Enlarge / MADISON, New York – 2015/10/11: Wind farm with autumn color. (credit: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)
On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that his state would commit $1.4 billion to 26 renewable projects, including 22 solar farms, three wind farms, and one hydroelectric project. The outlay is a huge sum compared to what most states spend on renewable energy.
At the same time, the governor denounced the Trump administration’s plan to open nearly 90 percent of offshore federal waters to oil drilling. Cuomo asked that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke exclude two areas off the New York coast from lease sales, citing concerns about oil spills like the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuomo noted that Florida has been able to obtain verbal approval that lease sales won’t be held in waters adjacent to the Florida coast (although some officials in the administration have contradicted that exemption).
The renewable projects will be sited throughout the state and were chosen by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) based on the proposed cost of each project, the project’s ability to create local jobs, and developer experience in building renewable projects in New York.
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Source: Ars Technica – New York commits .4 billion to renewable energy projects