2017-2018 Campaign to End New York's Addiction to Fossil Fuel Energy

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Toxics Targeting's 2017-2018 Campaign to End New York's
Addiction to Fossil Fuel Energy

NEWS

DATA ANALYSIS

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

CITIZEN ORGANIZING

Introduction

I am thrilled to provide this detailed report of Toxics Targeting's highly successful 2017 - 2018 Fossil Fuel Campaign to end New York's addiction to polluting fossil fuels that contribute to global climate change.

I want to thank each and every individual, group, elected official and financial contributor that has worked with such great dedication to support Toxics Targeting's sophisticated and uniquely effective campaign involving government data research, public policy advocacy, citizen organizing, coalition building and media outreach.

As I will document below, our front-line efforts are safeguarding public health and the environment in New York. Given our proven track record of success, we are also providing a formidable model of powerful citizen action and sound energy policy advocacy that can be replicated from coast-to-coast.

Our Cohesive Campaign's Growing Successes

Our campaign's third year was its best one yet. We are still keeping New York 100% shale-frack-free by thwarting state approval of waterless gelled propane shale fracking proposed in Barton, NY. Our state is the only one in the nation that has adopted a strict prohibition against fracking its large underlying shale formations.

Moreover, Toxics Targeting's relentless, laser-focused, 24/7 campaign has now been instrumental in killing nearly $5.0 billion in proposed fracked gas transmission pipelines, storage facilities and compressor stations across Upstate New York. This record of success is unmatched anywhere else in America.

Our campaign is extremely effective because Toxics Targeting meticulously documents illegal toxic hazards and generates massive and sustained media coverage. We work closely with elected officials, hundreds of groups and and thousands of battle-hardened activists who pressure Governor Cuomo by echoing precise public policy requests, writing poignant personal letters and deluging him with knowledgeable phone calls. With each hard-fought victory, our campaign grows stronger.

In contrast to our tightly coordinated, hard-hitting "research/advocacy/organizing" campaign, environmental groups in Downstate New York failed to stop ANY fracked gas pipelines, power plants or distribution system upgrades through "just say no," "not in my backyard," political corruption, civil disobedience, litigation and sustainable energy arguments that only generated meager levels of political opposition.

Similar modest efforts across the country could not halt shale fracking or the fossil fuel infrastructure build-out that is engulfing the nation. It is all too obvious that national environmental and energy groups lack a meaningful plan to counterbalance the power of America's giant energy corporations.

Against that background, Toxics Targeting aims in the coming year to implement an innovative new plan to help address all of these daunting energy advocacy challenges. We believe our efforts can profoundly alter the course of fossil fuel events in New York and across the country.

The Problem: America Needs a Plan B to End Its Addiction to Fossil Fuels

The main problem is that for more than 30 years sustainable energy advocates have proposed that wind, solar and other renewable alternatives must replace coal, oil and natural gas in order to cut "greenhouse gas emissions" and avoid global climate change disaster. Unfortunately, fossil fuels are more dominant than ever.

Energy activists have led the public to believe that our nation is making progress in leaps and bounds toward achieving a 100% sustainable energy future. This is sadly far from true.

The bottom line is that wind and solar energy alternatives generate very little energy because they are intermittent, expensive and technically complex to adopt. Wind and solar systems typically generate zero energy more than half of each and every day and require huge back-up capacity to meet daily demand.

This explains why New York's total wind and solar energy output is less than four percent. Nationwide, wind and solar supplies only seven percent of America's energy.

See: Electric Energy Production in New York State by Fuel Source 2017 and Electric Energy Production in the United States by Fuel Source 2017

Meanwhile, America's output of fossil fuels has skyrocketed to the highest levels in 40 years due to high-volume shale hydrofracking that recently spread from coast-to-coast. Given this massive glut, America is investing at a stunning rate in a new generation of fossil fuel power plants and distribution systems. Domestic oil and natural gas is also being exported to foreign markets.

See: U.S. Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals 1981-2018 and U.S. Field Production of Crude Oil 1920-2018

Toxics Targeting's New Energy Minimization Plan of Action

This grim energy reality has persuaded Toxics Targeting to focus on an exciting new plan to minimize statewide fossil fuel energy consumption by massively expanding insulation, weatherization and energy efficiency programs. Our goal is to cut New York's energy demand by at least one-third.

This strategy is consistent with a plan that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo voiced in 2016, but neither funded nor implemented:

"The least expensive and most effective way to meet our state energy goals is simply to reduce the overall energy consumption of New York's homes, businesses, and institutions by making them more efficient. Increasing energy efficiency also lowers utility bills for customers and enables businesses to reduce their operating costs."

It is hard to envision any downside to this proposal since it protects the environment and public health while saving money. New York already has a variety of energy efficiency programs, but they are extremely small-scale. Additional funding must be provided to expand these programs. Economies of scale could then dramatically drive down the cost of energy efficiency retrofits.

Utilities should manage energy retrofit programs. Ratepayers would not have to make any up-front payments and would pay back the improvement costs solely through their energy savings. By saving one-third of their utility costs, the payback period could be as short as perhaps three years.

If our innovative energy minimization proposal can be implemented in widespread fashion, there could be major benefits for New York and states across the nation. In addition to reducing fossil fuel pollution, massive numbers of jobs could be created by building a workforce to retrofit millions of homes, schools, businesses and government facilities in the years to come.

How Toxics Targeting Plays an Outsized Role in Safeguarding New York From Shale Fracking and Fossil Fuel Hazards

Toxics Targeting's involvement with energy policy grew out of our experience as an environmental database firm in Ithaca, NY that maps and profiles more than 850,000 known and potential toxic sites in our state, including natural gas and oil production facilities. We assist many of the most respected engineers and environmental consultants in the nation, but our firm also has decades of data research and public policy advocacy experience.

In late 2009, Toxics Targeting launched a last-ditch, 11th hour campaign to protect New York from proposed shale hydrofracking, a vastly polluting extraction method which uses pressurized water to crack deep shale formations in order to release natural gas and oil. At that time, environmental and energy activist groups had concluded it was all but hopeless to try to halt fracking in our state.

Toxics Targeting jumped into the fray. During the ensuing six-year political battle, we conducted an unprecedented 24/7 grassroots campaign which documented 200 years of natural gas and oil extraction pollution hazards in New York. Our unrelenting efforts generated local, statewide, national and world-wide media coverage.

We ultimately organized tens of thousands of Fractivists into a powerful political fighting force which played a key role in battering Governor Andrew Cuomo into prohibiting shale hydrofracking 100% on a statewide basis.

Unfortunately, this prohibition did not bar waterless fracking. As a result, we have continued our battle to prohibit a proposed gelled propane fracking project in Barton, NY.

No other state in the nation with major shale formations has replicated New York's landmark fracking prohibition achievement. We are the only state to adopt a strict policy of not permitting any fracking of large, underlying shale formations.

See: New York Marcellus Shale Campaign 2009 - 2017

The Solution: Toxics Targeting's Three-Pronged Fossil Fuel Energy Minimization Strategy is Already Achieving Landmark Victories

In the aftermath of our unlikely 2015 fracking victory against seemingly insurmountable odds, Toxics Targeting quickly expanded its campaign to end New York's addiction to all fossil fuel energy. Our state is the fifth largest consumer of electricity in the nation. In less than three years Toxics Targeting has made stunning progress toward achieving that goal.

Toxics Targeting is minimizing our state's production and consumption of fossil fuels by implementing a three-pronged coordinated strategy that involves extensive research, advocacy and organizing efforts driven by sustained media coverage.

First, Toxics Targeting is systematically strangling to death all natural gas and oil production activities in our state by preventing shale fracking and repeatedly documenting natural gas and oil extraction hazards. In nine years, our efforts have reduced statewide fossil fuel output to the lowest levels in four decades.

When our campaign began in 2009, more than 300 natural gas and oil production wells were "completed" annually in New York.

Since 2015, however, only two conventional or vertical gas production wells have been completed in New York. Oil well completions similarly plummeted. Because gas and oil production wells are "playing out" without getting replaced, there are now 1,000 fewer production wells in our state.

In comparison, more than 10,000 fracked gas production wells have been completed in Pennsylvania since shale fracking began in 2008.

New York's current daily oil output would not even fill one backyard swimming pool and is almost not worth doing from an economic perspective. Extraction costs increased after Toxics Targeting required more strict regulatory controls for oil and gas production, notably a ban on wastewater dumping into public treatment plants.

At this rate of decline, New York could end all fossil fuel production in the foreseeable future. This has never happened in the history of American extraction mining.

See: New York's Plummeting Natural Gas and Oil Production

Second, Toxics Targeting's robust campaign has now killed nearly $5.0 billion in proposed interstate pipelines, compressor facilities and gas storage projects that would perpetuate New York's addiction to fossil fuels for decades to come. This record of success is unheard of.

Our broad coalition is working hard to adopt a statewide moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure project approvals.

See: Coalition Letter Which Requests That Governor Cuomo Adopt a Statewide Moratorium on Fossil Fuel Project Approvals

See: Groups, institutions and entities referenced by signatories to: Coalition Letter Which Requests That Governor Cuomo Adopt a Statewide Moratorium on Fossil Fuel Project Approvals

Our campaign was instrumental in repeatedly preventing Governor Cuomo from granting essential state permits and Section 401 Water Quality Certifications for giant proposed fossil fuel projects across Upstate New York, including the Constitution, Northeast Energy Direct and Northern Access interstate gas transmission pipelines, the expanded Arlington Methane Gas and Crestwood Liquefied Petroleum Gas storage facilities and the NG Advantage "virtual pipeline" compressed gas truck transfer station.

See: Crestwood Gas Storage Campaign to Protect Seneca Lake and Campaign Involving a Proposed Compressed Natural Gas "Virtual Pipeline" in Fenton, NY

Unfortunately, Downstate environmental and energy groups could not replicate these successes by employing "just say no," "not in my backyard," political corruption, civil disobedience, litigation and sustainable energy advocacy. They failed to halt ANY fracked gas projects, including the Spectra, Algonquin Incremental Market, Atlantic Bridge and Valley Lateral Pipelines, the Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) and Cricket Valley Power Plants and the Millennium Eastern System Upgrade.

Toxics Targeting's record of achievement is especially noteworthy because a vast infrastructure build-out is sweeping the nation due to shale fracking oil and natural gas production that has reached historic levels. There are now nearly one million fossil fuel production wells nationwide.

Third, Toxics Targeting has concluded that the only practical way to reduce fossil fuel's contribution to climate change is to use less of it. This can be achieved by adopting public policies and providing funding to bolster simple, cost-effective energy reduction methods.

For example, an inexpensive programmable thermostat could reduce energy consumption by 10%, but less than half the households in America have them. Home insulation can cut energy consumption, but 90% of all homes across the nation are believed to be inadequately insulated. Combined with improved lighting technology and energy efficient appliances, there is no dispute that energy use can be cut by at least 33%.

Toxics Targeting believes that New York's more than eight million housing units must be retrofitted with state-of-the-art energy efficiency systems in the years to come as a top political priority. If this can be accomplished, the fossil fuel reductions, energy cost savings and economic benefits would be staggering.

New York's 2030 50% Renewable Energy Goal Has Virtually No Chance of Being Implemented

Sustainable energy advocates often tout New York's 2015 plan to produce 50% of its electricity through renewable alternatives by 2030. Unfortunately, this plan has virtually no chance of being implemented because the reality is that our state's expansion of sustainable energy alternatives is almost non-existent.

Moreover, conventional power production systems are not likely to be supplanted by wind and solar energy alternatives because they are so intermittent and inefficient that they generate no electricity most of each day and require huge back-up capacity to meet energy demand.

At best, the "capacity factor" of solar photovoltaic and wind energy systems in New York is likely between 20% and 45% due to weather and latitude factors. In the incredibly unlikely event that New York achieves its 50% sustainable energy goal, a "40% and 45% Installed Reserve Margin" would be required according to the New York State Independent System Operator. See page 10 (PDF page 12) at NYISO comments.

This explains why New York's Renewable Energy Vision (REV) strategy includes so much fracked gas power generation. Ironically, adoption of wind and solar alternatives would require our state to become dependent on fracked gas for decades to come.

After two new dual fuel fracked gas with oil back-up power plants (CPV and Cricket Valley) go on-line and the ancient Indian Point nuclear power plant is decommissioned perhaps in 2020 to 2021, New York will likely generate more than 50% of its energy from fossil fuels. Paying off the debt on a power plant typically requires 40-50 years.

There is very little room for wind and solar energy expansion because in addition to fossil fuels, nuclear power generates one-third of New York energy and is being subsidized through 2028 by a more than $7.0 billion utility ratepayer fee. Hydropower also generates nearly 20% of the state's energy.

Energy activists strongly support electric cars, but vehicles powered by electricity generated by burning fracked gas and oil are not much of an improvement over cars running on gasoline. Both would contribute to global climate change

Conclusion

For all of these reasons, the only way to cut fossil fuel consumption in a meaningful way is to reduce New York's overall energy demand by at least one-third by launching the most aggressive statewide weatherization, insulation and energy efficiency programs in the nation. Toxics Targeting's goal is to require dedicated funding to implement low-cost, tried and true energy minimization systems in every community in our state.

In 2017, New York's 10-year forecast for energy use was projected to decrease 0.23% annually. This was the first energy decrease perhaps in the history of our state. Toxics Targeting aims to take action to dramatically accelerate this nascent energy demand reduction using all means possible.

Toxics Targeting believes that minimizing energy consumption is the only practical way to end America's addiction to polluting fossil fuels. Our plan is to simply stop consuming energy that is overwhelmingly generated through non-sustainable means.

Energy advocates often point to a study which predicts that states could achieve massive expansion of sustainable energy alternatives, but that pie-in-the-sky proposal has faced devastating technical criticism and would require sweeping technological advances that are unlikely to be achieved any time soon.

See: Fisticuffs Over the Route to a Clean-Energy Future

Nevertheless, the beauty of Toxics Targeting's energy minimization plan is that it does not conflict in any way with wind, solar and other sustainable energy alternatives. In the unlikely event that those systems are adopted on a vastly expanded scale, it still makes good environmental, public health and economic sense to use as little energy as possible, if only to save consumers money.

Moreover, our energy minimization proposal is entirely viable due to Toxics Targeting's proven ability to forge widespread political support for well-documented, sensible plans using the sophisticated data research, public policy advocacy, coalition building, grassroots organizing and media outreach methods that our campaign worked so hard to perfect over the last nine years.

In conclusion, Toxics Targeting's proven track record of hard-fought successes bodes well for establishing a fossil fuel minimization project that aims to translate daunting goals into victories. If this can be achieved in New York, our local achievements could be replicated across the nation.

Against that background, I am pleased to provide below a detailed summary of Toxics Targeting's 2017 - 2018 New York Fossil Fuel Campaign.

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