New Yorkers featured in project highlighting “Voices for 100% Renewable Energy”
Environment New York
For more information: Anna Hofmann – (202) 461-2453
Today, Environment New York announced seven New York residents as leading voices for clean energy. The New Yorkers are profiled in a national project, Voices for 100% Renewable Energy, featuring photos, testimonials, and videos from a wide array of individuals from across America – from academics, to mayors and other public officials, to community leaders, to business and non-profit leaders – embracing a massive transition to clean energy.
New Yorkers featured in the in the project include Representative Nydia Velázquez; Karl Rabago from the Pace University Law School Energy Project; Shalini Kantayya, Director of the documentary Catching the Sun; Suzanne Hunt, the owner of Hunt Valley Vineyards; Emily Parish, a student at Cornell University; Gordian Raacke from Renewable Energy Long Island; and May Boeve from 350.org.
“We’re inspired by people like Representative Velázquez, Shalini Kantayya, and Emily Parish who know we can, and must, shift to 100 percent renewable energy,” said Rob Sargent, Energy Program Director with Environment America. “We’re thrilled to share some of their stories through this project. Our hope is that it will motivate the many folks who know we need a swift, steady and complete transition from dirty to clean energy to lean into the effort.”
The people featured in the project cited a range of environmental, economic, equity, social, and health benefits from the transition to 100 percent renewable energy. Most focused on the urgent need to eliminate climate-altering carbon pollution. Others simply believe that it’s common sense and good economics to save energy and to harness unlimited, pollution-free energy sources.
“As a family farming the same land for seven generations, we see the importance of taking good care of our land… To make sure our planet remains a healthy place for future generations, we each must do our part to leave it a little better – a lot better – than when it was passed to us. We have to nurture our soil and protect our farmland. We must insist that our leaders at every level stop enabling the pollution and destruction of our environment; we cannot tolerate political denials of our impact on the earth and the climate. Global climate change is real. It’s time we reduce our use of fossil fuels and embrace the transition to a 100 percent renewable energy future,” said Suzanne Hunt.
“From air pollution causing respiratory problems to devastation from Superstorm Sandy and climate change, New Yorkers know why we must make the clean energy transition. The good news is that a shift to 100 percent renewable energy can revitalize our communities, make us healthier, leave a livable future for our children and grandchildren, all while creating good jobs in the process. I will continue making renewable energy and a cleaner environment among my top priorities,” said Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez.
Emily Parish said, “After studying Scandinavian renewable energy policy while traveling abroad in Copenhagen, it has become evident to me that transitioning to 100 percent renewable is completely possible for almost every country in the world, especially the U.S.”
“For years, we’ve been told that pollution from dirty fuels was the price we had to pay for progress,” said Anna Hofmann, a clean energy associate working with Environment New York. “Those days are over. My confidence that we can make the shift to clean renewable energy has been boosted by the conversations I’ve had with so many people we’ve profiled in the Voices for 100% Renewable project.”
To view Voices for 100% Renewable Energy, go to www.100percentrenewable.org.
