Viviane Faver
This Monday, Climate Week kicked off in New York City. The United Nations 2021 conference on climate change, COP26, will collaborate with Climate Week NYC this year to raise awareness of the climate crisis and demonstrate steps countries, businesses, and individuals need to take to intensify climate action.
Climate Week NYC’s opening ceremony hosted several key speakers, including COP26 President-designate Alok Sharma, who said the next decade is vital to securing our planet’s future. “We need to urgently act now to cut emissions by half over the next decade if we are to prevent catastrophic climate change and prevent global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Climate Week NYC, managed by the British Climate Group, is the time and place where the world gathers to publicize climate action and discuss it. The theme for this year’s edition is ‘Getting It Done’.
Helen Clarkson, CEO of Climate Group, said: “We are going to use Climate Week in New York to put pressure on people and businesses to do climate action the right way. The past two years have shown us that change can be achieved, but politicians and key decision-makers need to align the climate with innovation, financial support, and action.”
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Governor Kathy Hochul announced two major green energy infrastructure projects to power New York City with wind, solar, and hydropower projects from upstate New York and Canada. If approved, these infrastructure projects will create approximately 10,000 family-sustaining jobs statewide and bring $8.2 billion in economic development investments, including developer-committed investment to support disadvantaged communities. Once completed, will also help accelerate the State’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
These investments will help reduce the City’s reliance on fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions and significantly improve air quality and public health in disadvantaged communities while accelerating progress to exceed New York’s goal for 70 percent of the State’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 on the path to a zero-emission grid as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).
“New York’s communities are repeatedly facing serious consequences as a result of the devastation caused by the global climate crisis, and the stakes have never been higher as we deal with the economic and environmental destruction these extreme weather events leave behind,” Governor Hochul said.
“These transformative projects are a win-win—delivering thousands of new good-paying jobs throughout the State and attracting billions of dollars in private investment. They also help us turn the page on New York City’s long-standing dependence on fossil fuels and will ensure millions of New Yorkers, especially those living in our most vulnerable communities, can have the promise of cleaner air and a healthier future.”
Today’s announcement is bolstered by New York City’s confirmation they will join in these landmark awards. This makes the scale of these awards possible while creating the opportunity for billions of dollars in savings for customers in New York City and statewide.
“This is a transformative moment for New York City’s fight against climate change,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Two new transmission lines connecting New York City to electricity from water, wind, and solar will create thousands of good union jobs, improve the resilience and reliability of our power supply, and dramatically reduce our reliance on oil and gas electricity that dirties the air in our neighborhoods and endangers our planet. We look forward to working closely together to join in this landmark award and fulfill our commitment to power New York City government operations with 100% clean and renewable electricity by 2025.”
Combined, the awarded Clean Path NY (CPNY) project, developed by Forward Power (a joint venture of Invenergy and EnergyRe) and the New York Power Authority, and Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project, developed by Transmission Developers, Inc. (backed by Blackstone) and Hydro-Québec will:
- Produce approximately 18 million megawatt-hours of upstate and Canadian renewable energy per year, enough to power more than 2.5 million homes;
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 77 million metric tons over the next 15 years, the equivalent of taking one million cars off the road; and
- Provide $2.9 billion in public health benefits over 15 years that will result from reduced exposure to harmful pollutants—including fewer episodes of illness and premature death, fewer days of school or work missed, less disruption of business, and lower health care costs.
The awarded contracts will include prevailing wage provisions for all laborers, workers, and mechanics performing construction activities concerning the construction of the projects. In addition, the project developers will be required to negotiate Project Labor Agreements among their construction contractors and a building and construction trade labor organization representing craft workers for the construction of the new transmission lines as well as for the construction of the new renewable energy generation resources that the developers and its affiliates build for this project in New York State.
