Clean energy tech hubs come to upstate NY

Correction: Some Maine utility executives have criticized a ballot measure that would bar foreign entities from spending money to influence state or local referendum campaigns. An item in yesterday’s newsletter incorrectly summarized the story.

CLEAN TECH: The White House designates two parts of upstate New York as federal ​“tech hubs,” with Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse joining together to boost semiconductor research and Binghamton University looking to lead the way on battery manufacturing and development. (Democrat & Chronicle)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• New York City passes a law requiring every city-owned vehicle to be zero-emission by 2038, and mandating that ride-share vehicles be electric or wheelchair accessible by 2030. (CBS News)
• An environmental group says Pennsylvania’s electric vehicle registrations surged 82% from 2021 to 2022, totalling nearly 43,000 new cars on the road. (Keystone State News Connection)
• New Castle County, Delaware, adds to its goal of installing 100 electric vehicle chargers with new additions at county libraries and parks. (WHYY)

SOLAR:

• After struggling to find good-paying work, graduates of an environmental justice group’s solar installer program form their own worker-owned cooperative. (ENR New York)
• Three Pennsylvania churches install solar panels as a way to care for the planet and inspire their communities to follow suit. (StateImpact)
• The Rhode Island National Guard reports cutting its energy bills by $100,000 since installing a rooftop solar array a year ago. (New England Real Estate Journal)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• New York’s refusal to grant more subsidies to offshore wind projects could derail the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals as some wind projects struggle financially. (Newsday, E&E News)
• A Republican political group that funded anti-offshore power ads looking to unseat supportive Democrats received hundreds of thousands of dollars from fossil fuel interests this year. (Energy & Policy Institute)
• New Jersey’s economic development authority partners with the New Jersey Institute of Technology to create two offshore wind graduate certificate programs. (news release)

CLIMATE:

• Environmental advocates want New York City to redo its storm surge protection plan, saying it fails to address heavy rainfall and sea level rise beyond coastal areas. (City Limits)
• Following this summer’s flooding, Vermont lawmakers plan to consider legislation to establish a state climate fund to help municipalities with disaster mitigation. (Vermont Public)

CARBON CAPTURE: A Brooklyn factory injects carbon from a Manhattan apartment building into cement blocks to sequester the greenhouse gas, and then sells them for use in construction. (Canary Media)

COMMENTARY:

• The head of Maryland’s energy administration celebrates the groundbreaking of a net-zero affordable housing development, and calls for further clean energy projects to prioritize underinvested communities. (Baltimore Sun)
• A New Jersey Natural Resources Defense Council leader calls on the state to develop a plan to ensure residents equitably benefit from energy efficiency and electric vehicle programs. (NorthJersey.com)
• Maine needs to implement clean cars and clean truck standards to fully protect Maine’s natural resources, two state legislators write. (Mount Desert Islander)