What's at stake:

As the climate crisis intensifies, New York State should be leading the charge toward affordable clean solar and wind energy. Instead, Governor Hochul’s administration just launched a proceeding around developing New York’s nuclear energy fleet. 

Nuclear energy is the most costly and slow-to-deploy form of energy in the world, and its negative effects on local communities and ecosystems are significant, ranging from the release of radioactive waste into the air and water, the warming of local waterways, and the risk of a nuclear meltdown, which would be catastrophic for present and future generations. 

It’s also a threat to Indigenous communities: Some of the highly toxic radioactive waste from existing plants in New York is transported through Onondaga Nation land, in violation of treaty agreements between the US and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. 

New York’s utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, has begun a process to bring nuclear energy to more than double its current level in New York State — at a price tag of tens of billions of public dollars. 

Send a letter to the Public Service Commission today to demand that the state invest public dollars in solar, wind, thermal energy, and grid upgrades, not nuclear energy, in order to build out the clean and just clean energy and climate future we deserve. 

The public comment you'll send:

I’m writing to oppose the state’s plan to raise my energy bills to pay for new nuclear reactors. 

In a moment when New York needs to double down on solar, wind, thermal energy networks, and other clean energy sources, we should not be pouring billions of public dollars into the nuclear energy industry. Nuclear energy is not clean or safe. It’s extremely expensive. And it takes a long time to build.

Safety

After decades of nuclear operation, there is still no safe way to store the massive amounts of highly radioactive nuclear waste building up at nuclear reactors in New York, and the plan to build more nuclear reactors in communities across upstate New York will create more nuclear waste in our communities. 

Speed
New York’s climate targets and the threshold for a livable planet require that we rapidly reduce emissions, and a nuclear energy fleet that takes nearly a decade or more to build will put us gravely behind.

Cost
Solar arrays, wind farms, battery storage, and grid upgrades are all projects that can be built in months to years, and at a fraction of the cost of nuclear facilities. The state’s current order lacks critical details about how costs will be contained, and the build-out of nuclear plants itself can pose a huge impact on New Yorkers' wallets and savings. We cannot afford another $24 billion in handouts to the nuclear industry, added to our energy bills or our taxes. 

We need energy affordability solutions, like insulation in our homes, solar, wind, and geothermal now, not rate hikes on our energy bills to pay for over-priced nuclear power plants.  We don’t need risky, expensive reactors to fight the climate crisis. Investing in solar, energy efficiency, thermal networks, and energy efficiency solutions will reduce our bills and lower emissions faster and more cost-effectively. 

Please prioritize affordable, safe, and sustainable energy solutions that protect New Yorkers’ health, wallets, and future.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME