Offshore Wind Providing A Cleaner,
Greener and More Resilient New York
letters LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Dear Letters Editor:
What a great way to celebrate
Spring, now that NYC
restaurants including those
in the Bronx are open for indoor
dinning at fi fty percent
capacity. As more and more
of us receive our COVID-19
vaccines, it is now easier and
safer to patronize our neighborhood
restaurants.
My wife and I don’t mind
paying a little more to help
our favorite restaurants survive.
Don’t forget your cook
and server. We try to tip 20 to
25 percent against the total
bill including taxes. If it is an
odd amount, we round up to
the next dollar.
Let’s hope many of the over
one hundred thousand NYC
residents whose livelihood
depends on restaurants will
be rehired. This includes bar
tenders, waiters, bus boys,
cooks and cashiers. Wholesale
food sellers, distributors
and linen suppliers are also
effected along with construction
contractors and their
employees, who renovate or
build new restaurants.
Our entrepreneurs who
have been lucky enough to remain
open continue to work
long hours, pay taxes and
provide local employment opportunities.
If we don’t resume
patronizing these establishments,
they don’t eat
either.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Great Neck
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Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 26-APR. 1, 2021 13
op-ed
BY JOE MARTENS
Two years. To the average
person that might seem like
a long time to wait for something
to happen. But in the
world of environmental advocacy,
where progress often
occurs at a glacial pace, the
progress that we have seen
the South Fork offshore wind
project make over the past two
years is a truly remarkable
success story that will serve as
the launching pad for anchor
of New York’s clean energy
economy.
For those of us in the environmental
advocacy community,
who along with our local
civic, labor and business group
partners have spent the past
two years pushing, prodding
and pulling in the same direction
to advance this project,
the Public Service Commission’s
approval of the South
Fork Wind cable landing site is
an important milestone along
the road to a cleaner, greener
and more resilient New York
that will be powered by offshore
wind energy. Once completed
– becoming New York’s
fi rst offshore wind farm –
South Fork Wind will provide
enough clean energy to power
more than 70,000 homes, while
also importantly reducing carbon
emissions and creating
our next generation of green
economy jobs. But arguably
even more important than
what this historic project will
achieve is the momentous path
it will set us on.
In 2019 when New York
passed its historic climate law
that requires 70 percent of the
state’s electricity come from
renewable energy by 2030 and
100 percent emissions free by
2040 it was lauded as a transformational
moment in the
fi ght against climate change
and a national model for other
states to follow. That same law
committed New York to 9,000
megawatts of offshore wind
generation, making it very
clear where that power would
come from. South Fork Wind
is leading the way as a foundational
piece of the clean energy
puzzle New York is assembling,
with Empire Wind 1
and 2, Sunrise Wind and Beacon
Wind all to follow.
It’s clear that we cannot
win the fi ght against climate
change without responsibly
developed offshore wind
power, and in fact, we cannot
even step into the ring. That
is why the PSC’s approval is so
important, because it not only
advances a key clean energy
project, but it also represents
a signifi cant and concrete step
toward reaching the offshore
wind driven clean energy
economy that New York needs
in order to meet its ambitious
and necessary climate change
goals.
Whether it’s been working
with PSC staff, organizing
support from local and state
elected offi cials, or mobilizing
a deep grassroots public
education and advocacy effort,
South Fork Wind is a shining
example of how a collaborative
and community driven project
can transform our approach to
clean energy development. As
is the case with almost any development
project, there has
been motivated opposition
along the way, but South Fork
has persevered and continued
its forward progress because
of strong stakeholder engagement,
local leadership and the
State’s commitment to battling
climate change.
As our state continues
to grapple with an economy
struggling to recover from the
depths of the COVID crisis,
offshore wind development is
a ready, willing and waiting
partner that we must engage.
From new job creation to manufacturing
activity and economic
growth opportunities,
offshore wind projects can
provide a major boost to our
economy, reduce pollution and
help reach our climate change
goals for years to come.
It is my hope that the action
by the PSC is just another step
in what will be a steady progression
to a 100% clean energy
future with offshore wind
blowing us farther and farther
away from the days of a fossil
fuel-based economy. Offshore
Wind can power that transition
and transform our climate
change goals into a clean
energy reality. Now that we’ve
taken this big step, it’s time to
put our next foot forward and
get construction underway.
Joe Martens is the Director
of the NY Offshore Wind
Alliance and he’s the former
Commissioner for the NY Department
of Environmental
Conservation (DEC). He joined
the Alliance for Clean Energy
NY in 2017. Since joining ACE
NY, New York State has adopted
the most aggressive offshore
wind targets in the United
States, entered into contracts
for the largest commercial-scale
offshore wind projects to-date
and has committed $200 million
for port and infrastructure upgrades
to support this burgeoning
industry.
FILE PHOTO: Power-generating windmill turbines are pictured at the ‘Amrumbank West’ offshore windpark
in the northern sea near the island of Amrum, Germany September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen/
File Photo Morris MacMatzen
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