The Battle Against Climate Change: Why We Must Fight for Our Futures

It’s been years that environmentalists in our river communities have resisted fossil fuel projects. Constituents along the Hudson River have been relentless in their pursuit to denounce and pass policy to ban fossil fuels in New York State. Unfortunately, we are now facing a climate crisis. We’re out of time.

Despite the concerning evidence scientists have successfully provided which state that we are enduring a climate crisis, governments continue to treat these circumstances as a politics as usual, but it’s not. We are fighting for our lives. We are not only fighting for a future for our children, but due to continued negligence to act with pragmaticism, life on our planet is rapidly declining to an ultimate demise. A mass extinction that was created solely by man-made pollution.

Scientists continue to urge nations to aggressively transition away from pollutants like fossil fuels due to the escalated rate of melting ice glaciers. Antarctica and Greenland’s land and ice shelves are melting from below. These ice masses consist large quantities of water and they’re significantly increasing sea levels around the globe due to increased weather temperatures and oceans.

As temperatures rise at rapid rates so do the sea levels, which will eventually endanger the lives of billions of people. More than one third of our human population live within 60 miles or 100 kilometers along coastline. Ice reflects sunlight and our vast oceans absorbs it, also adding to increased warming. Ninety percent of trapped heat is absorbed by oceans.

Fossil fuels produces methane, which is figuratively equivalent to lighting a match and tossing it into a gasoline. Methane is one form of greenhouse gas which traps 35 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Over the duration of 20 years, methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In recent years methane levels have reached record levels. A significant factor in emissions increasing are extraction, storage, oil, coal, and natural gas, also referred to as fossil fuels. Combined, ninety-seven million metric tons of methane gas are produced annually. Thirty percent of global warming is a result of methane.

Drastically reducing methane will give us a fighting chance at combating climate change. Methane emissions take about one decade to break down, in contrast to the hundreds to thousands of years carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere. If we decide today to enforce policies like the Green New Deal, previously proposed by Senator Bernard Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, we will see the impact within our lifespan. Transitioning away from methane causing projects is critical to defeating the climate crisis.

Due to unequivocal evidence, I am a strong advocate for advocating for the immediate halt of the local Danskammer Power Plant.

As a life-long thirty-year resident of Newburgh, New York, I continue to strongly oppose the Danskammer proposal. Its long-lasting effects on our river communities and our planet are a no brainer. Firstly, we are living amidst a global wide public health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A vast majority of Newburgh residents have been exposed to a deadly virus, which attacks the lungs resulting in life-long pulmonary diseases. There is more that we have yet to discover as a result of its chronic impact on our health. The virus continues to transform into new variants every several months. As a Newburgh resident, I have listened to and observed the devastation of this virus.

I was born with asthma, a common pulmonary disease which a vast majority of the Hudson Valley also experience due to the disadvantages of living in a valley. Living in a valley, although captivating, collects and then traps air pollution. If Danskammer is approved for operation — river city residents and future generations will have their health, as well as fetal development significantly and negatively impacted. The fumes would flow in a path that leads straight into the City of Newburgh, which then would become trapped in our valley as stated previously. The ripple effect results in a significant increase in cancer, reproductive health; (infertility, BIRTH DEFECTS, miscarriages), and unnecessarily inflicting chronic pulmonary diseases on our most vulnerable Newburgh residents, our children.

So far, I have only mentioned the negative impacts of air pollution. Let’s talk about further natural resources such as our water supply. Evidently, Newburgh residents have been enduring water contamination for more than a decade consisting of carcinogenic contaminates due to outright negligence and abuse carried out by the government. Former New York Governor Cuomo made vile remarks to excuse these continued operations carried out by our own government, which continued to contaminate Newburgh water supply. This is one symptom of systemic and environmental racism. We now have the opportunity to fight for a thriving and healthy future for Newburgh that is both equitable and necessary.

Do not impose this historically racist project on our vastly majority BIPOC community. Be bold and intentional. It is inevitable that if approved to operate, the Danskammer power plant will continue to destroy our water supply, the Hudson River and impacting other river cities, local economies, our land, air quality, and public health.

Stop Fossil Fuels at Home. We’re out of time.

This project will destroy our already struggling local economy through its negative impact on our homeowners, small businesses, hospitality industry, as well as tourism. Approval of the Danskammer would be detrimental and will set the City of Newburgh back to a point where I do not believe we will be able to recover from it economically. Lastly, scientists have concluded that due to the aftermath of irresponsible planning through fossil fuel projects, we as a global community have less than ONE DECADE — TEN YEARS to transition away fossil fuels, and if not, the severity and occurrence of natural disasters will continue to accelerate and result in making the planet INHABITABLE TO ALL LIFE. Invest in our future, not our demise.