In response to suggestions from people that I respect, I am going to publicize articles that are of general interest on my Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York blog. People need to be made aware of the implications of New York energy and environmental policy. This article announces this initiative and serves as a test of the methodology.
Disclaimer
I am a retired electric utility meteorologist with nearly 40 years-experience analyzing the effects of meteorology on environmental impacts. Over that time, I have dealt with a wide range of environmental issues and researched many relevant topics to New York’s environmental and energy sectors. The opinions expressed in my blog articles do not reflect the position of any of my previous employers or any other company I have been associated with, the comments are mine alone.
My blog describes environmental issues from a pragmatic viewpoint. Pragmatic environmentalism is all about balancing the risks and benefits of both sides of issues. Unfortunately, public perception is too often driven by scary one-sided stories that have to be rebutted by getting into details. This blog will attempt to show the side of environmental issues that gets overlooked too often. My background as a scientist and my responsibilities to provide technical comments on new or revised regulations means that I tend to get bogged down in technical details that are, too be kind, pretty wonky. I will not announce all the articles that I publish but will alert interested people on topics of general interest that do not delve into all the technical details.
Recent Posts of Interest
The following recent posts would have been announced on the Facebook page if it had been set up. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)
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- CLCPA Transmission Ancillary Services – Somebody Else’s Problem January 23, 2021
- New York’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act – published at Watts Up With That February 2, 2021
- CLCPA Simple Value of Carbon Reduction Benefits February 9, 2021
- CLCPA Initial Thoughts on Texas Energy Debacle February 18, 2021
- Albany Times Union “Could a Texas-size power failure hit New York?” February 19, 2021
- New York Pollution Justice Act of 2021 – What Were They Thinking? March 4, 2021
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PEONY Organization
Posts on the Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York blog are classified into different categories as summarized below. Clicking on the link in each category will take you to all relevant posts in that category.
Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York Principles
Pragmatic environmentalism balances environmental impact and public policy risks and costs. I believe that pragmatic environmentalism is exemplified by these principles.
This page lists my posts on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). I have been involved in the RGGI program process since its inception and I blog about the details of the RGGI program because very few seem to want to provide any criticisms of the program. Before retirement from a non-regulated generating company, I was actively analyzing air quality regulations that could affect company operations and was responsible for the emissions data used for compliance. As a result, I have a niche understanding of the information necessary to critique RGGI.
New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act
In July 2019 Governor Cuomo signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which is described as the “most aggressive climate law in the United States”. This is a huge effort and will affect every New Yorker but I don’t think many people are aware of its existence much less its potential impacts. The following posts describe various aspects of the law.
These posts generally describe the CLCPA and its benefits.
This law does not provide for an analysis to determine if it can be implemented affordably and with no impact on reliability. Suffice to say that the lack of a feasibility study before picking the emission reduction and renewable energy targets makes for a target rich environment.
This page summarizes the results of my calculations of the observed costs of the environmental initiatives of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in general and the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in particular. I also provide links to estimates by others outside the Administration as I find them.
The CLCPA mandates regulations to support the implementation of the law. This page provides links to my posts on those regulations.
This page describes the implementation strategies proposed by the Climate Action Council advisory panels.
The difference between weather and climate is constantly mistaken by Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) advocates. This page references my evaluations of climatic effects that turned out to be weather events and examples by other authors.
This page provides links to Climate Action Council and advisory panel meetings.
This page provides links to the comments I submitted.
Accelerated Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act
This legislation provides expedited permitting for CLCPA renewable energy developments.
NYS Carbon Pricing Initiative Page
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has been evaluating a carbon pricing plan for New York’s electricity market. This page covers that initiative and other similar proposals. My background with trading programs and the electric industry has prompted me to delve into the details of this plan.
There is a movement underway to transform the New York State electric energy system because we have to do something about climate change. I am motivated to prepare blog posts on this topic so that there is at least one voice of the unaffiliated public whose primary interest is keeping the electric energy system as resilient and affordable as it is currently.
New York State Environmental Policy
New York environmental policy is too often driven by ideology and not science. These posts address example policies that are not a pragmatic balance of risks and benefits.
As a meteorologist I have the background, education and experience to have what I think is a learned opinion on the risk of global warming. These posts address the science of global warming.
Transportation and Climate Page
This page lists posts on transportation initiatives related to climate including those published at Watts Up with That.
This page lists posts on this blog that describe and archive my public submittals to various regulatory agencies.
My niche experience is air quality meteorology. These posts address particular topics in that realm.
New York energy policy is too often about style rather than substance. Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) is the Cuomo label for clean and green energy policies. In 2018 I started a blog to address specific REV topics but the fast-changing political label game has mixed these efforts up with the CLCPA. This category link is to my other blog.
On January 15, 2019 New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo did his State of the State Address that included his version of the Green New Deal environmental agenda. Incredibly, in July 2019 the NYS Legislature promulgated an even more ambitious law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, that he signed into law. As a result, these posts are not the drivers of NY energy policy that I thought they would be. This page is no longer being updated.
National Grid Northeast 80 by 50 Pathway
With the passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act this blatant attempt by National Grid to curry favor with the Cuomo Administration and other politicians is so passé. Imagine only proposing to get an 80% reduction by 2050 when the race to the bottom to be the most aggressive is now set at 85% with 15% offsets – the 100% target. These posts describe this effort but it is no longer being updated because it so old school to only get an 80% reduction.
Conclusion
Stay tuned and if my articles are of interest please consider sharing them with others.
Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York 