Lawmakers Rail against State Climate Law; Green Groups Call State Report Inaccurate
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZELALBANY
Otsego County’s representatives in Albany are criticizing the state’s landmark climate law after a report released by the Governor Kathy Hochul administration said its costs of implementation would be in the thousands of dollars for oil and natural gas users. The report comes as the Hochul administration has been mulling ways to alter provisions in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, Politico has reported. Environmental groups are calling the report inaccurate, exaggerated and misleading.
The report from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority estimated that “Upstate oil and natural gas households would see costs in excess of $4,000 a year” by 2031 if the CLCPA is implemented as written. The three-page report said costs would fall particularly hard on those without the ability to install low emission technology, which is harder to obtain for a range of reasons.
Doreen Harris, NYSERDA president and chief executive officer, also wrote that the federal government’s pulling back of support for clean energy projects, the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical issues increased costs more than were anticipated when the bill passed in 2019. However, the memo relies on estimates for a cap-and-invest program, a program Hochul has previously supported but which is not in place and the CLCPA does not require to meet its objectives of 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040.
