Facemasks and Clean Air – Read “The high cost of closing Indian Point”

In sports, “Facemask!” is normally associated with a penalty in American football; however, if fossil fuels were to replace Indian Point, we all may need to wear one.  This is what Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, implied in his New York Post op-ed, “The High Cost of Closing Indian Point.”  According to Mr. Fertel:

“Acquiring new electricity supplies is difficult — and has serious environmental consequences. To replace Indian Point with natural-gas power plants, New York would have to burn enough gas to fill an Empire State Building-size tank 3,415 times and would produce another 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — greenhouse-gas pollution. Instead of relying on fossil fuels for 47 percent of its electricity, New York would be near 60 percent.”

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman agrees on the importance of clean air quality. He recently filed a federal lawsuit to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt stricter air quality standards that will protect public health.  This is consistent with Mr. Fertel’s contention, as well as numerous other experts from the New York Independent System Operator, Con Edison, Charles River Associates and the African American Environmentalist Association.

New York AREA supports efforts to source energy from wind and solar, however, as Mr. Fertel pointed out, “New Yorkers need power 24/7, not just when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.”  We also recognize the need to protect local jobs and grow our state economy. This is why we agree with his position that importing energy would “make New York less energy independent and vulnerable to price swings.”

We must work to prevent a situation where we are forced to gasp for air as a result of seeing our electricity bills soar or from having to inhale toxic pollutants – something that would be very much a reality if power from Indian Point were replaced by fossil fuels.  Mr. Fertel’s op-ed makes it painstakingly clear that we must maintain our clean air quality and protect electricity affordability. We applaud his strong stance and encourage all to consider the environmental and economic benefits created by safe and clean energy from Indian Point.

Richard Thomas
Director, New York AREA

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