UPDATE: Our friends at PAUSE had issued a call for a rally in Albany Friday morning to protest the oil boilers that would have been constructed to process tar sands oil. The rally is now cancelled because today they got great news: the project is on hold as the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) has rescinded an earlier decision. See below for details. PAUSE writes: "Thanks so much for your support in this action. We've won for the time being. Just as you showed us with the fracking movement, the power of the people is not to be underestimated." No kidding!

A lawsuit filed by multiple groups in June 2014 challenged the Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision not to require an environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion of Global Companies’ transfer terminal facility in Albany, which would facilitate the transport of heavy “tar sands” crude oil on the Hudson.

Today, DEC rescinded its original decision. The DEC's letter reads, in part:
"The Department initially concluded that, as of November 21, 2013, Global's Modification Application did not have significant adverse impacts on the environment. However, 6 NYCRR § 617.7(f) provides that the Department 'must rescind a negative declaration when substantive: (i) changes are proposed for the project; or (ii) new information is discovered; or (iii) [when) changes in circumstances arise; that were not previously considered and the l~ad agency determines that a significant adverse impact may result.' Here, all three categories set forth in§ 617.7(f) have been triggered and the Department is compelled to rescind the Negative Declaration."

The letter specifically makes note of "New Information Received During the Public Comment Period" (19,000 comments were submitted).

The offshore wind project (colloquially knowns as the Rockaway Wind Farm) is taking a step forward! Sarah Crean reports, "Described as what could be the largest offshore wind farm in the United States, the Long Island – New York City Offshore Wind Project is working its way through a multi-year federal review process." This is the wind farm that is proposed for the same site as the Port Ambrose LNG facility that we have all been fighting so hard. This wind farm could yield as much as 700 MW of energy—enough electricity to power an estimated 245,000 homes and a potential if 17,000 jobs.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced four public open houses (in Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey) on June 8,9, 10 and 11, to share the results of a recently completed “visualization” study and get the public’s input on “our renewable energy planning efforts in Federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore New York.”

We'll follow up with more details and travel options after the holiday, but what great news to get right before we break. Enjoy the weekend even more now!