Good morning. It's Thursday. We'll look at two environmental-related matters: the $4.2 billion bond issue that's on the ballot in New York and small battery storage stations that are going up around the city. |
 | | Mary Altaffer/Associated Press |
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A $4.2 billion initiative is on the ballot in New York for Election Day next week. It's the largest for environmental protection in the state's history and is officially known as the "Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Act." I asked Anne Barnard, who covers climate and the environment for the Metro desk, to discuss what the bond act would mean for the state if voters approve it. |
It's a lot of money, $4.2 billion. What will it buy? |
It would let the state invest in modernizing our infrastructure, not just for surviving in a changing climate, but for thriving — for cleaning up our water, flood-proofing our neighborhoods and improving public health. Broadly speaking, the idea is to protect against climate change and at the same time stop making our pollution problems worse. |
This is why environmental groups are calling it a once-in-a-generation opportunity. |
New York State set goals for slashing fossil fuel emissions in a law enacted in 2019. But that law, even though it's the most ambitious one of its kind in the country, did not include specific commitments to paying for all the necessary changes and improvements. The bond act would be an important plank toward reaching those goals. |
It's worth noting that the bond act also targets objectives like conserving land; retrofitting older buildings to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels for boilers and heating systems; and improving the water quality infrastructure. And 35 percent of the money must be spent in disadvantaged communities, which bore the brunt of environmental harm in the past. |
The bond act would also pay for electric-powered school buses across the state. Groups like New York Lawyers for the Public Interest see the school buses as an environmental justice issue. Not only are they a source of emissions that help to heat the planet,; they harm students if the windows are open and the kids breathe in fumes from the bus. There's a health risk to people in neighborhoods where the buses are idling, which are often the same neighborhoods where there are older school buildings, decaying infrastructure and higher incidence of asthma. |
And there's $1.1 billion for flood risk reduction. Why is that important? |
One of the most urgent tasks facing the state and the city is reshaping our infrastructure and the cityscape to survive the rising seas and extreme heat that will come with climate change. It's been 10 years since Hurricane Sandy, which woke up the city to the fact that there was an existential crisis for a metropolitan area built on islands and swamps. |
A lot of projects are still only in the early stages, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Every area, every neighborhood, has its own topography and its own characteristics, but there's no coherent, comprehensive plan. |
Also, under current rules, you have to wait for a disaster to happen before you can access billions of federal dollars to help future-proof against the next disaster. That's one reason a lot of projects that were talked about immediately after Sandy did not get started until five, six, seven years later. Money from the bond act, if it's approved, could be spent on projects in places where a disaster could happen but hasn't — yet. |
Will this really bring us closer to the climate goals set by New York State in 2019? |
Yes. Private industry isn't going to invest unless executives think that infrastructure projects are really going to happen. State and local projects will go a long way, but they have to be funded. |
Who supports the bond issue, and who opposes it? |
Environmental and climate groups are for it, as is Gov. Kathy Hochul. There isn't a huge amount of opposition. Hochul's opponent, Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate, has not taken a position. Many Republicans in New York appear to have concluded that denying climate change and the need to spend money to address it are not winning positions here. |
The Conservative Party came out against the bond act, and the Citizens Budget Commission warned about getting closer to the state's debt cap. Paul Rodriguez, who's running for state comptroller on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, said this not the time to be borrowing more money. His opponent, the Democratic incumbent, Thomas DiNapoli, is for it. |
In much of the state, the bond issue will appear on the back of the ballot, not on the front with the candidates. Will voters bother to turn their ballots over? |
This is so important. The organizations that are for it have been running social media campaigns to remind people to flip over their ballot and vote for Proposition 1 because otherwise, they would miss it. It remains to be seen if that message will get through. |
Enjoy another sunny day near the high 60s. The evening is mostly clear, with temps around the mid-50s. |
In effect until Tuesday (Election Day). |
 | | Rebecca Noble for The New York Times |
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Small spaces for big power needs |
 | | Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times |
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Lithium ion batteries can hold hours' worth of backup power for when the city needs it. But in a city that's short on extra places to put things, where will they go? |
And that, in turn, explains what happened to a little triangle of land across from the Junior High School 144 complex in the Pelham Gardens section of the Bronx. Over the summer the 7,500-square-foot lot was converted from a parking area to a battery storage facility with two rows of white storage containers. The lithium ion batteries inside are intended to provide backup power during times of peak demand for electricity — on hot summer days when every air-conditioner is on maximum cool, for example. |
Consolidated Edison sandwiched one between a school, a church, some homes and the A train in Ozone Park, Queens. |
Stephen Wemple, a general manager with Con Edison, said the battery facility had saved the company from having to build a substation that runs on natural gas. Con Edison already has three other battery storage sites and one under construction in Fox Hills, Staten Island. It is planning a large-scale project in Astoria, Queens, while it awaits approval for four more storage facilities, some with the help of private energy developers. |
Companies like NineDot Energy, which owns and operates the storage system on the parking lot in the Bronx, are scouring the city for available land. NineDot is looking to build and operate another dozen storage projects next year in all five boroughs, as well as in Westchester and on Long Island. |
"People are watching New York to see how a dense, urban area can decarbonize," said David Arfin, the chief executive of NineDot. "We think we can show them how." |
I was holding a pole in an extremely crowded subway car. I noticed that a man to my right who appeared to be in his late 20s was reading a book of "Peanuts" comic strips with a New York Public Library stamp on it. |
I wondered to myself why a man of his age would be reading such a book. I tried to broach the subject without sounding condescending. |
"Those are very funny," I said to him. |
"And they help with my English," he replied. |
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. |
| Melissa Guerrero and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
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