* Today I trekked out to Brooklyn to testify at a public hearing on New
York’s plans to achieve “net zero” electricity by 2030 or so, and a
“net zero” economy by 2050. Actually, it wasn’t much of a trek — the
hearing took place at an auditorium in Brooklyn Heights, near the
first subway stop on the other side of the East River.
* The organization holding the hearing was the New York Climate Action
Council. This body was created under New York’s Climate Leadership
and Community Protection Act of 2019 (Climate Act), and is tasked
with figuring out how to achieve the statutorily mandated net zero
targets.
* The first statutory target is 40% reduction in carbon emissions by
2030, which as a practical matter means that fossil fuels must be
almost completely eliminated from the electricity sector by that
date.
* The Council issued its Draft Scoping Plan for how to achieve the
targets on December 30, 2021. The Draft Scoping Plan is some 300
pages of text plus 500 pages of appendices; but the gist comes down
to, we will order the private sector to eliminate emissions by
various dates certain, and then it is up to the little people to work
out the details. Today’s hearing allowed for members of the public to
comment on the Draft Scoping Plan, supposedly so that any appropriate
adjustments can be made before the Plan becomes final later this
year.
* What follows is an approximate text of my presentation:
— Read on www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-5-3-my-testimony-on-new-yorks-scoping-plan-to-achieve-net-zero-carbon-emissions
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