April 20, 2007 New York Times N.Y. Governor Unveils Energy Efficiency Initiatives By _NICHOLAS CONFESSORE_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/nicholas_confessore/index.html?inline=nyt-per) Gov. _Eliot Spitzer_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/eliot_l_spitzer/index.html?inline=nyt-per) proposed one of the most ambitious energy conservation plans in the nation yesterday, pledging a package of legislative and regulatory measures that he said would allow New York to consume less energy in 2015 than it does today. Mr. Spitzer said that he would soon unveil legislation that would impose stringent efficiency standards on some appliances, like walk-in refrigerators and residential boilers, and that he would also explore adopting international building standards for energy conservation. He said he would take steps to reduce the state government’s own $700 million-a-year energy bill and use the state’s purchasing power to spur growth in the renewable energy industry within New York. “If government buys fighter planes, we drive the military-industrial complex, ” Mr. Spitzer said, addressing a mostly receptive audience of corporate executives at a breakfast in Midtown sponsored by Crain’s New York Business. “ Likewise, if government buys clean power, we drive the technology market for wind generators. “By embracing ambitious energy efficiency standards and renewable energy goals throughout state government, we will catalyze the growth of the clean power industry.” But Mr. Spitzer said he also planned to pursue a major expansion of the state ’s generating capacity in coming years, calling it necessary to build more power plants even if energy consumption remained level because prices would still be too high. Electricity is more expensive in New York than in almost any other state. In his speech, Mr. Spitzer said that imposing the new standards would ultimately cost less than building new capacity to meet any extra demand. He said that it currently costs one-third as much to save a given amount of energy through efficiency programs as it would to produce the same amount of energy by building a new power plant. The governor said he would introduce a bill to allow the state to expedite the process for choosing locations for new power plants, a goal stymied in past years by disagreements between environmentalists and industry interests. Unlike a similar law that expired in 2003, Mr. Spitzer said, his proposed legislation would fast-track only low- or no-emission power plants. “The fact is, we have to build more power plants, and we want to build clean plants, and we want to build them quickly,” he said. Along with the governor’s speech, state officials announced yesterday that they had approved contracts for the construction of 21 clean, renewable-source power plants. In his speech, Mr. Spitzer said the contracts were worth $295 million and would attract an estimated $1.4 billion in private investment. Construction of those facilities, all of them upstate, could be completed as early as next year, he said. Mr. Spitzer’s speech came three days before Sunday’s _Earth_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earth_planet/index.html?inline=nyt-classifi er) Day celebrations, when Mayor _Michael R. Bloomberg_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html?inline =nyt-per) is scheduled to lay out his own conservation and environmental agenda. Environmental advocates and power-industry officials praised Mr. Spitzer’s proposals yesterday, though some said they were reserving final judgment until more detailed proposals were on the table. “The governor is putting energy efficiency and conservation back into the heart of the state’s energy policy, which is exactly where it belongs,” said Jason K. Babbie, an energy policy analyst for the _New York Public Interest Research Group_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_york_public_interest_research_group/index.html?inline=nyt-org) . “To say that we’re going to be using less energy in 2015 than we are in 2007 gives New York a real leadership role.” Gavin J. Donohue, president of the Independent Power Producers of New York, said that his group, which represents companies that generate and market electricity, was eager to see specifics of Mr. Spitzer’s power plant siting bill. “But the fact that the governor stood up there two days before Earth Day and said he wants to finance and construct more power plants and build more infrastructure — that’s a bold step,” Mr. Donohue said. “It’s a very important message.” In a nod to the Earth Day celebrations, which will center on the issue of _climate change_ (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) , Mr. Spitzer criticized the Bush administration’s efforts on global warming and said states would have to lead the nation’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. New York alone accounts for roughly 1 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, the governor said, comparable to the entire output of industrialized nations like Sweden and the Netherlands. “Just as we have contributed to climate change,” he said, “we must now contribute to stopping it.”
---------------------------------------------------- Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. 607-533-7312 (home office) 607-279-6618 (cell) 1 Maple Avenue Lansing, NY 14882 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sustainable Tompkins Program Coordinator w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities Regional Coordinator Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
