ALBANY, N.Y. — Thousands of New Yorkers are asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reject two projects that would increase the flow of crude oil through Albany.

A letter signed by more than 3,500 New Yorkers asked the governor to deny permits for construction of an oil facility at the Port of Albany, and the Pilgrim Pipeline. Conor Bambrick, air and energy director at Environmental Advocates of New York, said building that fossil fuel infrastructure would make the state capital a global focal point of transshipped crude oil, turning Albany into “Oilbany.”

“It’s exactly the opposite type of activity that the governor would need to endorse and embrace in order to meet the very aggressive but necessary goal that he has laid out for the state,” Bambrick said.

Gov. Cuomo’s clean energy plans include a goal of 50 percent of the state’s power being generated from renewable sources by 2030, and an end to the use of fossil fuels entirely by 2050.

Pipeline proponents say it would be safer than transporting the oil by rail or barge down the Hudson River. The Pilgrim Pipeline would carry highly volatile Bakken crude from Albany to New Jersey

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