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“We don’t have to choose between reliability and affordability on one side, and public health protections on the other. Offshore wind delivers all three, and the time to act is now.”
As extreme weather grips the nation in early summer, New York has seen heatwaves breaking a 137-year-old record and record rain.
This is just a preview of what’s expected to be one of the hottest seasons on record, leaving many New Yorkers sweltering, short of breath, and struggling to stay safe. Our bodies, especially our lungs, are being pushed to the limit as climate-driven heat and pollution continue to rise.
In the face of soaring temperatures, many people crank up their air conditioning to stay cool and protect their health. Ironically, this short-term, necessary solution is making the problem worse.
In most homes and workplaces, those AC units rely heavily on fossil fuels, the same fuels responsible for overheating our planet in the first place. The result? A vicious cycle where more heat means more energy use, more air pollution, and even hotter conditions, particularly in low-income neighborhoods already burdened by environmental and health inequities.
Even before this latest heatwave, our communities have been facing a crisis. For decades, air pollution from the fossil fuels to power our homes has contributed to rates of asthma and lung disease all across the city. Now, with the Trump administration actively working to roll back environmental protections, the urgency is even greater. New York must step up, not just with words, but with concrete solutions we can build and scale right here at home.
This March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would rollback several air quality regulations around power plants, such as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. This also includes clean cars and truck rules that limit tailpipe emissions.
These rollbacks mean increased toxins such as mercury, which can cause neurological damage, particularly in children, and pollution linked to asthma, lung cancer, and heart conditions, released into our air by fossil fuel power plants and heavy-duty vehicles.
Burning fossil fuels to produce energy has created a public health crisis in New York, across the nation, and around the world. Here at home, the pollutants released into our air have contributed to asthma attacks and lung disease, putting lives at risk and increasing healthcare costs for everyday New Yorkers.
This year, the American Lung Association gave over 11 New York counties a grade of C or below for air quality in its annual “State of the Air Report.” As of 2021, over 315,000 children and 1.3 million adults in the state were living with asthma, which is directly impacted by environmental conditions like air pollution. These health emergencies are preventable and the costs are hitting families where it hurts most: their health and their wallets.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We have solutions, right now, that can break the cycle, clean up our air, and deliver reliable, affordable energy. One of the most powerful is offshore wind. And the best part is that we’re building it just off New York’s coast, creating a clean energy supply while supporting a smooth transition to green jobs and strengthening our state’s economy.
Right now, South Fork Wind Farm, 35 miles east of Montauk Point, is powering 70,000 homes with clean, pollution-free energy at the same rate as fossil fuels. Because offshore wind uses free fuel, it offers long-term price stability, even during extreme weather. Once the upfront cost of building turbines is covered, this renewable energy source becomes affordable, stable, and resilient.
More offshore wind projects are actively under construction, and once completed, they’ll provide over a million homes with clean, affordable, reliable energy throughout New York. If the state meets its goal of producing 9 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2035, that would bring $34 billion in capital investment, create thousands of jobs up and down state, and provide enough pollution-free energy to power 5 million homes.
Without this transition, New Yorkers will continue to pay the price both in rising electric bills and worsening public health. It’s time for our state government to clean up our act, and our air.
We don’t have to choose between reliability and affordability on one side, and public health protections on the other. Offshore wind delivers all three, and the time to act is now.
Max Micallef is the New York State advocacy manager of clean air initiatives at the at the American Lung Association.