NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.

"The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

 

Home Page

Op/Ed Page  


June 24, 2019

NY Green New Deal will kill State's Economy

Higher energy costs, no more natural Gas

The legislature passed an extreme climate change bill which was signed into law by Governor Cuomo. The new law will dramatically increase already excessive high energy costs for the middle class and will drive businesses out of New York. The bill would require 100% of electricity generated in New York to be produced by renewable sources by 2040 and a 85% reduction in green house gases by 2050. The remaining 15% would be achieved by planting trees to remove greenhouse gases. Governor Cuomo called the law "the most aggressive climate-change program in the United States of America, period". For the first time, we actually agree with the Governor on something, his description of the law as the most aggressive climate-change program.

In order to implement the law and reach the stated goals, electric plants will have to be retrofitted with solar panels, several hundred wind turbine farms will need to be constructed and the use of all forms of fossil fuels will have to be vastly reduced. The radical shift of our energy production will cost billions of dollars which will be passed on to middle class tax payers and businesses. Low income residents will receive state subsidies. Natural gas which is considered a clean, safe and lower cost alternative to so called dirty oil is now on the list for elimination as a fuel source as it is now defined as a so
called source of green house gas. Using that definition, the Governor even has the power to eliminate the use of propane for barbeque grills or for heating homes in upstate New York.

Sounds too far fetched? Local energy companies such as National Grid have put a moratorium on all new gas hook ups in New York City & Long Island and Con Edison in Westchester County. These actions were based on the recent denial last month for construction permits for a new thirty seven mile gas pipeline, the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company. The denial by Governor Cuomo's Department of Environmental Conservation cited water quality standards which may be affected mostly due to dredging during the project. The decision is nothing more than a calculated outcome driven by Andrew Cuomo to appease the climate change extremists.

Again, adhering to a radical domestic ideology that trumps common sense will lead New York to economic ruin. Does the Governor and his allies in the legislature even understand what they just passed? Apparently not. Yet again, do they even care?

Click here for the law