Letter to the Editor: Stop the Danskammer Plant

To the Editor,

While we celebrate the 50th Earth Day, we need leaders like Governor Cuomo to step up and lead by stopping all new fossil fuel projects across the Empire State. Just north in the city of Newburgh, Danskammer LLC, a Wall Street private equity firm, is attempting to turn its barely operational peaker plant into a fully operational fracked gas power plant. The plant’s expansion is bad for our immediate health and for the climate. That is why I am asking fellow residents and leaders to join me in calling on the Governor to Stop Danskammer! The fossil fuel industry continues to push fracked gas power plants and pipelines that threaten our health, even in the midst of our current COVID-19 pandemic. At all stages of the procurement, transport and burning of fracked gas, methane- a potent greenhouse gas also linked to several neurological and endocrine problems- is released into the air. Reopening this plant would be a step backward, a return to business as usual. The time for putting a bandage on the problem- the usual, stale, profit-driven, short-sighted, dirty energy “solutions”- is over. The immediate and long term health consequences are too severe. We need to embrace change and progress with future generations in mind. We need to pioneer and implement energy solutions that do not degrade our earth, such as solar & wind power storage which will bring jobs, security, and revitalization to our region. Join me in calling on the Governor to Stop Danskammer!

Sincerely,
Julie Quinn
West Nyack