Clean Energy Solutions Are Urgent and Essential

Reprinted from a September 9, 2024 op-ed guest column in The Putnam Courier.

by Joe Montuori

Thanks to former Putnam Valley Town Supervisor Sam Oliverio, Jr. for his appropriate concerns regarding several topics, including a solar installation bordering Putnam Valley’s High/Middle School campus (“The Flaws of the NY State Green Energy Initiative,” August 13, 2024). The wide-ranging piece demonstrates his long-term concerns for the environment, Putnam Valley, and good governance. 

While I strongly agree with Mr. Oliverio’s criticism of that particular solar project, I’d like to correct several factual errors regarding climate change, solar panels, and New York State energy policy. I’ll also lay out viable solutions to the climate crisis. It’s a global issue, but it’s also a local threat that we haven’t adequately addressed in Putnam County. The good news is that we have the solutions and all the tools and technology we need to implement them.

Causes of Climate Change

Mr. Oliverio suggests that global warming is the result of a natural cycle he refers to as a great warming. Typical natural cycles of planetary cooling and warming take place over many millennia. By contrast, the dramatic, human-caused warming of our planet has taken place in little more than a century. 

This warming trend tracks perfectly with industrialization and the rise in fossil-fueled energy over the past 150 years. Fossil fuel emissions increase atmospheric CO₂ which warms the planet and causes climate change. These are established scientific facts. More than 99% of climate scientists and 99.9% of peer-reviewed climate studies conclude that climate change is almost entirely the result of human activity. 

As Mr. Oliverio suggests, there are other man-made causes besides fossil fuels, including industrial agriculture and deforestation. And like fossil fuels, these sources must also be addressed. But it simply isn’t true that these are more significant than the burning of fossil fuels. The single largest source of greenhouse gases — a whopping 73% — is the burning of fossil fuels. 

So it’s clear that we must replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy sources. The great challenge is doing this as rapidly as possible to halt the already catastrophic climate change locked in by past carbon emissions. It’s an emergency, and we truly need all hands on deck. 

Solutions to Climate Change

Fortunately, the solutions are clear, and we have the technology and processes to implement them. There are actions all of us can take to be part of the solution, and it’s Sustainable Putnam’s mission to help roll these out in Putnam County. The solutions comprise two major goals. 

First, we must dramatically increase energy efficiency in every sector: commercial, industrial, transportation, residential, etc. The United States currently wastes more energy per capita than any other country in the world. That’s not surprising because U.S. energy prices are among the cheapest. But when it comes right down to it, we’re not paying the full price of our energy. We’ve been subsidizing our low energy prices by polluting the air and water, and altering the climate on which we rely for survival. Others here and abroad are paying and will continue to pay the price of climate change for decades if not centuries to come. We have a moral responsibility to take dramatic and comprehensive action. 

Above, an example of an appropriately sited solar and battery energy storage site at the Croton-Harmon Metro-North train station. Owned and operated by the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, this well-designed solar farm was sited over its existing parking lot. When completed, this 4.2 MW solar installation will also include a 3.5 MW battery energy storage site and 24 electric vehicle charge ports. (Photo courtesy of Croton Sustainability Committee.)

The major areas for improvements in energy efficiency and electrification include transportation, buildings, and manufacturing. Some of Putnam County’s municipal governments and residents have already taken significant steps toward this goal. Doing so has reduced their carbon footprint and lowered their energy costs. Energy efficiency isn’t rocket science, but it does require government policies to make it happen. More on this later.

Second, we must rapidly transition to electric power generated by clean, renewable sources wherever possible. Again, these goals are already attainable with existing technologies, and less expensive than fossil fuels. In New York State, we even have a plan. Now we need to rapidly implement it wisely and fairly. 

I strongly agree with Mr. Oliverio’s objection to the solar installation in Yorktown which borders Putnam Valley. Clear-cutting trees to install solar panels has tremendous environmental costs and is unnecessary with dramatic improvements in energy efficiency. 

The best placement of solar installations is on rooftops and other impermeable surfaces, such as parking lots. As it turns out, that is often more expensive in traditional accounting, but less expensive when we count all the social and environmental costs. Unfortunately, that’s just not the way our businesses and economy operate today. Those rules must be changed. 

By contrast, the Croton-Harmon Metro-North station is a great example of an appropriate solar installation. That project combined solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging in a non-residential area that was already covered with asphalt. And the excess power produced goes into the grid. 

However, it’s simply not true that “NY State has decided to utilize thousands of acres of forest and farmland to erect these solar panels.” There is no evidence of this or the claim that it’s happening on NY State-owned land in the Adirondacks or the Catskills.  It would be more accurate to say that market forces compel investors to choose forested land and farms because it’s less expensive. Again, regulations are needed to discourage that. 

He also asserted that solar panels “contain some of the most harmful heavy metals and dangerous construction pieces imaginable.” There are environmental impacts to solar panels as there are with every manufactured good, and we need to do our best to limit them. But let’s look at the big picture. 

Electronic or “e-waste” (which also contain heavy metals) accounts for at least 10 times the amount of waste as solar panels. Solar panels are already recyclable, but yes, let’s require all  manufacturers to recycle what they produce. 

And unlike most e-waste, solar panels also have a positive environmental impact. They eliminate the burning of fossil fuels which cause climate change (not to mention air pollution resulting in thousands of premature deaths annually, due to respiratory illness). Environmentally, solar panels pack a tremendous net benefit, eliminate greenhouse gases, and provide a cheaper source of electricity. 

So economically and environmentally, solar panels are a far better option than burning natural gas, oil, or coal to produce electricity. 

Electric vehicles (EVs) are another example of this, and a topic on which Mr. Oliverio and I disagree. It’s true that electric vehicles aren’t the solution to climate change, because there is no one solution to climate change. There are at least 100 viable solutions, and we need to implement all of them. Widely-available mass transit, for example, is an essential solution in the transportation sector, and we need to do much more to make it affordable and accessible.   

And EVs aren’t perfect. As with gasoline powered vehicles, they have an environmental impact. Gasoline has environmental impacts in drilling, processing, transportation, and burning. In the case of EVs, the mining and processing of rare minerals also has an environmental impact. Fortunately, lithium is already being recycled, reducing the need for mining. More importantly, EVs are already about 50% cleaner than gasoline vehicles. That’s a fact. What’s more, because only 40% of New York’s electricity is generated with fossil fuels (and decreasing), NYS EVs are even cleaner than average. 

Mr. Oliverio stated that all of the gas-powered cars in the world contribute “only 11%” of emissions. In New York State, the figure is actually 28%. Regardless, our gasoline vehicles are a significant contributor we must eliminate. Whether you lease a vehicle every few years or run it into the ground before buying a new one, making your next vehicle an EV makes environmental and economic sense. Over its useful life, you’ll save thousands of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs over the cost of a comparable gasoline vehicle. And you’ll eliminate more than one third of your household carbon emissions. 

Our successful and prosperous national economy has been fueled by climate-changing fossil fuels for more than a century. Today, there is no question that we need to replace fossil fuels to eliminate those emissions, keep our economy strong, and our planet habitable. 

As it has in the past, I have faith that the United States will ultimately lead the way in this crisis. 

We already know what to do. And we already have many tools on hand at the local, state, and federal levels.

At the federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are two steps in the right direction. In New York State, our climate policy’s cornerstone is the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019. It set two key climate action goals: 100% clean electricity by 2040 and an 85% reduction of emissions by 2050. Given the stakes of the climate crisis, these are appropriately ambitious. 

At the local level, Sustainable Putnam is actively assisting local governments, businesses, nonprofits, and residents to make that happen in Putnam. Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, a small business owner, or a municipal leader, we have resources and services available to assist you. Residents can get started with our “Seven Steps to Clean Energy” program at  sustainableputnam.org/7-steps.

Sources

• Myth Busters | United Nations
• Summary for Policymakers.
• Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? – Our World in Data
• Hawken, Paul, Drawdown, 2017
• Busting myths around solar PV toxicity
• Electric Vehicles are Cleaner | Union of Concerned Scientists
• Scoping Plan – New York’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act
  

Joe Montuori is the Executive Director of local nonprofit Sustainable Putnam. He is also a retired teacher who has lived in Mahopac for 35 years.