“New York has a dirty secret. Although our city has boasted about its environmental credentials since the days of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC in 2007, our power mix is far from green: indeed, only 6% of our energy comes from clean sources like solar and wind. And the city is actually slated to burn more fossil fuels in coming years because the last reactor at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which supplies 80% of its non-fossil energy, was shut down at the end of April. With Indian Point closed, the resulting deficit in power is slated to come from so-called peaker plants, which fire up their fossil-fuel-burning generators during times of peak electricity demand. Most of these peaker plants are located in communities of color, which already shoulder a disproportionate burden of deadly pollution. The city and state desperately need a clean, job-creating alternative.”

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