NY Renews Letter Regarding CCS in NY State
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***: March 21, 2022
Contact: Lala Peñaranda | lala@nyrenews.org | (301) 526-1312
Web: @NYRenews | www.nyrenews.org
NY Renews Letter Regarding CCS in NY State
The 320+ organizations of the NY Renews Coalition wish to use this opportunity to articulate our opposition to the proliferation of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), including "Direct air capture" technology, and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technology and infrastructure in New York State. Various examples elucidate the fact that CCS/CCUS not only place residents of environmental justice communities at increased risk of exposure to toxic emissions but also safety risks that put their health and lives in unnecessary danger.
Moreover, CCS is an unproven and profligate technology that’s already cost taxpayers billions of dollars that could have been utilized for proven, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and battery storage - all which continue to be cheaper and more efficient options than a technology preferred by the same fossil fuel industry most responsible for exacerbating the climate crisis they have one of the biggest hands in creating.
The entire premise of CCS/CCUS is antithetical to the 1991 Principles of Environmental Justice and the 1996 Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, which both stipulate Free Prior and Informed Consent and self-determination for disadvantaged and other environmental justice communities as key requisites for climate justice policy and environmental justice initiatives. Furthermore, NY Renews is of the opinion that CCS/CCUS technology and infrastructure would not comply with Sections 7(2) and 7(3) of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which, respectively, stipulates interdiction of any agency actions that would interfere with the attainment of the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits, or result in disproportionate burdens to disadvantaged communities.
For CCS/CCUS projects that are actually in operation, the vast majority of the carbon dioxide that’s “captured” is utilized to extract more petroleum products through a process called Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). In fact, according to some estimates, CCS with EOR results in the emission of 1.4 to 4.7 tons of carbon dioxide for each ton removed. This perverse ratio has even prompted the Wall Street Journal to refer to the technology’s overall record as “dismal.” With less than 20 years for New York to generate 100 percent zero-emission electricity, it’s clear that CCS would interfere with efforts to meet this mandate.
The fact of the matter is that the Department of Energy has spent over $1 Billion of the people’s money since 2009 on eight CCS projects - none of them are currently operating. We cannot keep burning money to allow Big Oil to continue burning fossil fuels, especially when renewable sources and battery storage technology have quickly become cheaper and more viable options to provide our energy needs. Even where these projects are deemed “successful” they capture only a tiny fraction of the emissions that are generated at tremendous cost.
Disproportionate exposure to toxic air emissions and other sources of pollution continue to threaten disadvantaged and other environmental justice communities. Subjecting these communities to the risks associated with CCS and accompanying infrastructure, where the majority would be situated, must also be considered a disproportionate burden . For instance, two years ago residents of Yazoo County, Mississippi, a majority Black community, were exposed to high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a noxious gas that attacks the respiratory system, following the explosion of carbon dioxide pipelines associated with a CCS plant. The surrounding area of the explosion, which left residents confused, convulsing, foaming at the mouth and even unconscious, was described by health officials as a zombie movie scene.
We cannot allow this to happen in New York State or anywhere else in the country for that matter.
CCS is nothing more than a perverse subsidy for the fossil fuel industry and its acolytes pushing false solutions for the real challenges of climate change. The most recent IPCC report is both profound and dire, in part concluding that nations aren’t doing nearly enough to protect cities, farms and coastlines from the hazards exacerbated by climate change. The report goes on to conclude that “transformational” changes are necessary to avert the worst impacts and this is no time for incremental approaches.
In short, we have a deficit of time, and we can’t waste time we don’t have on false solution that doesn't work. New York’s reputation as a national climate leader hinges on the choices we make today that will have salient impacts on what tomorrow looks like. We must make a choice right now - are we going to comply with and adhere to the mandates of our landmark climate law or circumvent it by allowing for the proliferation of expensive, ineffective technologies rooted in science fiction more than science?
Compliance and alignment with CLCPA necessitates an unadulterated rejection of CCS. To this end, NY Renews calls on the Governor, the State Legislature, and all appropriate state agencies to make it known that New York is no country for CCS technology.