Opinion: NY’s Solution to Heat Waves & Polluted Air? Offshore Wind

We don t have to choose between reliability and affordability on one side and population robustness protections on the other Offshore wind delivers all three and the time to act is now A model wind turbine during a press conference at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal where administrators disclosed plans to transform the site into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the nation Ed Reed Mayoral Photography Office As extreme weather grips the nation in early summer New York has seen heatwaves urgent a -year-old record and record rain This is just a preview of what s expected to be one of the hottest seasons on record leaving several New Yorkers sweltering short of breath and struggling to stay safe Our bodies especially our lungs are being pushed to the limit as climate-driven heat and toxicity continue to rise In the face of soaring temperatures several people crank up their air conditioning to stay cool and protect their fitness Ironically this short-term necessary cure is making the predicament worse In largest part homes and workplaces those AC units rely heavily on fossil fuels the same fuels responsible for overheating our planet in the first place The impact A vicious cycle where more heat means more vigor use more air corruption and even hotter conditions particularly in low-income neighborhoods already burdened by environmental and healthcare inequities function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' Even before this latest heatwave our communities have been facing a situation For decades air contamination from the fossil fuels to power our homes has contributed to rates of asthma and lung illness all across the city Now with the Trump administration actively working to roll back environmental protections the urgency is even greater New York must step up not just with words but with concrete solutions we can build and scale right here at home This March the U S Environmental Protection Agency publicized that it would rollback several air quality regulations around power plants such as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Initiative This also includes clean cars and truck rules that limit tailpipe emissions These rollbacks mean increased toxins such as mercury which can cause neurological damage particularly in children and toxicity linked to asthma lung cancer and heart conditions distributed into our air by fossil fuel power plants and heavy-duty vehicles Burning fossil fuels to produce vitality has created a citizens vitality dilemma in New York across the nation and around the world Here at home the pollutants distributed into our air have contributed to asthma attacks and lung malady putting lives at vulnerability and increasing healthcare costs for everyday New Yorkers This year the American Lung Association gave over New York counties a grade of C or below for air quality in its annual State of the Air Account As of over children and million adults in the state were living with asthma which is directly impacted by environmental conditions like air impurity These strength emergencies are preventable and the costs are hitting families where it hurts the greater part their vitality and their wallets It doesn t have to be this way We have solutions right now that can break the cycle clean up our air and deliver reliable affordable vitality One of the majority of powerful is offshore wind And the best part is that we re building it just off New York s coast creating a clean capacity supply while supporting a smooth transition to green jobs and strengthening our state s market Right now South Fork Wind Farm miles east of Montauk Point is powering homes with clean pollution-free power at the same rate as fossil fuels Because offshore wind uses free fuel it offers long-term price stability even during extreme weather Once the upfront cost of building turbines is covered this renewable vigor source becomes affordable stable and resilient More offshore wind projects are actively under construction and once completed they ll provide over a million homes with clean affordable reliable vigor throughout New York If the state meets its goal of producing gigawatts of offshore wind power by that would bring billion in capital commitment create thousands of jobs up and down state and provide enough pollution-free resource to power million homes Without this transition New Yorkers will continue to pay the price both in rising electric bills and worsening society soundness It s time for our state establishment to clean up our act and our air We don t have to choose between reliability and affordability on one side and constituents strength protections on the other Offshore wind delivers all three and the time to act is now Max Micallef is the New York State advocacy manager of clean air initiatives at the at the American Lung Association The post Opinion NY s Response to Heat Waves Polluted Air Offshore Wind appeared first on City Limits