State unrealistic on climate deadlines | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

State unrealistic on climate deadlines | News, Sports, Jobs - Observer Today

State unrealistic on climate deadlines

The race to meet the statutory emission thresholds mandated by law in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) is going to result in a perilous outcome for New York State.

From a locally owned and operated energy company founded by my grandfather in Tonawanda 90 years ago, the various timelines mandated in the law are simply not practical.

It took a generation for NOCO to transition from delivering coal to delivering oil and another generation to transition from delivering oil to delivering propane and natural gas. We are currently transitioning into the delivery of new energy services and technologies such as geo-thermal, food waste and pyrolysis among others.

It’s only practical that it’s going to take time to being able to transition to the next generation of the types of energy services and technologies that is going to be required to meet the CLCPA’s thresholds.

The state already has approved hundreds of billions of dollars for transmission projects that will be subsidized by all state ratepayers. In fact, the more energy you use, the higher your utility bill is going to be.

Think about the manufacturing sector in WNY; the main reason they are here is because of low cost hydropower. Without that competitive advantage facilities here are in jeopardy of losing capital investment from their parent companies as they compete with their sister facilities in other parts of the country where it is less expensive to do business.

This doesn’t even include the costs to replace natural gas appliances and the weatherization of homes in disadvantaged areas. Thousands of homes here and across the state not to mention New York City will require tens of thousands of dollars to retrofit.

At the same time, we see great opportunities for NOCO as we start the process of building a company for the fourth generation of leadership.

First we continue to grow our company through strategic acquisitions and most recently the formation of an environmental forestry division that will focus on composting.

Another opportunity is in managing biosolids. We hear and see reports everyday about PFAS and PFOS – better known as forever chemicals. The biosolids from wastewater treatment facilities are heavily contaminated with these chemicals.

We want to build a biosolid treatment facility that would utilize pyrolysis technology to treat biosolids where we can make carbon and use that for various applications.

We have gone to the state and had conversations about this technology and their response has been favorable. Again though, how long will it take to develop rules and regulations to manage biosolids.

The state is in the process of changing the rules to reduce and eventually prevent food waste from being landfilled because of methane emissions.

NOCO has invested over $2 million in researching how to take food waste through patented technology and create various applications for it. Through this technology we can make everything from chicken feed to aquaculture feed as well as other uses.

Without concurrent public policy to address these and other waste stream issues the Legislature and Governor will be breaking their own law when the emission thresholds in the CLCPA are not achieved.

James Newman is President of NOCO Energy which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2023.