UPDATE: The stakeholder meeting was held on 2/13/2018 and I never received a response to my request for a webinar and the meeting did not include remote access. Ironically, I understand one of the topics of conversation was an initiative to control CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.
On January 25, 2018 several New York State (NYS) agencies announced a stakeholder meeting for NYS interests in the RGGI proceeding. These agencies should be leading by example but this announcement demonstrates to me their actual lack of commitment to their espoused goal.
The notice stated:
On February 13, 2018, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and Department of Public Service (DPS) will host a New York State stakeholder meeting to follow the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) regional stakeholder webinar scheduled for January 26th, and to discuss next steps related to the conclusion of the 2016 RGGI Program review. The meeting in Albany will build upon the regional meetings held to date and provides an opportunity to discuss New York specific topics related to the RGGI model rule implementation in New York. This includes forthcoming proposed revisions to DEC’s regulation implementing RGGI in New York, 6 NYCRR Part 242, CO2 Budget Trading Program.
My problem is the following:
This meeting will be in-person only to better facilitate dialogue as New York kicks off it’s stakeholder process. Additional meeting dates, including webinar opportunities may be made available to interested parties that cannot attend this meeting.
In my opinion, New York has set aggressive emission reduction targets more as a slogan and support for Governor Cuomo’s political ambitions than a rational action. At the top of the list of support for that statement is the decision to eliminate 10% of the state’s total electrical energy and 17% of the carbon free electrical energy by closing Indian Point. The fact of the matter is that in order to meet the Reforming the Energy Vision goal of an 80% reduction of GHG emissions by 2050 it will take enormous effort, require NYS citizens all to make sacrifices and accept some inconveniences. See for example this article on tradeoffs. State agencies should be leading by example. That the agencies would prefer to require attendees to increase their carbon footprint to attend a meeting solely “to better facilitate dialogue” is inconsistent with that reality. As Glenn Reynolds said: “I’ll believe global warming is a crisis when the people telling me it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.”
I submitted a comment to the contact address that included that point on January 27, 2018 and asked for remote access. If the agencies respond to that request I will update this post.
Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York 