“Renewable energy projects in New York are often touted for what they can do to slash dirty fossil fuel emissions and make the state more self-reliant when it comes to its power needs.
But a process for turbo-charging reviews for green energy projects is now under legal attack, with an assortment of rural towns, bird conservation clubs and citizen groups arguing the state government has stripped localities of sufficient time to evaluate the plans.
The platoon of plaintiffs includes the town of Somerset in Niagara County, the town of Malone in Franklin County, the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, a civic group called Save Ontario Shores and the American Bird Conservancy.
They are united in their concern that planned wind turbine developments and solar arrays planned for across the state could be approved before they have enough time to consider their potential impacts in detail.
“The new process is a dramatic change” from earlier rules where reviews of projects weren’t as compressed as they are now, said Andy Mason, co-president of Delaware-Otsego Audubon.”
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Mohoney, Joe. Niagra Gazette. 13 July 2021.