4 SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Astoria community gathers to protest
proposed NRG power plant upgrade
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
More than 200 people marched
through Astoria in protest
of the NRG power plant
on Saturday, Sept. 12, calling for
Governor Andrew Cuomo to reject
NRG’s proposed plans for the site and
implement a Green New Deal.
NRG, a large fossil fuel company
involved in energy generation and
retail electricity, is seeking approval
from the State’s Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) to
replace and upgrade existing generators
at 31-01 20 Ave.
But some community members
and elected officials believe NRG is
attempting to bypass more up-to-date
environmental review process due
to their plant that was previously
approved in 2010 and community
approval.
Protesters of all age groups met on
the corner of 19th Street and Ditmars
Boulevard in Astoria Park, where
they created signs that read “Green
Energy, Not Dirty NRG,” “No fracking
way!” and “Public utilities under
public control.”
The march was organized by a public
power coalition that included New
York City Democratic Socialists (NYCDSA),
350.org, Sane Energy, Food &
Water Action, New York Communities
for Change, Sunrise Movement,
New York Youth Climate Leaders and
Queens Climate Project.
Astoria residents were also joined
by local lawmakers, state Senators
Michael Gianaris and Jessica Ramos,
Comptroller and 2021 mayoral candidate
Scott Stringer, Astoria Assembly
candidate Zohran Mamdani
and Astoria City Council candidate
Tiffany Cabán.
Stringer previously penned an
open letter to the DEC in opposition
of the plant, aiming to protect the
health of Astoria residents and the
environment. He called on the DEC
to require the project undergo a full
environmental review.
“The state should not allow NRG to
advance this new project under the
auspices of regulatory permissions
granted nearly a decade ago and
should instead insist that the project
account for the profound harm
fossil fuel infrastructure poses to
our communities and our climate,”
Stringer wrote. “This proposal, just
as any further expansion of fossil
fuel infrastructure, is incompatible
with our climate goals.”
At the march, organizers asked
seniors and children to lead the
march, so they could dictate the
Astoria Assembly candidate Zohran Mamdani and Astoria residents march in protest of NRG Power Plant on
Sept. 12. Photo by Dean Moses
speed. Chants included “Whose air?
Our air!” “Hey, hey, Cuomo! Fossil
fuels have got to go!” “They get rich,
we get sick, NRG is full of it!”
At one point, a little boy led the
march, chanting, “No more gas, no
more oil! Keep the carbon in the
soil!”
The march ended at the proposed
location of the proposed NRG Power
Plant.
Mamdani, who is endorsed by NYCDSA,
echoed Stringer’s comments.
“We cannot let our community continue
to pump more carbon into the
atmosphere and contribute to more
of this devastation in the future,” said
Mamdani. “The state must reject the
proposal to lock in continued carbon
pollution at NRG’s Astoria facilities,
implement a moratorium on all new
fossil fuel infrastructure, end all
fossil fuel subsidies, and make whatever
investments are necessary to
fully decarbonize our economy and
transition to 100 percent renewable
energy,”
Gianaris and Ramos were among
the speakers who spoke about the
importance of green energy.
“Whether people know it or not,
anyone that supports fossil fuel
production today is a climate change
denier,” said Gianaris. “All you have
to do is turn on your television, look
what’s happening in California, for
God’s sake. The skies are orange,
the entire west coast of the country
is burning, and that is because we
have not moved fast enough to get
off of fossil fuels and onto renewable
energy.”
The march comes months after the
public power coalition held a town
hall in which Gianaris, Astoria Councilman
Costa Constantinides and
Assemblymen Ron Kim and Brian
Barnwell expressed their support of
bills that would enact a public power
utility.
Ramos said NRG has “no business
being in our district.”
“I cannot believe that they are allowing
this to somehow continue
knowing how bad of an actor NRG
is,” she said. “We have to organize,
organize, organize.”
In response to the march, NRG
Spokersperson Dave Schrader said
they are looking to replace the existing
power plant.
“Queens residents can’t wait for solutions
that are 10 years away – they
need cleaner air as soon as possible.
That’s why NRG expects to achieve
net-zero emissions by 2050, in line
with New York’s nation-leading
climate goals,” said Schrader. “The
project will replace 50-year-old
turbines with state-of-the-art technology,
which will reduce on-site air
emissions by up to 99 percent per
hour — meaning cleaner air, lower
emissions and reliable power when
New Yorkers need it most.”
He added that there is “no combination
of renewable energy that exists
today to meet the growing energy
needs of New York City,” and that if
the project doesn’t go through, they
risk “California-style rolling blackouts,
which Queens and New York
City simply cannot afford.”
NYC-DSA Ecosocialist Organizer
Sarah Lyons said the time for public
power is now.
“NRG has spent decades poisoning
Astoria with fossil fuel emissions,
and now that environmental laws
have forced them to shut down their
old plant, they’re trying to replace
it not with the renewables we need,
but a fracked gas peaker that would
make them more money,” said Lyons.
“It’s planetary suicide to build more
fossil fuel infrastructure. It’s time
to take our energy system out of the
hands of corporations whose best
offer is to poison us a little more
slowly, and create a public power
system that puts people and planet
over profit.”
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