Just a few blocks from Albany UU sits Sheridan Hollow, a neighborhood that has carried an environmental burden for more than a century.
For generations, facilities on Sheridan Avenue have burned coal, oil, natural gas, and even garbage to produce steam for heating and cooling the New York State Capitol, Empire State Plaza, and nearby government buildings. While those buildings benefited from reliable energy, the people of Sheridan Hollow lived with the pollution.
In 2017, that burden threatened to become even heavier.
The State announced plans to build two massive natural gas turbines that would produce both electricity and heat for the Capitol complex. For Sheridan Hollow residents, it meant the prospect of decades more air pollution in a neighborhood that had already borne more than its share.
Community members refused to accept that future.
The Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy—better known as SHARE—formed to advocate for a different path. Its vision was both practical and ambitious: power, heat, and cool the Capitol complex with 100 percent renewable energy, eliminating pollution while demonstrating what is possible for communities across New York.
Albany UU members were among those who helped organize SHARE from the very beginning, and in 2017 our Board of Trustees formally endorsed the coalition’s work. Together with neighborhood residents, scientists, engineers, environmental advocates, and elected officials, SHARE combined grassroots organizing with careful scientific research and persistent public advocacy.
Their efforts paid off.
Through community outreach, Freedom of Information requests, expert analysis, and legislative advocacy, SHARE challenged the assumptions behind the state’s proposal and demonstrated that renewable alternatives had not been seriously considered. In 2019, the State announced that it was abandoning plans to build the two fossil-fuel turbines—a major victory for both environmental justice and climate action.
But SHARE’s story did not end with stopping a project.
The coalition continues working toward a future in which the Capitol complex is heated and cooled with renewable energy, particularly geothermal systems that draw heat from the earth instead of burning fossil fuels. That vision is reflected in the proposed Renewable Capital Act, legislation that would require the Capitol complex to transition to renewable sources such as geothermal, solar, wind, and hydropower.
SHARE’s work reflects the Unitarian Universalist value of Justice by standing alongside a neighborhood that has carried an unequal share of environmental harm for generations. It reminds us that environmental issues are also human issues, affecting the health, safety, and well-being of real people and communities.
It also embodies Interdependence. Lasting change has required neighbors, scientists, engineers, faith communities, legislators, and environmental organizations working together toward a common goal. No one group could accomplish this work alone.
Throughout the years, Albany UU has supported SHARE in many ways. The congregation endorsed the coalition, hosted educational forums, raised funds through a Give-Away-the-Plate offering, and has continued to encourage members to participate in advocacy for the Renewable Capital Act. Along the way, members have built meaningful relationships with community leaders, state officials, and elected representatives, strengthening partnerships that continue to advance environmental justice.
SHARE reminds us that meaningful change often begins close to home.
The pollution affecting Sheridan Hollow is not an abstract problem. It is part of our own community. By working alongside our neighbors, Albany UU has helped demonstrate that persistence, collaboration, and hope can reshape the future.
The work is not yet finished. But every step toward cleaner energy is also a step toward healthier neighborhoods, a more sustainable future, and a community where everyone has the opportunity to breathe cleaner air.
Want to learn more?
Much more about the SHARE coalition’s ongoing advocacy for powering the Capital complex with renewable energy and addressing environmental injustice in the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood can be found at SHAREalbany.org.
