— from the Buffalo News Editorial Board, Sept 20, 2020
Humankind has not yet invented a perfect way to generate electricity. Coal was king for more than 70 years, but mining it scars the earth, burning it releases toxic chemicals into the atmosphere along with carbon dioxide that is overheating planet Earth.
Hydraulically fractured horizontal wells made the U.S. the top producer of oil and natural gas in the world in 2018, but fracking – now outlawed in New York State – can have adverse effects on air and water quality.
Renewable energy sources – primarily solar and wind – represent the next frontier in power generation. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the State Legislature established in 2019, through state law, a target of 70% of the state’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2030. To make that possible, the governor signed a law in April to expedite the approval of large-scale wind and solar projects.
The law removes influence that local governments and citizens have on whether those projects win approval, replacing siting boards – which included residents – with a new office to rule on such projects.
Renewable energy sources are imperfect, too. Wind turbines don’t generate power when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t always shine on solar panels. But as the technology becomes more sophisticated, including the development of batteries to store power, wind and sun energy will play a greater role in New York’s power grid. READ MORE >>
