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A series of demonstrations were held across the state of New York Tuesday against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nuclear agenda.
“The governor expects only two power plants to be online by the 2040 deadline,” said Mark Dunlea to a small crowd outside the state Capitol.
Albany was one of nine protests held, including ones in Buffalo, Rochester and in front of the governor’s office in New York City.
Dunlea is chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund. He says there will be a demonstration in the North Country on Wednesday.
“The governor’s proposal to build new nuclear power plants doesn’t make any sense if one’s concerned with the climate,” said Dunlea. “If one’s concerned about affordability, there are better options on the table particularly to invest in renewable energy.”
The event comes on the heels of the governor’s kickoff of the Nuclear Reliability Backbone process earlier this month.
According to the announcement, this is a process by the Public Service Commission following the “governor’s directive in her 2026 State of the State for the Department of Public Service to build a pathway to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear power on top of the at least 1 gigawatt in new nuclear she called upon the New York Power Authority in 2025 to develop and construct.”
In a statement when the announcement was made on June 11, the governor said in part: “Advanced nuclear is one of the best available options to provide both relief to consumers and strengthen the resilience of New York’s grid with round-the-clock emission-free energy.”
“I as an environmentalist, I see nuclear energy as the superior choice to bring energy for our state,” said Dietmar Detering, chair of Nuclear NY.
Detering says while he fully supports nuclear as the “backbone” for the state’s energy grid, he acknowledges that it’s costly to develop.
“These estimates that NYSERDA presented are high," he said. “New York, we’re participating in this. We need to find ways to reduce these costs. Without nuclear, costs will be even higher. So, I think the governor is going about it in the right way.”
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the governor’s office for an updated comment in the wake of Tuesday’s demonstrations and did not immediately hear back.
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