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Equinor, BP terminate wind contract By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
Courtesy Olivia Silver
Olivia Silver, far left, with AnnMarie DiFrancesca, of Mount Sinai South Nassau, and Jessica LaSalle. Silver and LaSalle, both students at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, orchestrated a gift donation for teenagers in the hospital during the holidays.
Thinking of teens in need
Olivia Silver, Jessica LaSalle donate holiday gifts to Mount Sinai South Nassau By JORDAN VALLONE jvallone@liherald.com
Hundreds of toy drives occur every holiday season, collecting dozens of donations. Communities like to give back to those in need — whether it be through organizations like Toys for Tots, or to school drives that donate toys to children in hospitals. Holiday gift drives are usually geared towards younger children, and the donated items aren’t always suitable for teens. Sometimes, this is due to a lack of awareness that older children are in need of donations too, or a failure to understand what may be the best, age-appropriate gifts to donate.
As a result, these drives often overlook teenagers. Olivia Silver and Jessica LaSalle, both juniors at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, are seeking to change that. With the help of the school’s Key Club, the 16-year-old girls wanted to do something to give back to kids their own age this holiday season. “We wanted to do some community service, especially during the holidays,” Silver said. “We felt like we wanted to give back to our community and everything — and we felt like the best way, with the theme of the holidays, was to give gifts back to people in the hospitals, since they’re in need during this time. We especially wanted to stick to CONtiNueD ON pAge 5
Plans for the Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm — a controversial project that would impact Long Beach, Oceanside, Island Park and other nearby municipalities — have been scrapped, at least for now. On Jan. 3, Equinor and BP announced an agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to terminate the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate Agreement for the project. In a statement explaining the termination, Equinor cited rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and supply chain issues. In November New York announced new energy guidelines that allowed companies that petitioned the state for financial relief, as BP and Equinor did, to exit old contracts and re-offer projects at higher prices. The winners of an expedited solicitation for offshore wind will be announced in February. Local elected officials and community leaders who vehemently opposed the project were ecstatic about the latest decision.
“Protecting our community and preserving our environment and quality of life is paramount to the Village of Island Park,” Mayor Michael McGinty said in a statement. “The voice of Island Park was heard loud and clear — we will not be taken advantage of. We will not allow any organization to compromise our health, safety, and quality of life for the sake of increasing their profit margin.” “We are pleased to lear n Equinor has abandoned this m i s g u i d e d p ro j e c t , ” L o n g Beach City Council President Brendan Finn said. “We will remain vigilant to ensure the health, safety and quality of life of our residents are protected.” Empire Wind expected to produce more than 3.3 gigawatts of clean energy, enough to power more than 2 million homes, according to Teddy Muhlfelder, a vice president of Equinor, a Norwegian energy company. The energy generated by 846-foot tall wind turbines would be transferred by underg round cable to the Hampton Road electrical substation in Oceanside, and linked as well to an existing CONtiNueD ON pAge 16