New York State has the greatest and largest state park system in the nation, from Montauk to Niagra and the Big Apple to the Adirondacks.
New York’s state parks are under financial duress, exacerbated by the state’s budget shortfalls. Yet, the need for public, affordable recreation and outdoor enjoyment facilities has never been greater.
Simultaneously, New York is on the forefront in rolling out clean technology initiatives. Why not combine the need for cost-savings and reinvestment in the state's 178 parks with the state's need for demonstration and deployment sites for cost-saving clean energy technologies?
For example, the renewable energy potential–principally solar electricity–at Jones Beach is very large with an estimated annual net energy output in excess of 26,662 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year. If we install
solar electric carports to cover 40% of the parking lots at Jones Beach, the resulting 2,700 to 2,900 MW capacity would be greater than the generation capacity at Indian Point's two nuclear plants.
In 2010, New York state parks hosted nearly 57 million visitors, an increase of one million visits over 2009.
Park funding prospects had become so dire that the Open Space Institute teamed up with experienced former state officials to form the Alliance for New York State Parks. In
November 2010, the Alliance, in conjunction with Parks and Trails New York, issued a key report, “Protect Their Future: New York’s State Parks in Crisis,” highlighting the funding
and infrastructure support needed to ensure our state parks’ future.
Simultaneously, New York has adopted an aggressive goal of obtaining 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015–referred to as 30x15. The state enumerates this goal by means of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).
Read a bit more about the Empire State Park Power Initiative.
Thoughts?
