By Hank Russell
In a surprising turnaround, Governor Kathy Hochul said that she would like the state Legislature to hit pause on setting the deadline for the state’s climate mandate, saying it would be costly and unrealistic.
“I’m trying to create an environment that will adhere to those goals,” Hochul said at the Politico New York Agenda Summit in Albany on March 11. “Who does not want to protect our environment and our climate? Absolutely! I just cannot undo what has happened since those [deadlines under the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA)] were put in place.”
Under the CLCPA, the goal is to have 70% of the state’s electricity generated by renewable energy by 2030 and zero-emissions electricity by 2040. Hochul said she was ordered by the courts in October to put those deadlines in place by February. Meanwhile, “the environmental groups wanted an expedited appeal,” she said.
She also referenced the memo from the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA) that was leaked and “scared the crap out of everybody.” As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, the NYSERDA memo showed that these mandates could cost New York City residents an average of $2,340 and upstate New York residents between $4,152 and $4,280. In addition, utility costs could increase by as much as 46%, and delivery costs could shoot up by more than 60%.
“I was pushing that memo around for a couple of years,” Hochul claimed. “Nobody was paying attention to it.”
The governor added that “we need some breathing room” on enforcing the CLCPA. If nothing is done by the end of the budget process, she said she will have to put those mandates in place. When asked if she would place those changes in the state budget, she said that would be “the best vehicle, given what the whole focus is.”
“We need time,” she continued. “We need more time.”
When asked what she would tell the Democrats in the state Legislature who said this would undo the goals that have been set, Hochul replied, “I’m on their side. “I have been on their side. I just have to be the person who is able to assess the landscape of where I am. … I am asking them for understanding and come along with me. Yes, we will get there, but we have a judge t elling me, ‘You have to do this’ [because] we lost in court.”
She said she could appeal, but warned that, if she loses her appeal, “I cannot stop those NYSERDA numbers from becoming a reality.”
Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) said Democrats have “ignored the warning signs associated with energy mandates, have refused to change course, and reality has finally set in.” As a result, he said, “We’re facing a full-blown energy crisis that’s crushing budgets for families and businesses. Whether or not the governor has truly seen the light remains to be seen.”
Ra said the Republicans have offered measures that would provide “immediate fiscal relief” and “take a new long-term approach to energy mandates. But too many Democrats have been unwilling to accept the reality in front of their eyes.”
“Kathy Hochul created an affordability crisis by allowing 36 utility rate hikes and imposing green energy mandates that pushed New York’s electricity bills to the highest in the nation,” said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is challenging Hochul for governor. “When I’m governor, I’ll restore affordable energy and cut your utility bill in half.”