Local Solidarity with NY City-Long Island Offshore Wind Project

On May 31 2016 a group of about 25 activists met at Rochester's Liberty pole. The action was led by Mothers Out Front, an environmental group advocating renewable solutions to climate change. The timing of the event was in national solidarity for the Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Project. The project would construct a large number of 300 foot diameter wind turbines 12-15 miles from the south shore of Long Island. The project is a joint effort between Consolidated Edison Co. which supplies electricity to New York City, the New York State Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority. Hearings were being in conducted in New York City at the same time as the national rallies, and a large crowd was assembled outside of New York's City Hall.

The proposed project would produce 350 megawatts
of power with the wind blowing 40 percent of the time. If the project
is successful the number of windmills could be expanded to produce
over 700 megawatts. By comparison, Rochester's Ginna nuclear power
plant is rated at 600 megawatts. Each of New York's nuclear reactors
at the Indian Point plant, 35 miles up the Hudson river, produce
about 1,100 megawatts. One reactor is permanently shut down and the
two operating ones are leaking radioactive toxins into the river.
Projects such as  this are a giant step toward eliminating nuclear
plants and their toxic waste, as well as coal and gas plants and
their greenhouse emissions. An added bonus is no corporation or
foreign cartel can raise the price of the wind.

More information can be found at
http://www.linycoffshorewind.com.
The site has computer generated images of what the project would look
like. The towers would barely be visible from shore on a clear day
and you would need binoculars or a telescope to actually see them
moving.

The project is part of Governor Cuomo's
renewable energy plan. Similar projects off the shore of Lake Ontario
are feasible locally.