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New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to lay out her “cap and invest” anti-pollution plan in her State of the State address on Tuesday, which critics warn will lead to an economy already averse to fossil fuels. Gasoline and utility costs soar state.
The plan aims to reduce emissions by taxing companies on their greenhouse gas emissions and investing the money in initiatives such as retrofitting buildings to use green electricity.
“Cap” refers to the greenhouse gas emission limits set by the state. To achieve climate change prevention goals, the “cap” is typically expected to decrease each year.
The state could then hold auctions in which energy companies bid for “allowances” based on pollution weights – and the government could invest the proceeds in “green” initiatives. new york focus.
Critics such as Upstate United, a nonpartisan group that advocates boosting the upstate New York economy, say New York drivers could feel more pain from such a proposal.
The average AAA gas price in New York is $3.14 per gallon, which is comparable to most surrounding states except Pennsylvania, and still generally higher than the rest of the Northeast due to its third-highest gas tax in the country.
A spokesperson for Hochul told new york post The governor is “committed to lowering the cost of living and putting money back into the pockets of New Yorkers through refunds, tax credits and more.”
The Empire State has continued to limit energy exploration in the state since Democrats took over executive power from term-limited Republican Gov. George Pataki in 2007.
The trend began with Gov. David Paterson’s “moratorium” on natural gas fracking in 2010, a ban that remains in effect today.
The ‘Marcellus Shale’ series is named after a town in New York – but any fracking activity that has occurred since On the deposit side of Pennsylvania.
State Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Elmira, represents a district in a part of the Marcellus oil shale formation that remains untouchable under state policy.
Natural gas wells dot the countryside of neighboring Bradford and Tioga counties in southern Pennsylvania, but for those crossing NY-17, which crosses the southern New York line just a few miles away, there’s no exploration in sight. sign.
Tube safer after a series of shocking violent attacks over Christmas in Hochul
On October 6, 2017, an oil pump was operating in the drive-thru area of a McDonald’s restaurant in Bradford, Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
On Monday, O’Mara criticized what he called the latest “aggressive climate directive”:
“Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats will continue to discuss solving New York’s affordability crisis. But it’s clear that actions like their Cap and Invest, more appropriately called ‘Cap and Tax’… will only continue to push this The state is in trouble economically,” he said.
In 2014, O’Mara slammed New York’s original ban decision fracking in his areasaying it “destroyed the hopes of many southern farmers, landowners, businesses and potential jobs in the natural gas industry.”
He said Hochul’s cap-and-tax plan would only increase the cost of doing business in New York, forcing more families and employers to leave the state while exacerbating the affordability crisis.
Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay told Fox Digital News that the plan shows the governor is out of touch with New Yorkers.
“The last thing we need is more unworkable environmental policies in Albany that drive up costs and drive away residents. Democrats keep lecturing us that we need caps and investments and other misguided energy policies, but when Who benefits when people pay more at the pump so they can’t afford to pay their heating bills?” asked Rep. Barclay, R-Oneida.
“We have a responsibility to ensure New Yorkers have reliable, affordable energy, not force consumers to fund the green dreams of the liberal environmental lobby.”
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Governor Kathy Hochul (Reuters/Cindy Schultz)
In 2021, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo Successfully shut down the massive 2,000-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River across from Haverstraw.
Cuomo cited safety concerns at the time and said “it does not belong…close to the most densely populated areas in the country.” Critics responded that New York City relies heavily on its power generation and complained about increased utility bills.
A 2019 law committed New York to net-zero emissions by 2050, The New York Times reported.
Nationally, the term “cap and trade” first entered the American lexicon during the 2008 presidential campaign when then-Sen. Illinois Democrat Barack Obama has floated the idea of taxing entities that release greenhouse gases and affect the atmosphere to environmentalists.
