This post is also excerpted from our Footprint to Wings Newsletter of April 20, 2020
Speaking of petitions and negotiations - Indian Point nuclear power plant is scheduled to shut down next week. As you know if you watched the #FirstGigawattDown video segment about Indian Point, people haven't thought this through.
If your goal is to get to zero carbon and win climate change - losing Indian Point is a HUGE set back. To take action:
Sign this petition to your representatives about Indian Point.
Sign this other petition to the governor of NY to save Indian Point.
Share this other article about the NY State Attorney General and her support of Indian Point. Also, contact her office and thank her/encourage stopping Indian Point.
Now you may be saying WHAT?!!! A) I'm Anti Nuclear. And B) The covid has shut down the economy and there are no emissions. Skies are blue. That proves we don't need no stinkin' power plants.
To which, we say:
A) Support Indian Point anyway! Not because you want nuclear, but because you want Team Renewable to get clear on what it takes to get all the way to zero carbon. As you know from watching the First Gigawatt Down video - most people have no clue about the scale for getting to zero carbon. This'll be a wake up call.
B) Skies are clear - but no. Covid isn't magically getting rid of emissions.
It turns out that EVEN WITH THE CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN of the global economy, we'll only get about a 5% reduction in emissions. Agriculture didn't stop. Industry hasn't stopped. Heating and lighting your homes hasn't stopped.
But even today, with millions of people around the world stuck at home, the world economy is consuming vast quantities of fossil fuel and emitting large amounts of CO2.
The dynamic highlights the...need to transform how the economy is fueled... what we need is structural change, and that comes from transitioning our entire energy system, the type of vehicles we buy, electricity we consume, weatherizing our homes,"
There's no way around it. We need to transition the entire energy system. Swap out the fossil fuel plants for zero carbon plants. The new plants can be wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal or hydro. Whatever the choice, to get those plants on the field of your state, county, city, back yard - you're going to face the #NIMBYCoefficient.
Any given power plant has a #NIMBYCoefficient. Doesn't matter what type. You want to put zero carbon energy on the ground, you're facing NIMBY battles. NIMBY negotiations. The more space you need for your power source, the more NIMBY frontiers to battle.
If you get rid of Indian Point now, you've set yourself back about a Gigawatt Equivalent of energy and NIMBY battles. Do you even know how many NIMBY battles you're facing to replace that power?
I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
We've got some awkward collective conversations ahead. The sooner everyone gets clear on this, the sooner we might actually be able to solve this climate problem. That's why we keep saying: Show us your #FirstGigawattDown.
And with all that in mind, I would, personally, so very much, appreciate any attempt you make to get a stay of execution for Indian Point. Please do call/sign/tweet about it. #SaveIndianPoint