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Government United States

New York State Lawmakers Agree To Pass a Sweeping Climate Plan (nymag.com) 278

New York lawmakers have agreed to pass a sweeping climate plan that could help the state achieve a net-zero economy in which all energy is drawn from carbon-free sources by 2050. "The bill would require New York to get 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and by 2050, the state would have to cut emissions by at least 85 percent below 1990 levels," reports New York Magazine. "To offset the remainder, the state would enact measures to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like mass tree-planting and the restoration of wetlands." From the report: The bill, if passed, would be one of the world's most ambitious climate plans, made more impressive by the size of New York's economy. If the state were its own country, its economy would be the 11th largest in the world, falling between those of Canada and South Korea. "This unquestionably puts New York in a global leadership position," Jesse Jenkins, an energy expert and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, told the New York Times.

Of course, energy costs will go up in pursuit of the goal. New York gets around 60 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources -- primarily an energy mix of hydroelectric and nuclear power. To make up the difference, the state will invest in large-scale offshore wind farms and rooftop solar projects. More challenging than the electric grid is the heat for homes and commercial buildings, which generally burn natural gas or oil, and take up around a quarter of the state's emissions. In New York City, for example, an April law requiring skyscrapers to retrofit to meet new energy standards is expected to cost building owners over $4 billion. The bill also marks the first major piece of legislation to include aspects of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal, routing hundreds of millions of dollars into polluted or environmentally vulnerable areas of the state in an attempt at both economic and environmental revival.

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New York State Lawmakers Agree To Pass a Sweeping Climate Plan

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  • Obviously though we are yet to discuss the environmental impact of the brooms used in this plan.

    As usual we just brush those issues under the rug!

    • Neither are people discussing the environmental impact of wind and solar power.
      http://cmo-ripu.blogspot.com/2... [blogspot.com]

      People look at a windmill and likely don't think much of what keeps it standing. Sure, they see the thin steel tower but what they don't see is the buried concrete block that the tower is anchored to. Solar power also takes a lot of materials for the energy returned. Those thin plates of silicon and glass must also be anchored to something, and that means steel posts coming from concrete anchor

      • Neither are people discussing the environmental impact of wind and solar power. http://cmo-ripu.blogspot.com/2... [blogspot.com]

        You've posted this time and again and it misrepresents the source data which examines the medical impact of power generation methods.

        People look at a windmill and likely don't think much of what keeps it standing. Sure, they see the thin steel tower but what they don't see is the buried concrete block that the tower is anchored to.

        That's why I suggest using uranium mine tailing to use as concrete aggregate to anchor wind towers. Solve two problems at once. As it is a one time input once built the wind tower can be upgraded over and over to re-use the base over and over again.

        There is millions of tons of uranium mine tailing so there is plenty of aggregate to use.

        What the blog post has is two things, all relevant information in one place, and the citations to the primary source. The blog post is not in itself the citation, the citations are in the blog post.

        Once of which is about medical impacts

        • Your nuclear idealism is so boring and easily dismissed. The only reason to tolerate it is because of the damage you do to the nuclear industry.

          As opposed to the damage done to the global warming alarmism by not allowing nuclear power plants to be built?

          This is going to be a matter for the next election. It's already being brought up to Democrat hopefuls for POTUS. If these candidates will not allow nuclear power plants to be built to avert what is supposed to be the greatest threat to humanity then people will question their motives. Is nuclear power a greater threat than global warming? That's what I'm hearing. If nuclear power is a greater

          • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

            Your nuclear idealism is so boring and easily dismissed. The only reason to tolerate it is because of the damage you do to the nuclear industry.

            As opposed to the damage done to the global warming alarmism by not allowing nuclear power plants to be built?

            So you're saying that global warming is alarmism and all you want is nuclear power to be built.

            Is nuclear power a greater threat than global warming? That's what I'm hearing. If nuclear power is a greater threat then global warming looks mild by comparison.

            Nuclear power isn't the answer to global warming. You can't look at the flaws in it and figure out what has to be done to make it viable. All you do is point the finger at people who oppose it as if they are the problem.

            What you do with nuclear power isn't advocacy, it is idealism. It is that very idealism that prevents any evolution of the nuclear industry. I've told you what you can do to usher in a nuclear

            • So you're saying that global warming is alarmism and all you want is nuclear power to be built.

              I'm saying I want inexpensive, safe, clean, reliable, and plentiful energy in the future. Nuclear power does this as well as produce less CO2 emissions than any other energy source we know of. If the global warming alarmists can't support nuclear power then I have to wonder what their deal is, because it isn't about actually solving the problem they present. Everyone should be able to agree on nuclear power for the future, and if someone cannot then they are ignorant, mentally unfit, or have an agenda no

              • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

                I'm saying I want inexpensive, safe, clean, reliable, and plentiful energy in the future. Nuclear power does this as well as produce less CO2 emissions than any other energy source we know of.

                Well that's your demonstrably biased opinion. Geothermal, amongst many, that is a good example of why you are wrong.

                If the global warming alarmists can't support nuclear power then I have to wonder what their deal is, because it isn't about actually solving the problem they present. Everyone should be able to agree on nuclear power for the future, and if someone cannot then they are ignorant, mentally unfit, or have an agenda not conducive to a free and prosperous future.

                You demonstrate the contempt you deserve with your manipulative statements. Clearly you hate people.

                That's right, nuclear power isn't THE answer

                That's right.

                Fukushima is irrelevant. As is Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Those were 50 year old second generation designs. No one will ever build a reactor like those again. At least not in the USA.

                Which is true of any generation of reactor. The problem was they are run by fallible people which is the lesson we took from them all. Their radio-isotopes will be with us for tens of thousands of years.

                Any problem you can bring up with nuclear power is either solved

                Neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessel limits the service life of the

                • As if I care what you "think".

                  Then why bother replying to me? It seems I'm catching some flak which must mean I'm close to my target.

                  Facts don't care about your feelings. All you brought were feelings and no facts. The fact is that our current economy simply cannot support itself without fossil fuels or nuclear power. We can do without one or the other but not both. You can propose we do without nuclear power but that just means we keep burning natural gas. I am not suggesting we choose to use more nuclear power, I'm telling you t

                  • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

                    As if I care what you "think".

                    Then why bother replying to me?

                    I choose to expose how you lie with impunity.

                    All you brought were feelings and no facts.

                    Neutron embrittlement of a reactor vessel or S class facilities isn't a feeling. You projecting the symptoms of your idealism onto me.

                    Facts don't care about your feelings.

                    You're entitled to your own opinion however you're not entitled to your own facts.

  • Energy prices.
    Paying a climate plan tax.
    Extra spending on state and city services.

    Time to find a state that welcomes you and lets you enjoy the pursuit of Happiness.
    Better states without oppressive energy taxes.
    • "Time to find a state that welcomes you and lets you enjoy the pursuit of Happiness."

      Just out of curiosity at just how big the train wreck inside your head actually is, what state do you think won't do anything with which you don't agree?

  • by srichard25 ( 221590 ) on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @09:23PM (#58791394)

    Good. This is how the United STATES of America is supposed to work. Each state can pass their own laws and set their own agenda. You want Green New Deal? Pass it in New York or California. Of course they will be paying much more for energy and taxes, but people are free to move to a different state if they don't agree with that agenda. You want government health care? Pass it in New York or California. Once again, they will be paying more in taxes, but that is a choice each person gets to make. Instead of trying to pass massive bills at the federal level and force it on all Americans, these "experiments" should be done at the state level. If they actually work well, then more states will start to incorporate them. Think of it like running a prototype with a focus group before trying to implement it for the whole user base.

    • by louzer ( 1006689 )
      But comrade, don't you know socialism only works if people have no choice but to accept it? We need the entire universe to be socialist. Or else rich people will opt out, and then it will not work.
    • by Uberbah ( 647458 ) on Thursday June 20, 2019 @12:24AM (#58791958)

      You can't eradicate diseases with a voluntary state-by-state program, and you can't deal with catastrophic threats like climate change by waiting for everyone's "rational self interest" to come to the conclusion that letting the planet burn isn't the best idea. Especially when so many people make so much money while watching said burning.

      Libertarianism isn't so much an ideology as it is a cult. One as rational as flat-earthers.

      • You can in fact make reducing CO2 output a state by state issue where the individual self interest drives it. This can be done by making reducing CO2 output profitable.

        Taxing CO2 output will not work in driving people to reduce their CO2 output because in any kind of democracy it can be voted out as quickly as it was voted in. To make this "stick" there must be a natural and inherent means to reduce CO2 output that does not also raise costs.

        What we have right now are three energy sources that are already

        • Don't forget that any tax usually comes with "offsets" that a polluter can buy. Why upgrade a facility to reduce pollution when you can buy offsets/credits to meet any regulation?

          This happens now. The local water treatment facility near me should be upgraded but the company finds it cheaper to buy clean water credits and suddenly they are "non-polluting". It's a bad joke.

        • by Uberbah ( 647458 )

          You can in fact make reducing CO2 output a state by state issue where the individual self interest drives it. This can be done by making reducing CO2 output profitable. Taxing CO2 output will not work in driving people to reduce their CO2 output because in any kind of democracy it can be voted out as quickly as it was voted in.

          Seems a wee bit contradictory. As long as carbon is cheap there is no "rational self interest" that would make it go away without taxing it or providing massive subsidies to alterna

      • It is more and more interesting to see what I interpret as "panic" from climate alarmists when smaller-scale and feasible ideas are offered to address carbon emissions. It's almost as if you don't get the fact that not everybody believes in the "catastrophic threat" that climate change poses, specifically because computer models are flawed and people don't want to alter their lifestyles based on what has now become an overt Leftist political talking point.

        Why is it so surprising that people are suspicious o

        • by Uberbah ( 647458 )

          It is more and more interesting to see what I interpret as "panic" from climate alarmists

          Climate change is already costing the United States hundreds of billion each year, denialist dumbfuck. You don't have to wait for doomsday scenarios [wikipedia.org] to pull your head out. You're free to do so at any time, as extreme weather events have been increasing for decades. The only losers in mitigating climate change are stockholders in fossil fuel companies and war contractors.

      • Of course you can't eradicate diseases across the country if you only implement a law in one state. But what you can do is try several different approaches in several different states and determine which approach works best. THEN you apply that approach at the federal level.

        There is far too much push to apply every law federally before we even know if that law is effective or not. People should focus on trying stuff out at the state level, especially major initiatives like the Green New Deal. Then we wa

        • by Uberbah ( 647458 )

          Of course you can't eradicate diseases across the country if you only implement a law in one state. But what you can do is try several different approaches in several different states and determine which approach works best. THEN you apply that approach at the federal level

          Once a vaccine has passed clinical trials, why wait for the results of $X different programs, because reasons? More kids would be crippled from polio or killed by smallpox while waiting for results to come in from California, New York, T

  • "the state would enact measures to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like mass tree-planting and the restoration of wetlands."

    Can't complain about that.

  • by SEE ( 7681 ) on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @10:53PM (#58791738) Homepage
  • by russotto ( 537200 ) on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @11:07PM (#58791774) Journal

    ...that is shutting down the Indian Point nuclear plant, right? And attempting to get a a natural gas plant built in NJ to make up some of the difference?

    Yeah. Big carbon plans, but when it comes to action they bow to the anti-nuke people. I think it's clear where their priorities actually lie.

  • Translation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by guruevi ( 827432 ) on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @11:45PM (#58791880)

    New York State lawmakers agree to pass a sweeping tax plan that will not affect anything remotely related to the global climate.

    NYS has 0.06% the CO2 emissions of China.

    • NYS has 0.06% the CO2 emissions of China

      Translation: nobody should do anything until China fixes their problem first.

    • Per person Americans are twice as bad as Chinese.
      New York is lets say 20 million people. 20 million Chinese make 1/2 the CO2 as the New Yorkers do.

      So each group of 20 million Chinese will say, "Why should we do anything, New Yorkers are twice as bad as us."

  • Unless it includes opening Shoreham.

  • I am so happy they will finally put a stop to New York state globe warming

One man's constant is another man's variable. -- A.J. Perlis

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