February, 18 2016, 09:30am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Emily Pomilio, Sierra Club, (480) 286-0401, Emily.pomilio@sierraclub.org
Dan Sherrell, Sierra Club, (732) 589-2412, dan.sherrell@sierraclub.org
Catherine Bowes, National Wildlife Federation, (802) 552-4311, bowes@nwf.org
Community Groups and Local Leaders Call on Mayor de Blasio to Power NYC with Offshore Wind
Press Conference and Rally at City Hall on February 18
NEW YORK CITY, NY
Today, more than 100 New Yorkers joined community groups, environmental justice leaders, national environmental organizations, and local officials on the steps of City Hall to thank Mayor Bill de Blasio for his commitment to power 100 percent of City operations with renewable energy and urge him to ensure that offshore wind power plays a major role in achieving that goal.
At the rally, a letter signed by over 50 diverse organizations calling for offshore wind power was delivered to the Mayor. The letter highlights the massive potential of offshore wind power to reduce pollution and spark transformative job creation in New York City and across the state. Prioritizing offshore wind power for NYC is also crucial for meeting Mayor de Blasio's broader goal of cutting climate pollution in New York City 80 percent by 2050 and 35 percent within government operations by 2025. The letter also calls on New York State and the Federal Government to take the actions necessary to launch offshore wind power for New York.
With the Supreme Court issuing a temporary stay to President Obama's federal Clean Power Plan just last week, moving forward to develop clean energy--and especially offshore wind--has never been more important.
In addition to the Mayor's goals to drastically cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2030, New York City is the largest city in the world to set a 100 percent renewable energy generation goal for city operations.
Event partners offered the following quotes detailing their support for offshore wind power:
"The construction and utilization of offshore wind power has the potential to transform New York's economy and environment, replacing dirty coal with a clean and abundant form of energy. As New York strives to meet the goal of 50 percent generation of electricity from carbon-free renewable by 2030 outlined in Governor Cuomo's ambitious Reforming the Energy Vision initiative, wind power will play an increasingly essential role. Achievement of these long-term goals, however, will require a long-term commitment from our state. Working with stakeholders like the Sierra Club and my colleagues in the legislature I look forward to implementing a progressive plan for wind power production that invests in New York's future while respecting the interests of local communities and wildlife habitats."
-- State Senator Brad Hoylman, Ranking Member of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee
"Thanks to Mayor de Blasio, New York City is leading by example by pledging to make the switch to renewable energy. Investing in offshore wind power will help us make that transition while creating jobs for New Yorkers and reducing local air pollution. I look forward to working with the administration, the Sierra Club, NYPIRG, and the Center for Working Families to make ensure we make smart choices as we move away from fossil fuels."
-- New York City Councilman Ben Kallos
"We applaud Mayor de Blasio for making New York City a leader on equitable climate action. Now the state and federal government can take the next step with a commitment to build a thriving offshore wind industry which would mean tens of thousands of good jobs in New York City and communities upstate alike."
-- Bill Lipton, Director, New York Working Families
"With his bold commitment to power city operations with 100 percent renewable energy, Mayor de Blasio is continuing to set a high bar for climate leadership, and we're calling on him to make offshore wind a significant part of reaching that 100 percent goal. Not only is offshore wind power poised to make a serious dent in our climate pollution, but a significant commitment to developing offshore wind promises improved urban air quality, long-term job creation across a wide variety of sectors, lower, more predictable energy costs, and the opportunity to invest our energy dollars locally."
-- Lisa Dix, Sierra Club, Senior Representative of the New York Beyond Coal campaign
"New York City can no longer afford to ignore the golden opportunity of offshore wind power. We need Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo, and the federal government to take swift action to launch offshore wind power for New York at the scale necessary to spark massive job creation, reduce local air pollution, and protect wildlife and communities from the dangers of climate change."
-- Catherine Bowes, Senior Manager, National Wildlife Federation
"As an organization that formed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, we deeply understand what is at stake if we, as a city, state, nation and world do not get serious about transitioning to renewable energy now. We are excited at the great potential for local jobs and sustainable energy that offshore wind would bring to NYC. We call on Mayor DeBlasio to stand with those communities most impacted by climate disaster and support offshore wind development. We can lead the way to a healthy, safe and just future. We can be the example that coastal cities across the nation look to. The future is looking bright...and windy!"
-- Kalin Callaghan, Rockaway Wildfire
"New York City is now positioned as a national climate leader with goals for New York City to cut emissions by 80 percent, divest from coal, expand green buildings, double solar power, and power 100 percent of city operations with renewable energy. One of the key next steps is for the state and federal government to open the door for offshore wind development. Building a thriving offshore wind industry will create thousands or tens of thousands of good jobs, slow climate change, and help prevent future storms like Hurricanes Sandy and Irene. The U.S. Energy Department has estimated that it would create nearly 40,000 jobs and 100 businesses around New York are ready to start building components for turbines."
-- Stephan Edel, Policy Director, Center for Working Families.
"Offshore wind energy has the power to transform our city. This technology could create good local jobs, make us more resilient in the face of climate change, and hasten our transition away from the dirty fuels of the past. The sooner Mayor de Blasio commits to offshore wind, the sooner we can make that transformation a reality, and lead New York State into the renewable economy."
-- Patrick Robbins, Co-Director, Sane Energy Project
"Offshore wind is a proven technology worldwide that needs to grow in New York. The offshore wind industry stands ready to help New York City meet its clean energy goals."
-- Anne Reynolds, Executive Director, Alliance for Clean Energy New York
"NYPIRG applauds Mayor de Blasio's leadership in committing to power its buildings through 100 percent renewable energy by 2030--an ambitious and doable goal. But the Mayor must take tangible steps to make the promise come to life. New York City can be a global leader in renewable energy by committing to offshore wind now."
-- Brennan Ortiz, NYPIRG member and Hunter College student.
"New York State banned hydraulic fracturing of dirty natural gas, stopped the creation of the Port Ambrose LNG port, and defeated the coal industry. It is now time to devote resources to building the renewable energy infrastructure, which depends on massive offshore wind, to propel us to meeting our reduced greenhouse gas emissions goals. Let's Win Wind now and provide clean air and green jobs to thousands of New Yorkers as we protect our state from the pending devastation of climate chaos.
-- Marilyn Vasta, 350NYC
"Scaling up offshore wind power around New York City can play a key role in delivering on the mayor's bold commitment to power the city's governmental buildings and operations with 100% renewable energy," "Not only will boosting local offshore wind power help fight climate change, reduce harmful air pollution and protect public health, but it will create good clean energy jobs right here in the city. We look forward to working with the city to get homegrown New York offshore wind power off the ground."
-- Kit Kennedy, Energy & Transportation Program Director, NRDC
"Offshore wind can help power New York with abundant pollution-free energy. We look forward to working with city and state leaders to make New York City a leader in the transition to 100 percent renewable energy."
-- Heather Leibowitz, Director of Environment New York.
"Staving off the worst impacts of our changing climate means we must transition from an electricity grid reliant on fossil fuels to systems powered by clean resources such as solar and wind. New York City has an opportunity, with its commitment to 100 percent renewable energy, to offer cities around the world a roadmap to a clean energy future. One of the keys to maintaining reliability and affordability will be a diverse and consistent clean energy supply. Offshore wind has proven it is up to the challenge and should be an integral component to the City's plan."
- Conor Bambrick, Air and Energy director, Environmental Advocates of New York
"Offshore wind is potentially the best option for delivering large scale renewable electricity generation to New York City and Long Island. Offshore wind power will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use for New York City, it will also generate jobs and stimulate local economy. With climate change and sea level rising, time is of the essence. New York City needs to begin developing offshore wind power now."
-- Ling Tsou, Co-Founder, United for Action
"The Bronx, much of which is an environmental justice community, much of which suffers from environmental racism, much of which is an environmental sacrifice zone, demands a rapid shift to a just, 100 percent renewable energy economy and massive investments in energy efficiency and retrofitting. Bronx Climate Justice North stands with the rising tide of people all over New York City urging Mayor de Blasio to make offshore wind a significant component of a democratic energy future for all New Yorkers."
-- Jennifer Scarlott, Bronx Climate Justice North
"As a community-based peace and justice group with hundreds of members throughout Brooklyn, Brooklyn For Peace sees the issue of renewable energy as central to a long-term strategy for achieving peace for ourselves as well as for future generations. Development of renewable energy sources such as offshore wind will give our nation the possibility of energy independence and remove one of the major sources of conflict leading to war. We urge Mayor de Blasio to lead the way!"
-- Charlotte Phillips, M.D, Chairperson, Brooklyn For Peace
"There is no way for the US to avoid catastrophic climate change without a massive offshore wind effort. We look forward to the leadership of Mayor de Blasio to jumpstart offshore wind by having our city make a long term commitment to purchase electricity from wind."
-- Mark Dunlea, Green Education and Legal Fund
"Unlike offshore drilling, offshore wind provides power directly to coastal communities where we need energy the most, without the risk of oil spills or carbon pollution, while protecting our precious ocean ecosystems and marine-life."
-- Claire Douglass, Climate & Energy Team Campaign Director, Oceana
"NYC is in the position to be a leader on climate change, but in order to reach the 100 percent renewable goal, we need to begin investing in offshore wind now. We have the potential to generate 5,000 to 8,000 MW of wind power off the coast of Long Island alone, but we need a firm commitment from our elected leaders to ensure offshore wind projects move forward."
-- Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizen's Campaign for the Environment
Moving to clean energy, like the abundant wind power off our coasts, can help us tackle rampant racial and economic inequality. The federal Clean Power Plan, combined with ambitious state and local initiatives to move forward with renewable energy offers states a chance to expand economic opportunities, especially for communities of color and low-income communities.
-- Edgar Gomez, organizer with Community Voices Heard, an affiliate of National People's Action.
On Friday February 19, Sane Energy Project will be hosting a forum entitled "Offshore Wind for NYC From 4 Perspectives" at Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, New York, NY. For more details, call (917) 364 7461.
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
(415) 977-5500LATEST NEWS
'These Deaths Are on Trump's Hands': Texas Flooding Spotlights Assault on Climate Science
"The Trump regime is gutting scientific research into climate and atmospheric science for political reasons, at the very time we need a much better understanding of it," said one environmentalist. "This is so reckless and dangerous."
Jul 07, 2025
Deadly flooding caused by torrential rain in central Texas late last week called attention to U.S. President Donald Trump's full-scale assault on the climate research and monitoring agencies tasked with studying and predicting such weather catastrophes, as well as his ongoing attacks on disaster preparedness and relief.
Though local National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters did issue warnings in the lead-up to Friday's flooding—which killed at least 82 people, including dozens of children—key roles were reportedly vacant ahead of the downpour, prompting scrutiny of the Trump administration's mass firings and budget cuts, in addition to years of neglect and failures by Republicans at the state level.
Asked whether he believes the federal government should hire back terminated meteorologists in the wake of the Texas flooding, Trump responded in the negative and falsely claimed that "very talented people" at NWS "didn't see" the disaster coming.
"This is an absolute lie," replied meteorologist and climate journalist Eric Holthaus. "Worse, this is the person responsible for making those kids less safe and he's trying to deny the damage he caused."
Holthaus wrote Sunday that Trump's staffing cuts "have particularly hit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Environmental Modeling Center, which aims to improve the skill of these types of difficult forecasts."
"Though it's unclear to what extent staffing shortages across the NWS complicated the advance notice that local officials had of an impending flooding disaster," he added, "it's clear that this was a complex, compound tragedy of a type that climate warming is making more frequent."
"Republicans have fired meteorologists, cut emergency disaster aid, and given an extra $18 billion to the fossil fuel corporations causing this crisis."
Under the guise of "government efficiency," the Trump administration has taken an axe to staff at federal climate agencies and is trying to go even further with its budget for the coming fiscal year. The Washington Post noted Sunday that "a budget document the Trump administration recently submitted to Congress calls for zeroing out climate research funding for 2026, something officials had hinted at in previous proposals but is now in lawmakers' hands."
"But even just the specter of President Donald Trump's budget proposals has prompted scientists to limit research activities in advance of further cuts," the Post noted. "Trump's efforts to freeze climate research spending and slash the government's scientific workforce have for months prompted warnings of rippling consequences in years ahead. For many climate scientists, the consequences are already here."
Since the start of his second term, Trump has dismissed the hundreds of scientists and experts who were working on the National Climate Assessment, moved to slash NOAA's workforce, and announced a halt to climate disaster tracking, among other changes—all while working to accelerate fossil fuel extraction and use that is supercharging extreme weather events. One NOAA veteran warned that Trump's cuts could drag the agency back to "the technical and proficiency levels we had in the 1950s."
"The Trump regime is gutting scientific research into climate and atmospheric science for political reasons, at the very time we need a much better understanding of it," environmentalist Stephen Barlow wrote on social media on Sunday. "This is so reckless and dangerous, which is why I suggest we call these tragedies Trump events."
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, said over the weekend that "Republicans have fired meteorologists, cut emergency disaster aid, and given an extra $18 billion to the fossil fuel corporations causing this crisis."
"These deaths are on Trump's hands," she added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Stateless Palestinian Woman Details 'Very Traumatizing' Abuse Suffered in ICE Detention
Trump administration immigration officials reportedly dismissed Ward Sakeik's ordeal as a "sob story."
Jul 06, 2025
A newlywed Palestinian woman from Texas released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention earlier this week says she was shackled for long periods, denied food and water, and subjected to other human rights abuses during nearly five months in ICE custody—all because she is a stateless person.
Ward Sakeik, 22, was born in Saudi Arabia to Palestinian parents from Gaza. Because Saudi Arabia does not grant birthright citizenship to the children of foreign nationals, Sakeik was officially stateless when her family legally emigrated to the United States when she was 8 years old.
“I was moved around like cattle.”
Ward Sakeik, US college graduate and homeowner, speaks out following 140 days in ICE hellhole pic.twitter.com/bNTgs7362h
— World Socialist Web Site (@WSWS_Updates) July 5, 2025
Sakeik's parents subsequently applied for—and were denied—asylum in the U.S. but were allowed to remain legally in the country pending routine check-ins with ICE.
After graduating high school and the University of Texas, Arlington, starting a wedding photography business, marrying a U.S. citizen, and beginning the process of obtaining a green card, Sakeik and her husband went on their honeymoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was detained shortly after arriving back in the United States after Customs and Border Protection agents flagged her for flying over international waters—a move that Department of Homeland Security officials said violated immigration policy.
"After a few hours from returning from our honeymoon, I was put in a gray tracksuit and shackles," Sakeik said at a press conference following her release. "I was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on the bus. I have moved around like cattle. And the U.S. government attempted to dump me in a part of the world where I don't know where I'm going and what I'm doing or anything."
"We were not given any water or food, and we could smell the driver eating Chick-fil-A," she continued. "We would ask for water, bang on the door for food, and he would just turn up the radio and act like he wasn't listening to us."
Sakeik said unhygienic conditions at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas—where an ICE officer was shot in the neck during a Friday evening attack—caused widespread illness among detainees.
"The restrooms are also very, very, very unhygienic," she said. "The beds have rust everywhere. They're not properly maintained. And cockroaches, grasshoppers, spiders, you name it, are all over the facility. Girls would get bit."
"I wouldn't wish this upon anybody," Sakeik said during a Saturday interview on CNN. "It was very hard, very traumatizing, and very, very difficult."
Eric Lee, an attorney for Sakeik, told CNN that immigration officials dismissed Sakeik's account as a "sob story."
"I guess what we would ask the American people is, 'Who are they gonna believe, their lying eyes or the statements of the people who are responsible for carrying out what are really crimes against humanity here in the United States?'" Lee added.
Sakeik said she now plans to advocate on behalf of women and girls imprisoned by ICE.
"I... want the world to know that the women who do come here come here for a better life, but they're criminalized for that," she said. "They are dehumanized, and they're stripped away from their rights. We have been treated as a 'less-than' just simply for wanting a better life."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Exactly What We Would Expect': Climate Scientists Weigh in on Deadly Texas Flooding
"It's not a question of whether climate change played a role—it's only a question of how much," said one expert.
Jul 06, 2025
As the death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas continued to rise, climate scientists this weekend underscored the link between more frequent and severe extreme weather events and the worsening climate emergency caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels.
Officials said Sunday that at least 69 people died in the floods, 59 of them in Kerr County. Of the 27 missing girls from Camp Mystic—some of whom were sleeping just 225 feet from the Guadalupe River when its waters surged during flash flooding Friday—11 are still missing.
While some local officials blamed what they said were faulty forecasts from the National Weather Service—which has been hit hard by staffing cuts ordered by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency in line with Project 2025—meteorologists and climate scientists including Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles have refuted such allegations, citing multiple NWS warnings of potentially deadly flooding.
However, some experts asserted that vacancies at key NWS posts raise questions about forecasters' ability to coordinate emergency response with local officials.
Climate scientists do concur that human-caused global heating is causing stronger and more frequent extreme weather events including flooding.
"This kind of record-shattering rain (caused by slow-moving torrential thunderstorms) event is *precisely* that which is increasing the fastest in a warming climate," Swain wrote in a statement. "So it's not a question of whether climate change played a role—it's only a question of how much."
As Jeff Masters and Bob Henson wrote Saturday for Yale Climate Connections:
Many studies have confirmed that human-caused climate change is making the heaviest short-term rainfall events more intense, largely by warming the world's oceans and thus sending more water vapor into the atmosphere that can fuel heavy rain events. Sea surface temperatures this week have been as much as 1°F below the 1981-2010 average for early July in the western Gulf [of Mexico] and Caribbean, but up to 1°F above average in the central Gulf. Long-term human-caused warming made the latter up to 10 times more likely, according to the Climate Shift Index from Climate Central.
"The tragic events in Texas are exactly what we would expect in our hotter, climate-changed, world," Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysics and climate hazards at University College London, said Saturday. "There has been an explosion in extreme weather in recent years, including more devastating flash floods caused by slow-moving, wetter, storms, that dump exceptional amounts of rain over small areas across a short time."
It’s hard to make the Texas flood tragedy worse, except to know that on the same day Trump signed a bill to stop our efforts to defeat the climate change that is causing increased frequency of disastrous floods. And giving us more expensive electricity. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/c...
[image or embed]
— Governor Jay Inslee (@govjayinslee.bsky.social) July 5, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Instead of taking action to combat the planetary emergency, the Trump administration is ramping up fossil fuel production while waging war on clean energy and climate initiatives. The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by Trump on Friday slashes the tax credits for electric vehicles and other renewable technologies including wind and solar energy that were a cornerstone of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular