FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 24, 2006
Contact: PAUL PERILLIE, MAJORITY CAUCUS AIDE -- #(631) 854-4500

PARK IT!
Legislature Approves Cooper Initiative to Create Renewable Energy Park

At last week’s general meeting, the Suffolk County Legislature approved a resolution championed by Majority Leader Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) that may, one day, help solve Long Island’s energy crisis.

Alarmed by growing energy costs, both from a financial and a public health perspective, lawmakers by an overwhelming majority joined Cooper in passing a law to create a renewable energy park on County property. Instead of being filled with swings, jungle gyms and slides, this park will hopefully be home to companies that create clean, renewable and nonpolluting energy sources such as wind, solar, tidal and biodiesel technologies.

The 20th century model for energy was to create large plants powered by one or two finite, fossil fuel resources to service growing communities. The problem was that while these plants energized communities, they also belched out deadly toxins. Just last month, the EPA released the most recent update of their National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment. The news was not good for Long Island. The update showed that New Yorkers have the greatest chance for being killed by the toxin- and chemical-laden air we breathe. It is estimated that 68 people per million in New York State will be stricken with cancer annually as a result of air toxins. The national average is 41.5 people per million, according to the report, which was based on emissions of 177 chemicals in 1999, the most recent data available.

The philosophy behind renewable energy is to return to a time when energy generation was an extremely local phenomenon with little or no adverse environmental impact. Farmers used to erect windmills on their hills or build watermills on the rivers that ran by their fields. Today, as technology makes smarter, smaller and more powerful computers, numerous companies are beginning to use these innovations to do more than just manufacture cell phones with more features and music players that hold more songs. Cooper hopes that by inviting these companies to Long Island to hone and demonstrate their wares, it will show residents that living near an energy plant—or better yet, having your own energy plant on your roof or in your backyard—doesn’t have to put your health at risk.

Local environmental and energy advocates agree. “The day is drawing ever closer when fossil fuels will no longer be able to sustain mankind,” says Gordian Raacke, Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island. “If we hope to avert a global energy disaster tomorrow, we must begin by taking local steps like these today.”

Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, concurs. “Developing and expanding renewable energy technologies is our greatest hope for a clean, safe and energy-independent future,” she says. “Suffolk's readiness to provide strong leadership in this field will benefit our local economy, public health and environment as well as advance the goal of energy independence for our nation. It’s the type of leadership and vision the Long Island public deserves."

Cooper says, “My hope is that one day in the not-too-distant future, Long Islanders will be able to heat their homes, run their businesses and power their lives using safe, local and renewable energy resources.”