New York

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To get to zero by 2050, New York must cut climate pollution by
7.3 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year.

Emissions in New York

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

Note: Grey area indicates missing data due to processing delays.
Source: WRI, Mar 2021

This is how we're going to do it.

New York's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    30% of New York's climate pollution comes from buildings.

    We burn fossil fuels to heat our air, water, and food.

    To cut this pollution...

    Let's electrify our heat!

    We'll replace...

    ...in all of New York's 5.0 million buildings.

    In fact, 19% of buildings in New York are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 4.0 million dirty buildings in New York. That's around 144,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.19.36% have been electrified, and the remaining 80.64% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 30% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    38% of New York's pollution comes from cars, trucks, trains, and planes.

    But mostly from cars.

    To cut this pollution,

    your next car must be electric.

    Or consider going car-free with public transit, bikes/e-bikes, car share, or other alternatives!

    There are 4.2 million vehicles in New York and 33,000 are already electric (0.8% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 4.2 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 151,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.8% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.2% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yetSource: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 38% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    12% of New York's pollution comes from burning coal, gas, and oil to make power.

    Dirty power plant

    To cut this pollution...

    Put solar panels on your roof!

    Then, we'll replace all fossil fuel power plants with solar and wind farms.

    We need to replace dirty power plants with clean ones (mostly wind and solar)

    ...and find good jobs for those workers.

    Current Fossil Fuel Power Plants in New York

    2 coal plants

    Name: Somerset Operating Company (Kintigh) County: Niagara Megawatt Capacity: 655 Utility: Somerset Operating Co LLC

    Somerset Operating Company (Kintigh)
    Niagara County
    655 MW

    Name: Cayuga Operating Company, LLC County: Tompkins Megawatt Capacity: 323 Utility: Cayuga Operating Company, LLC

    Cayuga Operating Company, LLC
    Tompkins County
    323 MW

    94 gas plants

    Name: Ravenswood Generating Station County: Queens Megawatt Capacity: 2,957 Utility: Helix Ravenswood, LLC

    Ravenswood Generating Station
    Queens County
    2,957 MW

    Name: Bowline Generating Station County: Rockland Megawatt Capacity: 1,992 Utility: GenOn New York, LLC

    Bowline Generating Station
    Rockland County
    1,992 MW

    Name: Northport County: Suffolk Megawatt Capacity: 1,564 Utility: National Grid Generation LLC

    Northport
    Suffolk County
    1,564 MW

    Name: Astoria Generating Station County: Queens Megawatt Capacity: 1,345 Utility: U S Power Generating Company LLC

    Astoria Generating Station
    Queens County
    1,345 MW

    ...and 90 more

    55 oil plants

    Name: Oswego Harbor Power County: Oswego Megawatt Capacity: 1,896 Utility: NRG Oswego Harbor Power Operations Inc

    Oswego Harbor Power
    Oswego County
    1,896 MW

    Name: Roseton Generating LLC County: Orange Megawatt Capacity: 1,242 Utility: CCI Roseton LLC

    Roseton Generating LLC
    Orange County
    1,242 MW

    Name: Gowanus Generating Station County: Kings Megawatt Capacity: 733 Utility: U S Power Generating Company LLC

    Gowanus Generating Station
    Kings County
    733 MW

    Name: Holtsville Facility County: Suffolk Megawatt Capacity: 567 Utility: National Grid Generation LLC

    Holtsville Facility
    Suffolk County
    567 MW

    ...and 51 more

    Find the dirty plants near you

    Source: EPA, Jan 2021

    But wait!

    It's not enough to replace our power plants with wind and solar farms.

    To power our electric cars and buildings, we need two times the electricity we have today.

    In all, we'll need to build 16,000 Megawatts of wind power and 13,000 Megawatts of solar power.

    Since New York already has 501 Megawatts of wind and 448 Megawatts of solar, that's 13,000 Megawatts of wind power we need to build and 13,000 Megawatts of solar power. That's around 549 Megawatts of wind power and 450 Megawatts of solar power a year.

    Percent of needed targetGeneration builtA chart showing the share of Solar and Wind capacity that has already been installed and rest to be installed. We are 4.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.MWs of targetGeneration Built

    Source: EIA, Apr 2022

    Decarbonizing all dirty power cuts 12% of the pollution.

    And gives us zero-emissions power we need to eliminate pollution from buildings and cars!

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 12%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    The last 21% of New York's climate pollution comes from other sources...

    This includes farming, landfills, industry, and leaks from gas pipelines.

    There's no one solution to solve these problems, but there are lots of great ideas:

    • No-till farming to keep CO2 in the soil
    • Capturing methane leaks from landfills
    • Capturing CO2 to make emissions-free concrete
    • Burning green hydrogen to make emissions-free steel
    • Plugging methane leaks from gas pipelines

Ready to do your part?

Learn how to electrify your own machines and pass local policy to electrify the rest

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