We are petitioning NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to take immediate action to shut down Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVE), which would be the largest fracked gas plant, at 1100-megawatts, in the Northeast, IF it begins operation this Spring.  

Since CVE was proposed over a decade ago in 2009, scientists, elected officials, and residents have argued that similar projects must be replaced by investments in large-scale renewable energy and battery storage. In light of the COVID-19 crisis, we are living in a very different world and it is abundantly clear that we need to take the necessary precautions to ensure we’re not locking ourselves into unsustabilable, dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure. Opponents of the plant point to research and studies about the negative effects burning fracked gas/methane has on the climate crisis, air quality, community health, water supply, and surrounding eco-systems.  

Charles Davenport of Stop Cricket Valley Energy LLC: "Future generations will look at this project and others like it as outrageous crimes against humanity. This plant will be a major source of pollution, yet it's being built within 2 miles of 3 schools, and could potentially impact the health of more than 1300 children. Our grandchildren will ask "WHY? Why did people allow these projects, which only benefited corporate investors, to be built?"

CVE is tucked away in a rural agricultural community, just across the border from Connecticut residents who had no say in the matter but will suffer the consequences. It was permitted without any input from the Schaghticoke people- an indigenous community with their reservation less than 2 miles from the plant. The reservation, established in 1736, one of the oldest in Turtle Island, is located in Connecticut next to the NY state border. The plant is adjacent to the Great Swamp, NY’s largest freshwater wetland, which is home to a variety of ecosystems and wildlife, including bald eagles and the critically endangered bog turtle.

Cindy Davis of Western Connecticut Clean Air Action: “As a Connecticut resident, I am very upset about Cricket Valley Energy Center. The pollutants released in the air will travel into New Milford and be trapped due to topography. The pollutants released contain detrimental chemicals contributing to asthma, birth defects and other health problems. The plant was already approved and in construction when Connecticut residents learned about the plant.”

It doesn't have to be this way-- there is an alternative-- a clean-energy future through wind, water, and sunlight. As a 2013 Cornell/Stanford report found, extrapolating for our county, right here in Dutchess, our county could create literally 67,000 new green construction jobs each year, 800 new green jobs each year, saving $537 million annually and the lives of 59 Dutchess residents each year.

Dutchess County and New York State would do well, instead to follow the amazing example of GOP San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who, working together with the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, just agreed to make the entire city fossil-fuel-free by 2035-- to create green jobs, save on energy/electricity, clean local air, and cut carbon emissions (along with 1400 other mayors across our country this year working with Sierra Club's Ready for 100 campaign).

We’re calling upon Governor Cuomo to do the right thing. His father shut down Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant nearly three decades ago, when it was fully constructed but had not begun to operate. We hope the Governor will have the foresight and courage to follow in his father's footsteps, and fulfill his destiny as a true climate leader.

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