By: Edwin J. Viera, Special Contributor, New York News Connection
Environmental critics feel New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is not doing enough to meet the state’s 2030 climate goals.
The concerns come after Hochul convened an energy summit to see how the state can regroup since reports suggested it will not meet its goals. Renewable energy projects in New York and across the country stumbled after the pandemic increased construction costs.
Peter LaVenia Jr., co-chair of the Green Party of New York, said the state can do a lot with the 6 years it has before 2030.
“We do have the capacity to build out wind, solar and also reduce our energy use,” LaVenia contended. “Part of what we have to do is reduce our the amount of energy that we’re using so that we can meet these climate goals. And we’re not doing that and we’re not doing it fast enough. So, we need to be able to site renewables faster. We need to be able to build them.”
The state legislature passed the RAPID Act earlier this year to speed up clean energy permitting and interconnection. Other bills have met significant legislative hurdles. LaVenia pointed to the HEAT Act which phases out gas line extension allowances and lets the Public Service Commission align utility companies with the state’s climate laws. The bill was not included in recent state budgets by the legislative session’s end.
However, there are concerns Hochul and other lawmakers could just throw out the goals in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Some Republican lawmakers and business groups are uncertain about its provisions and feel the goals should be cast aside.
LaVenia argued now is not the time for that given how climate change is affecting New Yorkers.
“New York State set itself up to fail and now it’s saying, ‘Well we can’t do it so we have to weaken these things, and oh, by the way, our campaign donors want us to do that anyway,"” LaVenia emphasized. “I think that the dark path would be that things get worse. I mean there’s real evidence that climate change is hitting us really hard now in the 2020s and it’s only going to get worse.”
Recent storms have led to widespread flooding across the state. This contributes to sea level rise, worsening erosion, and storm surges. The frequency of billion-dollar disasters is rising and depleting state coffers.
Have all the Finger Lakes news from Finger Lakes News Radio delivered to your email every morning for FREE! Sign up by clicking here
