This past Tuesday, March 10th, Rochester for Energy Democracy (RED) was busy attending the massive Defend NY event in Albany, as well as a Monroe County public hearing. One was a huge coalition effort of over one thousand New Yorkers from across the state, advocating for a slew of issues including protection from ICE, progressive taxation, and defending environmental justice. The other was a heartened demand from RED to our local legislature, advocating for greater accountability for RG&E and a study for a real alternative to a profit-sucking utility company. Both of these events are part of larger movements across NY, of people fighting for the means and justice to power the future.
After Hochul’s state of the state address in January, environmental coalitions like NY Renews were very concerned over her promise to throw more money at nuclear power, while here in Rochester, we were worried about RG&E’s expansion of volatile gas pipelines and explosive hydrogen infrastructure. All of which (nuclear, gas, hydrogen) are more expensive and dangerous than the increasingly obvious answer of renewables. RG&E and Hochul's ideas about energy would put a greater burden on everyday people - those who pay the bills and taxes that fund them, and suffer the consequences of polluted water, waste, and upkeep.
Despite the people who piss on us, tell us it’s raining, and say the solution is renting their umbrella, there is another option. Some of it comes from exciting legislation in the NYS Senate, some from advocacy in our own neighborhoods.
For the state, that means holding Hochul accountable: Despite framing herself as fighting the Trump administration, Hochul has been very excited to execute Trump’s plan of expanding oil pipelines across the state, such as the NESE (Northeast Supply Enhancement) pipeline, and slow to react to the gross injustice felt by communities, like suspension of HEAP offices last fall when the federal government shut down and left local Rochester homes to the mercy of RG&E and drowning in debt.
Despite the people who piss on us, tell us it’s raining, and say the solution is renting their umbrella, there is another option. Some of it comes from exciting legislation in the NYS Senate, some from advocacy in our own neighborhoods.
For the state, that means holding Hochul accountable: Despite framing herself as fighting the Trump administration, Hochul has been very excited to execute Trump’s plan of expanding oil pipelines across the state, such as the NESE (Northeast Supply Enhancement) pipeline, and slow to react to the gross injustice felt by communities, like suspension of HEAP offices last fall when the federal government shut down and left local Rochester homes to the mercy of RG&E and drowning in debt.
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Here in Rochester it means continuing to advocate for a public power study and exploring options besides RG&E, which failed its financial audit last May and continues to raise rates. We at RED think that publicly owned power is the answer, and that the abuses of RG&E have been untenable for a long time.
Join us next Wednesday, March 18 at the Metro Justice office from 6pm-8pm to get more involved in the RED campaign. Click here to sign up!
Join us next Wednesday, March 18 at the Metro Justice office from 6pm-8pm to get more involved in the RED campaign. Click here to sign up!
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