in Astoria, a neighborhood which already bears the moniker, “asthma alley.”

In addition to the thousands of comments submitted in opposition to the fossil fuel power plant, 156 New Yorkers testified at public hearings last month against the project — only 12 speakers at the hearings spoke in support. With the close of the public comment period yesterday, Gov. Hochul and her Department of Environmental Conservation now have 45 days to decide whether or not to approve the project.

The No Astoria NRG Plant Coalition issued the following statement:

“The people of New York have spoken — there is no need and no desire to bring more dirty, polluting fossil fuel projects into Astoria. As Hurricane Ida made crystal clear, the impacts of climate change are upon us now. It’s time to get serious about climate change, and that means that New York simply cannot bring any more fossil fuels onto the grid. Governor Hochul must listen to New Yorkers and stop the Astoria NRG fracked gas power plant.”

The No Astoria NRG Plant Coalition is made up of Food & Water Watch, NY DSA, Sane Energy Project, Queens Climate Project, NYPIRG, Sierra Club, New York Communities for Change and 350Brooklyn.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, Food & Water Watch, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Tampa, FL — Today, climate and youth activists representing Food & Water Watch, Sunrise Movement, Tampa Bay Climate Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility Florida, Florida Student Power Network and Central Florida Jobs with Justice rallied at US Representative Castor’s Tampa office, urging her to end fossil fuel subsidies.

American taxpayers currently spend $15 billion each year subsidizing the dangerous fossil fuel industry, and the latest bipartisan infrastructure bill includes approximately $25 billion of new subsidies for the dirty industry. Representative Castor has called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies since taking office in 2007, including most recently in a conversation with Brooke Errett of Food & Water Watch. With weeks left before the House vote on the reconciliation package, advocates rallied to demand Rep. Castor shows up to end fossil fuel subsidies now. 

“The time for climate symbolism is over — now is our time to act,” said Brooke Errett, Food & Water Watch Florida Senior Organizer. “Our actions today to keep fossil fuels in the ground and cut off taxpayer-funded subsidies, ending the fossil fuel industry’s lifeline, will pay dividends for generations to come. Representative Castor has repeatedly called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, and it’s time she used her position of influence to show up for the end of these destructive subsidies. We need to end fossil fuel subsidies now, and expect Rep. Castor to lead on making it happen.”

As Chair of the Select Committee on Climate Crisis, Rep. Castor has a crucial role to play in showing up to end fossil fuel subsidies. Activists delivered a sign on letter from twenty-six Tampa Bay organizations urging her to do just that. In tandem with the rally, activists invited Rep. Castor to champion the issue by ‘cutting up the check’ to end subsidies to fossil fuels by the House of Representatives’ projected September 27th vote.

“Ending fossil fuel subsidies means a livable planet for my generation,” said Mary-Elizabeth Estrada, Florida Student Power Network. “This industry has spent billions of dollars lobbying for subsidies to actively destroy our planet, when they could have been investing in clean renewable energy for our future. The time is now to cut the check to fossil fuel companies.”

Images of the event are available here, and a livestream is available here.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Queens, NY — This afternoon, President Biden visited areas of Queens ravaged by Hurricane Ida’s flash flooding and heavy rainfall. President Biden’s trip comes as climate groups are pushing his administration for more aggressive action to stop fossil fuel projects and to live up to his campaign pledge to end leasing federal land for fossil fuel extraction – a pledge he has failed to fulfill. Activists representing Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change and other environmental groups, held up signs and chanted loudly, picketing the President’s appearance in the storm ravaged neighborhood.

As Queens and the broader region struggle to recover from yet another extreme weather event supercharged by climate change, which is caused by emissions from fossil fuels, New Yorkers rallied outside President Biden’s appearance in Queens to send a strong message that he must reject, not continue to approve, fossil fuel projects. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director Alex Beauchamp issued the following statement:

“Fossil fuels are destroying our climate with direct impacts in our own backyard. It’s time President Biden doubled down on his campaign commitments to end our reliance on fossil fuels by stopping the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction and halting the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

In New York, Governor Hochul must do her part to end the fossil fuel projects like the NRG Astoria plant moving forward mere blocks from Biden’s visit today, to ensure New York doesn’t bring any more disastrous fossil fuel projects onto the grid. The fossil fuel age is over — our leaders must commit real action to moving us into an era of clean energy.”

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Richmond, VA — On Friday, the company behind the mysterious Chickahominy Pipeline proposed for central Virginia filed for SCC declaratory judgement, requesting the state confirm that the agency responsible for vetting fossil fuel infrastructure construction does not have jurisdiction over the project. The company, Chickahominy Pipeline LLC, has also requested an expedited decision from SCC on the matter, hoping for an answer as to SCC’s jurisdiction by November 1st. If the declaratory judgement is approved, the Chickahominy Pipeline would move forward without any public or governmental oversight from SCC.

In response, Food & Water Watch Virginia Organizer Jolene Mafnas issued the following statement:

“Chickahominy Pipeline’s filing is notable for all the information it fails to include. The proposed pipeline plans to service Chickahominy Power Station which has faced public outrage because if built, the fracked gas plant would pollute environmental justice communities. From the multiple counties this pipeline would run through to the vast number of private landowners’ property that would be needed to build the pipeline infrastructure, this project is a nightmare in the making. Not only should this project receive full governmental and public oversight, but it must be denied if we are to make any progress towards achieving emissions reductions in Virginia. Governor Northam and state agencies must stop this project.”

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Tampa, FL — Yesterday, while participating in Rep. Crist’s Protect Our Care bus tour, Representative Castor made a verbal commitment to Food & Water Watch Senior Florida Organizer Brooke Errett that she would end federal fossil fuel subsidies in the infrastructure package currently moving through Congress. Currently, the federal government provides about $15 billion in direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry each year — the latest bipartisan infrastructure bill includes approximately $25 billion of new subsidies for the dirty industry.

“We are cutting them,” said Representative Castor of fossil fuel subsidies. “As the Chair of the Climate Crisis Committee, I am working right now to make sure that we cut the fossil fuel subsidies out of the federal budget and instead invest in renewables.”

Representative Castor has called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies since taking office in 2007, and advocates are clear in the urgent need to follow through on that commitment in this pivotal moment for climate action. Her commitment comes on the heels of the Tampa City Council’s own clean energy resolution, which called on Rep. Castor to act on climate where the city could not. Chief among the City’s calls to action was a demand to stop fossil fuel subsidies in the federal infrastructure package. Food & Water Watch Senior Florida Organizer Brooke Errett said,

“We are emboldened by Representative Castor’s commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies, and will rally support here in Tampa to ensure that commitment makes its way into the final infrastructure package passed out of Congress. Every dollar of taxpayer money must go toward clean, renewable energy — not towards the destructive industry destroying our planet. The time to end fossil fuel subsidies is right now, and we expect Rep. Castor to lead as a Congressional champion on this issue.”

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Today, elected officials including Senator Gianaris and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani rallied outside the proposed location of the NRG fracked gas plant in Astoria to protest the dirty fossil fuel project. The rally came on the second and final day of public hearings for the project, currently under review by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. To date, more than 150 speakers had overwhelmed the forum with opposition to the project. Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director Alex Beauchamp said,

“The people are clear, and our elected officials are clear that Astoria does not need a fracked gas plant, and we don’t want one. Governor Hochul has the opportunity and indeed moral imperative to stop this plant — it’s time to pull the plug on NRG.”

The proposal to build a new fracked gas plant in the heavily-populated borough has drawn the attention of powerful elected officials, including Senator Schumer, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, Representative Maloney and Mayor de Blasio who have all come out against the plant in recent months.

Elected officials who spoke at today’s rally emphasized the opportunity for now Governor Hochul to take an early stance against fossil fuels in her administration, by stopping the Astoria project and doubling down on a commitment to bring clean, renewable energy to the borough instead.

“For far too long the residents of western Queens have lived in the shadow of New York City’s power plants, bearing the brunt of the environmental and health consequences as the smoke stacks continue to belch pollution – that needs to stop today,” said US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “A rebuilt NRG plant that will keep a fossil fuel-dependent power plant in Astoria for years to come and would directly undermine the urgently needed goals laid out in New York’s groundbreaking climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. A law I was proud to champion. I am also proud to stand with great local leaders and activists who are fighting for climate justice, and we won’t stop until we power-down this dangerous plan.”

“Given the severity of the climate crisis, no new fossil fuel plants should be getting built, period. I urge DEC to reject these permit applications and stop this destructive plant from being built,” said Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris. “I will continue working with my community to fight against this ill-conceived project until it is finally dead.”

“My neighbors are literally and figuratively sick of being used as sacrificial lambs for the fossil fuel industry,” said State Senator Jessica Ramos. “Astorians do not want another fracked gas plant polluting the air that they breathe. As we are currently experiencing the deleterious effects of climate change, it is absolutely ludicrous that this even needs to be debated. Governor Hochul and the DEC must deny these permits to NRG to protect Astorians and our climate.”

“Every day, I see my neighbors across Astoria suffer from some of the worst air quality in our city and we have the asthma rates to show for it. Enough is enough; we are sick and tired of investments being made in dirty fossil fuels when we can build clean energy today. Our climate laws, our neighbors, and the state of our climate crisis are leading us to the same conclusion; the DEC and Governor Hochul must reject NRG’s new gas plant. We should not be building new fossil fuel plants in Astoria, or anywhere across New York State,” said Assembly Member Zohran K. Mamdani.

“It is absurd that we are still fighting new fossil fuel plants in New York in 2021. The DEC and Governor Hochul are obligated to reject NRG’s new gas plant. Continuing to entertain the fracked gas plant while the world burns, without public renewables on the way, is reprehensible. If this plant is approved, it will be another strike in the endless list of crimes against humanity that fossil fuel corporations and their state enablers are guilty of. I hope to look back in 30 years and see that New York did the right thing this time,” said Stylianos Karolidis, organizer with the Democratic Socialists of America. 

“NYC cannot afford to extend our reliance on dirty energy,” said Council Member Brad Lander. “The proposed NRG peaker plant flies in the face of NYC’s commitments to reduce existing emissions and adopt renewable energy. The climate crisis isn’t coming, it’s already here. Now is the time to invest in green energy solutions that will power a more resilient future.” 

“The Astoria Replacement Project is a huge step in the wrong direction,” Chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, Council Member James F. Gennaro, said in his public comment. “We should be mindful that no one elected power plant operators to protect our environment. They don’t make the siting rules – the State does. We elect the Governor and State Legislators to protect us, our air, and our climate. It’s high time our State elected officials did exactly that.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Vienna, VA — Today, activists protested outside Senator Warner’s Vienna office, calling on the Senator to commit to ending the $121 billion in wasteful taxpayer dollar spending that goes toward fossil fuel subsidies.

With cash-filled oil barrels and a long pipeline signifying the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline project, protesters highlighted the role that federal taxpayer dollars play in propping up the destructive fossil fuel industry that has been harming Virginia residents for years. Food & Water Watch Virginia Organizer Jolene Mafnas said:

“Senator Warner has the power and influence needed to cut the flow of public money into the destructive fossil fuel industry. It’s time to stop paying the polluters tearing up our backyards with pipelines and locking our future into fossil fuel-driven climate catastrophe. Senator Warner must seize the opportunity presented in the infrastructure debates to end fossil fuel subsidies once and for all.”

The explosive growth of unconventional fracking techniques over the last ten years for oil and natural gas production in the U.S. has been made possible by the billions spent annually in taxpayer subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

In Virginia, fossil fuel industry growth has recently resulted in a series of dangerous new proposals for interlocking pipelines and gas plants like the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Chickahominy gas plant that will threaten to worsen climate change and harm public health, particularly in disadvantaged environmental justice communities.

As a member of both the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, Senator Warner will be a key deal broker among Senate democrats as the budget negotiations in Congress continue. Most recently, Sen. Warner has been involved with a bipartisan deal on infrastructure legislation that could add an additional $25 billion in fossil fuel subsidies to fund dirty energy projects like carbon sequestration and hydrogen energy that promise to keep the U.S. hooked on fossil fuels for decades.

“This is no time to sit on the sidelines,” said Lukas Ross, with Friends of the Earth U.S. “Senator Warner needs to take the lead on ending billions in Big Oil handouts. The budget resolution that just passed in Congress may be his last chance to do just that.”

“We want Senator Warner to know that the government should be prioritizing the planet and our people in legislation. And we can’t afford to give away any more dollars to rich fossil fuel companies,” said Kristin Hoffman, a member of Our Revolution Arlington.

“The federal government is spending about $15 billion of our tax money each year in direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Our money is funding fossil fuel expansion instead of investing in getting us to 100% renewable energy, which is desperately needed if we are to respond to the climate crisis in a meaningful way. Congress needs to pass the End Polluter Welfare Act,” said Helene Shore, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of 350Fairfax.

For photos of the event, please visit this folder.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Richmond, VA—Today, after the better part of a decade of pushback from local and national groups urging ruling bodies to stop the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a draft recommendation to approve a key state water permit that would allow the project to move forward. Environmental and social justice groups decry the DEQ’s draft ruling, which was expedited in recent months, and which ignores a recent EPA recommendation arguing for the permits to be denied. 

“In what has become an alarming trend for Gov. Northam’s DEQ, the agency is once again disregarding environmental impacts and widespread community opposition in their approval process for a fracked gas pipeline,” said Food & Water Watch Virginia Organizer Jolene Mafnas. “This is a failure of leadership at a time when many Virginians are looking to keep fossil fuel infrastructure out of Virginia. Governor Northam must step in to ensure DEQ denies Mountain Valley Pipeline its permits.”

According to Virginia law, MVP is subject to the Virginia Water Protection (VWP) Permit in order to fulfill the CWA Section 401 Water Quality Certification, issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. This past March, DEQ asked the Army Corps for an extension in issuing the final permit ruling stating that, “based on the complexity of this project and past public controversy, we cannot reasonably issue the VWP permit before December 2021 and we believe it is quite likely that we could not issue this permit until early 2022.”

Nonetheless, the DEQ proceeded with its draft recommendation on an expedited schedule, and seems to have provided little detail on how the hundreds of waterways and wetlands will actually be impacted. Two years ago, MVP was forced to pay $2.1 million to the state for hundreds of violations of its previous water permit, but DEQ does not mention factoring these past violations into its recommendation.

Earlier this summer, the EPA recommended against issuing a key water permit for the project, citing insufficient information and serious threats to waterways. The DEQ’s draft ruling disregards that July recommendation to the Army Corps of Engineers, but fails to provide sufficient reasoning as to why the project might not pose a threat to waterways as the EPA had found. 

“This is a sad day for the community and all that is affected by the proposed pipeline,” said 7 Directions of Service Co Founder, Crystal Cavalier-Keck. “It is a travesty that DEQ isn’t listening to the millions of citizens it is affecting. As an indigenous person we never had a concept of owning land, property, or material things. Traditionally, we regarded the land as a communal resource, with ownership vested in the group rather than in any one individual. We also believed that spiritual forces were everywhere, dwelling in heavenly bodies and in sacred places on the Earth. Spirits lived within plants and animals. However, we were assimilated into European mentalities and here we are today fighting against major corporations that do not value people, animals, plants, land, or the earth.”

“MVP has already had hundreds of water quality-related violations in the course of construction of their dangerous fracked gas pipeline,” said Lynn Godfrey, Pipeline Organizer with the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. “Why should we give them the chance to cause further destruction to our waterways? It’s clear that MVP can’t be trusted to safely build or operate their pipeline. The State Water Control Board must heed the mounting concerns about this dangerous project from EPA and the public and reject its permit to pollute Virginia’s waters.” 

In tandem with the draft ruling, DEQ has opened a public comment period that runs from August 28th until October 13. The agency will also host public hearings on the project on September 27th and 28th in Rocky Mount and Radford respectively with no official indication of a remote participation option. The ultimate decision on the key MVP permit will fall with the State Water Control Board, who will vote on the VWP Permit after reviewing DEQ’s draft permit and public comments. 

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Albany, NY — In her first state address this afternoon, Governor Hochul laid out a clear set of priorities for the early days of her administration. In her eleven minute address, New York’s new governor made no mention of climate change, despite the recent IPCC report which declared the climate crisis a “code red for humanity.”

In response, Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director Alex Beauchamp issued the following statement:

“It is disappointing that Governor Hochul failed to mention climate change among her list of priorities. The governor faces several urgent decisions on climate change, with the state holding public hearings on two fracked gas power plants just this week. Governor Hochul must prioritize moving New York off fossil fuels, starting with saying no to the Danskammer and Astoria fracked gas power plant proposals.”

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

Today, more than fifty advocates overwhelmed the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s first of four public hearings on NRG’s proposal to build a fracked gas power plant in Astoria. As of two hours into the hearing, only a single speaker (NRG’s Director of Government Relations) had spoken in favor of the project. The comment period for the project has also been extended until September 13th.

The proposal to build a new fracked gas plant in the heavily-populated borough has drawn the attention of key elected officials, including Senator Schumer, Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor de Blasio who have all come out against the Astoria NRG plant in recent months. Senator Schumer testified this afternoon in opposition to the plant, with other elected officials planning to speak later this week.

The public hearings for the controversial project followed a full day of public hearings on the Danskammer power plant proposal upriver in Newburgh. Activists see the project as a test both of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and of incoming Governor Hochul’s administration.

“New York’s climate movement is speaking — and Governor Hochul must listen,” said Food & Water Watch Senior New York Organizer Laura Shindell. “NRG’s proposal to build a new fracked gas power plant in Astoria is nothing more than a foolhardy profiteering scheme to make investors rich at the expense of Astoria residents’ health. Residents and activists turned out today to make clear our demands that Governor Hochul begin her administration with a commitment to public health, state climate law and morality. She must direct her Department of Environmental Conservation to deny NRG their permits to build this polluting plant that no one wants.”

“In 2019, climate advocates across the state demanded that the legislature pass the CLCPA. This bold and aggressive climate law mandates that 70% of our electricity must come from renewable sources by 2030, and that we withdraw from fossil fuels completely by 2050. How do we expect to achieve these ambitious goals by building yet another dirty fracked gas power plant in 2021? Governor Hochul and the DEC need to act on behalf of New Yorkers, not greedy fossil fuel corporations like NRG,” said Elaine O’Brien, Core Group Member of Queens Climate Project.

“NRG, one of the top 15 most polluting energy companies in the US, wants to build a completely unnecessary and dangerous fracked gas power plant in Astoria,” said Allison Considine, New York Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club. “Governor Hochul and the DEC have the opportunity and the duty to uphold the CLCPA and defend the health and well-being of New Yorkers, both against harmful air pollution in Queens and against new fossil fuel infrastructure that will worsen the climate crisis. DEC must take common-sense action and deny NRG’s permit to make clear that the days of building new fracked gas plants are in the past.” 

“From record-breaking heat waves this summer to unprecedented wildfires and floods, the evidence of catastrophic climate change that scientists have been warning us about for decades is showing it’s face more and more with every heating day,” said Eric Wood, Regional Coordinator with NYPIRG. “Approving the Astoria NRG fracked gas power plant application will only delay New York’s progress in fighting the global climate crisis and meeting our climate goals.”

“The climate science on fracked gas is clear. The public health science on fracked gas is clear. And today we heard the demands of the local community loud and clear — no NRG Astoria power plant,” said Lee Ziesche, organizer with Sane Energy Project. “Governor Hochul has the chance to start off her administration with bold climate leadership by listening to the community and the science, and rejecting this dirty fracked gas project.” 

“NRG has been poisoning my family and my neighbors for decades. They must be forced to shut down immediately and barred from building another fossil fuel plant,” said Sebastian Baez, organizer with the Democratic Socialists of America. “We are far behind on meeting our renewable energy goals, and we will never meet them by allowing corporations like NRG to keep polluting our neighborhoods. Governor Hochul has a legal and moral responsibility to the people of Astoria, Queens, and New York who spoke today to protect our neighbors’ health and safety, significantly improve our air quality, and mitigate climate change by firmly and categorically rejecting all permits for NRG. Anything less is deadly climate denial.” 

“Not only is this plant toxic and unnecessary it is preventing us from moving forward, toward the future we deserve: a New York City that protects the hearts, lungs and health of the most vulnerable; a city that uses the best available technology and creates thousands of green jobs,” said Georgi Page, lead organizer for 350Brooklyn’s City Action committee. “This Astoria NRG Plant is a dangerous waste of scarce resources and it’s time we stand together to embrace a more sustainable future.”

The No Astoria NRG Plant Coalition is organized by NYC DSA, Food & Water Watch, Queens Climate Project, Sierra Club, Sane Energy Project, NYPIRG, New York Communities for Change, and 350Brooklyn.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]