ELECTED OFFICIALS LETTER
Below you will find the letter template for our elected officials. You can copy and paste the letter into your own email or into a word processing software like Microsoft Word. You can also click the button below to download the letter directly to your computer.
Governor Kathy Hochul
To email please visit online: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
Mail:
The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Assemblymember Didi Barrett
Email: barrettd@nyassembly.gov
Mail:
420 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534
Senator Daphne Jordan
Email: jordan@nysenate.gov
Mail:
1580 Columbia Turnpike
Building 2, Suite 1
Castleton-On-The-Hudson, NY 12033
To email please visit online: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
Mail:
The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Assemblymember Didi Barrett
Email: barrettd@nyassembly.gov
Mail:
420 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534
Senator Daphne Jordan
Email: jordan@nysenate.gov
Mail:
1580 Columbia Turnpike
Building 2, Suite 1
Castleton-On-The-Hudson, NY 12033
Dear [Governor Hochul][Assembleymember Barrett][Senator Jordan],
We applaud your initiatives to combat climate change in New York State.
Clearly, solar and wind power will be integral parts of the renewable energy future.
But we need your leadership now more than ever, as we begin to see large numbers of utility-scale solar and wind facilities being permitted and constructed throughout upstate New York. Unfortunately, New York’s efforts to promote clean energy have resulted in a chaotic land-grab of upstate properties, in a “Wild West, every company for itself” approach to renewable energy siting. We call upon you to direct the State to take the lead on a coordinated planning approach to siting renewable energy facilities with full and careful consideration to protect the irreplaceable environmental qualities of New York’s farms and farmland, forests, wildlife and habitats, and strengthen the economies of upstate towns and cities. We cannot allow the otherwise laudable promotion of renewable energy to result in the destruction of rural communities across New York and the United States.
In the Town of Copake, Columbia County, Chicago-based solar energy developer Hecate Energy is proposing to build a 60 megawatt utility-scale solar facility on 245 acres of highly productive farmland. The Copake Town Board and Columbia County Board of Supervisors, and many residents of Copake, are supportive of solar development but opposed to this project in its current form because of its negative impact on our natural resources and agriculture- and tourism-based local economy.
Among other concerns, Hecate’s plan would:
Hecate’s application is anticipated to be filed in January with the NY State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) under Section 94-C of the Executive Law. We call upon you to request ORES to consider the application incomplete until each of these issues is fully addressed in a manner that is protective of Copake’s irreplaceable natural resources and community interests.
To that end, a working group of environmental and community groups from Columbia County is preparing forthcoming recommendations to address these, among other issues. We ask that you request ORES to consider these recommendations seriously, and to adopt them as part of the permit conditions for the project. While the 94-C process offers very little ability for local residents and local governments to be heard on projects which will have an enormous effect on their futures, we believe that local residents and governments must be heard. Without local participation and engagement, local resistance to the loss of home rule and to having large-scale energy projects imposed in contravention of local laws and community sensibilities will only grow. The residents of Copake and Columbia County are determined to have their voices heard on this project.
You Can Save Rural New York!
As our elected officials, please seize this chance to be at the forefront of exemplary planning to marry clean energy with strong environmental protections. We are counting on your support to improve the Copake project, and to benefit all of upstate New York. Thank you for your efforts in this matter.
Sincerely yours,
[Name]
We applaud your initiatives to combat climate change in New York State.
Clearly, solar and wind power will be integral parts of the renewable energy future.
But we need your leadership now more than ever, as we begin to see large numbers of utility-scale solar and wind facilities being permitted and constructed throughout upstate New York. Unfortunately, New York’s efforts to promote clean energy have resulted in a chaotic land-grab of upstate properties, in a “Wild West, every company for itself” approach to renewable energy siting. We call upon you to direct the State to take the lead on a coordinated planning approach to siting renewable energy facilities with full and careful consideration to protect the irreplaceable environmental qualities of New York’s farms and farmland, forests, wildlife and habitats, and strengthen the economies of upstate towns and cities. We cannot allow the otherwise laudable promotion of renewable energy to result in the destruction of rural communities across New York and the United States.
In the Town of Copake, Columbia County, Chicago-based solar energy developer Hecate Energy is proposing to build a 60 megawatt utility-scale solar facility on 245 acres of highly productive farmland. The Copake Town Board and Columbia County Board of Supervisors, and many residents of Copake, are supportive of solar development but opposed to this project in its current form because of its negative impact on our natural resources and agriculture- and tourism-based local economy.
Among other concerns, Hecate’s plan would:
- Cut down 40 acres of forested area, trees and shrubs to locate panels;
- Take hundreds of acres of active, productive crop and grazing land out of current agricultural use;
- Locate panels almost entirely on high-priority agricultural soils classified by NYS Agricultural Land Classification as Mineral Soils Groups 1-4, in violation of the farmland protection policies of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets;
- Be surrounded by miles of 8-foot chain link fence, which will disrupt wildlife habitats and migration;
- Be poorly screened and landscaped, with inadequate protections to preserve beautiful, highly-visible rural viewsheds, and inadequate plans and security for maintaining landscaping and screening plantings over the life of the facility;
- Provide inadequate tax revenues to the Town, School and County, which may well result in a LOSS of revenue after taking into account declines in assessed value in surrounding properties.
- Violate Copake’s zoning laws, as well as its Comprehensive Plan and Farmland Protection Plan;
- Provide no tangible community benefits to residents of Copake or Columbia County, including specifically no access to lower-cost renewable energy from the project.
Hecate’s application is anticipated to be filed in January with the NY State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) under Section 94-C of the Executive Law. We call upon you to request ORES to consider the application incomplete until each of these issues is fully addressed in a manner that is protective of Copake’s irreplaceable natural resources and community interests.
To that end, a working group of environmental and community groups from Columbia County is preparing forthcoming recommendations to address these, among other issues. We ask that you request ORES to consider these recommendations seriously, and to adopt them as part of the permit conditions for the project. While the 94-C process offers very little ability for local residents and local governments to be heard on projects which will have an enormous effect on their futures, we believe that local residents and governments must be heard. Without local participation and engagement, local resistance to the loss of home rule and to having large-scale energy projects imposed in contravention of local laws and community sensibilities will only grow. The residents of Copake and Columbia County are determined to have their voices heard on this project.
You Can Save Rural New York!
As our elected officials, please seize this chance to be at the forefront of exemplary planning to marry clean energy with strong environmental protections. We are counting on your support to improve the Copake project, and to benefit all of upstate New York. Thank you for your efforts in this matter.
Sincerely yours,
[Name]