PRESS RELEASE

November 25, 2008

NEW YORK IS WASTING MONEY, HURTING NATURAL RESOURCES ACCORDING TO REPORT ON STATE SPENDING

Environmental Watchdog's "$aving Green" Report Documents Tax Credits & Spending at Odds with NYS' Environmental Goals

(ALBANY, NY)—Environmental Advocates of New York released a new report today that highlights questionable state spending and tax credits that promote pollution, waste energy and destroy wetlands. In $aving Green: Addressing New York’s Fiscal Crisis & Protecting the Environment, Environmental Advocates identifies ineffective programs and projects that, if cut, would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue to plug the state’s budget hole while protecting the health of New York’s families and natural resources. The report documents tax breaks for dirty Bunker Fuel that cost New York almost $40 million last year; the Power for Jobs program, a corporate welfare program that trades New York jobs for low-cost power and is coming up short on jobs; an unnecessary “clean coal” experiment in Jamestown, NY, that has cost the state $8.4 million, and counting; and a poorly planned semiconductor nanotechnology site in Marcy, NY, that will destroy more than 10 acres of wetlands and has already cost the state $51.5 million. Click here for a copy of the report.

“Environmental Advocates of New York is calling on Governor Paterson and the State Legislature to start saving green, both in terms of taxpayer dollars and our natural resources. New York State is confronting the major financial crisis. Instead of taking an axe to agency budgets and cutting staff to the bone, our leaders need to take responsible action to protect taxpayers and the health of our drinking water, our air and land,” said Robert Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York. “$aving Green sheds light on four examples of how state spending is wasting taxpayer dollars while wasting energy, destroying wetlands, and increasing air pollution. Taking a green scalpel to these four programs could save the state more than $100 million this year alone and help protect the environment at the same time.”  

These green savings would allow the Governor to protect the Department of Environmental Conservation’s budget and maintain critical programs that safeguard our air, water and lands. The Department of Environmental Conservation could lose up to 300 scientists, engineers, water quality inspectors, and other staff as a result of the Governor’s hiring freeze. Rather than balancing the budget on the back of already overstretched agencies, Environmental Advocates of New York is calling on the Governor and Legislature to take a green scalpel to programs that are wasting money while contributing to environmental degradation.  

Under current state law, sales of Bunker Fuel, a leftover sludge fuel that powers cargo ships and is responsible for 43 percent of port-area air pollution, are tax exempt. Burning this fuel releases harmful gases including sulfate particles, primary particulate matter, sulfur dioxide—one of the main contributors to acid rain—and nitrogen oxides—one of the key contributors to smog. These pollutants are linked to health problems such as asthma, and according to Environmental Advocates’ research, New York’s bunker fuel sales are on the rise, even while other states have made efforts to reduce its use to decrease pollution. Over the last five years, the state has lost, on average, $34.5 million per year. Environmental Advocates is calling on state leaders to repeal the bunker fuel tax exemption.

Power for Jobs is providing cheap energy to New York companies as an incentive to keep jobs in state. But based on Environmental Advocates’ analysis, these incentives are encouraging energy consumption in the name of economic development that isn’t happening. This means that while the state is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce overall power demand it’s simultaneously encouraging wasteful energy use. Moreover, these power recipients aren’t creating jobs, which is the point of the subsidies. The program has cost the Power Authority at least $420 million since 2001. Environmental Advocates wants to clean-up Power for Jobs by requiring power recipients to invest in energy efficiency or conservation.

Although no new coal-fired power plant has been built in New York for 25 years, taxpayers are on the hook for more than $8 million to build an experimental clean coal power plant in Jamestown, NY. And all the while, a cleaner burning natural gas turbine sits idle in the same town. The “clean” technology the project boasts—carbon capture and sequestration—may be an interesting science project, but it doesn’t deserve taxpayer money when a proven and relatively clean power source sits unused. The state should deny permits for the experimental Jamestown clean coal project and repeal appropriations.

For more than five years, the Mohawk Valley Economic Development Growth Enterprises Corporation (EDGE) has led efforts to build a micro chip fabrication facility in Marcy, NY, even though it would destroy more than 10 acres of wetlands. The project, which has been denied permits by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Fish & Wildlife Service, has received more than $51.5 million in state money before breaking ground. Despite these delays, approval to develop the unsuitable site is on the horizon. And the project could cost New Yorkers as much as $600 million—all without a tenant to occupy the site. Environmental Advocates is asking the state to sort out the details of this project before committing more resources and changing the location of the site to a city center with infrastructure already in place rather than directly on wetlands. Click here for the complete report.

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Environmental Advocates of New York is the state’s government watchdog, holding lawmakers and agencies accountable for implementing policy that protects natural resources and safeguards public health. Environmental Advocates works alone and in coalitions, and has more than 7,000 individual and 130 organizational members. The 501(c)(3) is also the New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.