People who live and work in downtown Albany have reason to be optimistic about the future — cautiously optimistic. That's because this year, with the support of the Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a budget was passed that gave renewable energy a fighting chance for New York's capital.
For more than a century, Sheridan Hollow — a community of color just blocks from the governor's office — has suffered from pollution to meet the energy needs of government. Since 1911, every sort of combustible — coal, oil, garbage, and today fracked gas — has been burned at facilities on Sheridan Avenue to produce hot steam that is delivered through a half-mile-long tunnel to the state Capitol. In the 1970s, the system was expanded to serve the entire Empire State Plaza and use steam to additionally drive chillers that are now 50 years old. Since super-charged steam is needed for both heating and cooling, fossil fuels are burned year around.