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Natural Awakenings Westchester / Putnam / Dutchess New York

Cricket Valley Energy Update with Charlie Davenport, February 2020

Jan 30, 2020 07:49PM ● By Marilee Burrell

Mik Lav/Shutterstock.com


Charlie Davenport, who helped organize Stop Cricket Valley Energy’s opposition to the construction of an 1100-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Dover, says he’s ending the “street” phase of the fight. Now he’s launching an education campaign to encourage citizens to accelerate the demise of fossil fuels through targeted pressure on public officials and individual investment in renewable energy.
   
Because renewable energy is cheaper to produce than fossil fuel (and nuclear) energy, some experts are predicting that pure economics will put non-renewable sources of electric generation out of business in 10 years, Davenport says.
   
“The less demand there is for electricity produced by burning natural gas, the less natural gas will be burned,” he says. “If consumers are using renewable energy, they will not be using fossil-fuel-generated electricity.”
   
He says citizens can help end the generation of fossil fuels more quickly by going to their local government, school board and other public institutions and asking them to place solar panels on public buildings wherever possible, purchase electricity from renewable sources, and use heat pumps and all-electric vehicles.
   
Anyone who pays an electric bill can also subscribe to renewable sources of energy to be delivered by their local power company, he says. “Cricket Valley Energy’s motto is ‘Power for a Million Homes.’ If 200,000 homes in the Northeast grid subscribe to renewable energy, how would that affect their profits?”
   
He further suggests that citizens petition their state representatives to pass legislation to accelerate the shift to renewable energy.
   
Since SCVE began its fight, he says, three new groups have been established in opposition to regional fossil fuel projects: Fresh Air Housatonic-Harlem Valleys LTD, the Western Connecticut Clean Air Alliance and Resist Cricket Valley. Meanwhile, lawyers Michael Sussman and Josh Douglas have sued to force the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to undertake a new environmental assessment of the Cricket Valley Energy plant. Further legal action is being considered.

To learn more, visit StopCricketValley.org.