I call on DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos to deny the air quality permit for the new Danskammer plant, upholding the intent of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). I also call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to give her full support to tackling the climate crisis. 

Constructing a new plant that still consumes and produces fossil fuels is inefficient. Instead of installing technology designed to perpetuate the “business-as-usual,” “smash-and-grab” approach right up to the point when the CLCPA will no longer permit it, Danskammer LLC has the opportunity right now to construct a renewable-energy plant ahead of schedule.

Danskammer is perfectly poised to alternatively invest the $600 million it expects from creditors and investors in a utility-scale bulk battery storage facility.

This alternative type of storage is an economically sound choice because it aligns with the evolution of the energy market toward clean energy sources, numerous financial incentives support it, and it is able to be built in stages. 

Battery storage is a flexible and attractive use for the present site, which is suitable for a capacity up to 190 megawatts, Danskammer would be eligible for financial incentives, and battery storage can coexist with other potential waterfront commercial and/or recreational uses.

And, of course, there is the issue of jobs.

The clean energy industry is creating more good-paying jobs than the fossil fuel industry. 

For the same amount of energy produced, renewable energy jobs require two to five times as many workers as fossil fuel jobs.