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By JORDAN VALLONE/HERALD - September 29, 2023
LEARN ABOUT WIND WORKS
Renewable energy is key in combatting climate change, according to the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. Wind Works is a coalition advocating for wind farms on Long Island. Visit WindWorksLongIsland.org to learn how to get involved.
The League of Women Voters of East Nassau recently partnered with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a nonprofit and nonpartisan environmental organization, to host a vastly informative presentation on the drastic consequences that climate change could have not only globally, but particularly on Long Island.
The league, a 100-year-old organization that grew out of the women’s suffrage movement, is also a nonpartisan organization, believing that voters play a critical role in democracy in the United States. The organization keeps the public informed during elections and throughout the year, and also educates the community through other avenues.
The presentation about climate change took place at the Levittown Public Library, and addressed concerns that the South Shore of Long Island could face if swift action isn’t taken to protect the environment. Communities along the South Shore of eastern Nassau County may not be directly a part of efforts to slow climate change, but there are ways for everyone to remain informed, and get involved.
Carol Bergman, a board member of the league’s East Nassau division, said the things we’ve been witnessing — powerful hurricanes, floods, wildfires and heat waves — are all related to climate change.
“But, you’re not here to hear from me,” she said. “You’re here to hear from a professional. Jordan Christensen, from the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, will talk about the organization and how they are helping to combat climate change in New York state.”
The Citizens Campaign for the Environment began in 1985 on Long Island, and has since become a statewide organization with 120,000 members. It works to address just about every environmental concern affecting the state, and of course, Long Island.
“The biggest existential threat that we’re going to be facing is climate change,” Christensen said. “Our motto is that good science plus good advocacy equals good policy.”
Climate change has already begun to affect Long Island, she said.
“I think for a long time, especially for Long Island, we associated climate change with Sandy and extreme weather,” Christensen said. “You think of the super storms — worse things like hurricanes, things like bomb cyclones, blizzard events. We’re obviously seeing more and more of these ‘100-year storms coming.’”
In the last decade, Christensen said, New York has experienced 31 extreme weather events, costing $100 million in damages.
“The reason why I’m bringing this up is — I’ve been doing this since 2007,” Christensen said. “The argument every time we tried to pass any sort of policy to limit fossil fuel emissions, was that it costs too much. We have to choose either the environment or the economy. And I think it’s very obvious at this point that the cost of doing nothing has actually cost more.”
Globally, Christensen said, the impact of climate change would be severe in “do nothing” scenarios.
“But hyper locally, for the scientists at Stony Brook and other places that are taking this date every day — they’ve been seeing this snowball worse and worse, just for us locally, over the last few years,” she said.
What communities like Mastic Beach and Freeport have been witnessing during the last couple of years is a phenomenon known as “sunny day flooding.” Because the sea level has risen globally, floodwaters have washed away coastal streets during times of high tide, when there are no storms.
Christensen showed a map of Long Island in the year 2100, displaying what a “worst-case scenario” would mean for eastern Nassau. If the sea levels continue to rise, 150 towns will experience these “sunny day floods” as far north as Merrick Road.
But, Christensen emphasized, there is hope. In 2019, the state passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which she believes is one of the nation’s most ambitious climate laws. Something that will help the state, and Long Island, is renewable energy — things like wind farms, which have been a hot topic of debate in areas such as Long Beach and Island Park.
Several developments are in the works to bring wind-powered energy to Long Island, Christensen said, and one of them off the South Fork of the island may be ready by the end of this year.
The one that would source energy to the eastern Nassau is called “Empire Wind 2” — off of Long Beach and Jones Beach, she explained. It could take until 2025 for several governing bodies to approve the work, she said, but once this farm is complete, it will be able to power 600,000 homes.
Proposals for these wind farms have been met with concerns, including if they’re harmful to whales and other creatures, if they’ll be visible from the shoreline and how much it would cost taxpayers.
Christensen said wind farms are not responsible for whale deaths, and they cannot be seen from the shore. A wind farm has been placed off of Block Island in the Long Island Sound, and an artificial reef has flourished thanks to its installation — meaning it is actually improving fish health. And the estimated cost to each taxpayer is somewhere around $10 to $12 a year — or about $1 a month.
Renewable energy is a step in the right direction, Christensen said.
“It’s nice to lead the way, but we kind of need everyone else to do it, too,” she said. “We’ll get some very localized impacts, which are great, and it’ll mitigate the worst for us. New York’s renewable energy goals are very ambitious — but ultimately, it’s going to have to be a global effort.”