Just last week, Hochul doubled down on the state’s climate change frenzy by signing a package of bills purportedly aimed at further curbing greenhouse gas emissions and creating “green jobs.” One of the bills calls for higher energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances and promises billions in energy savings for appliance owners and users. Sounds great, except the cost of meeting these higher standards is sure to outweigh any savings. If they didn’t, building owners and appliance manufacturers wouldn’t need the governor to force them to make the changes — they’d do it themselves (unless they don’t like the savings). Another bill imposes prevailing wage mandates on state-funded renewable energy projects — meaning, in effect, unions dictate wages and conditions. Although it’s being sold as another climate change bill, no one is pretending it will curb emissions or slow global warming. Its sole purpose is to reward unions (and boost their political support) by demanding better wages and working conditions, even as such mandates can increase costs to taxpayers by as much as 30 percent, according to Empire Center data. All of this comes on top of the administration’s push for a nationwide ban on natural gas connections to new construction and the continuation of a Cuomo-era ban on new permits for natural gas pipelines that help keep power plants running. She is also happy to continue depriving New Yorkers of new revenue streams by maintaining the state’s ban on fracking. Meanwhile, New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act already mandates higher energy efficiency standards — based on nonexistent technology — and a transition from natural gas to heat homes, offices and businesses by 2050. Experts warn that the state will be left up to 10% short of the power generation capacity needed to meet peak demand. What does Hochul think it will do about electricity costs and reliability? Already, as of this summer, rates are predicted to be 12% higher than last year. James Hanley of the Empire Center has shown that the costs of the state’s war on climate change outweigh the benefits, given that the state contributes only four-tenths of 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So New Yorkers will spend a lot of time on energy, buildings and appliances and crossing their fingers that the lights stay on, while doing little to change the climate. But Hochul’s environmental radicals and trade unionists will all be pleased. No wonder she calls herself a “Biden Democrat.”
