Weighing N.Y.’s climate statute: Getting to affordable, clean energy solutions

By Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and Sane Energy Director Kim Fraczek

originally published by the New York Daily News on August 4, 2024

New York is unlikely to meet its legally mandated climate target for 2030, which includes a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, currently at a 9% reduction. In response to this distressing reality and the dire economic and societal damage caused by unchecked climate change, Gov. Hochul moved the goalposts rather than taking decisive action to prevent further harm.

2024 tops the hottest summer recorded in human history. New York State hospitals reported a 600% increase in heat-related emergency room visits. The extreme heat caused NYC’s Third Ave. Bridge to malfunction, resulting in unplanned detours for the 60,000 vehicles that use the bridge daily. Hurricane Beryl caused the death of more than 30 people from six nations, while remnants of the storm caused tornadoes to sweep across western New York.

And who bears the cost of these climate-driven tragedies? We do. Unprecedented utility bill hikes are pummeling overburdened New Yorkers while boosting the fortunes of corporate utilities seeking to slow down the inevitable transition to clean energy and maximize profits for its private shareholders during the final years of the fossil fuel era.

The governor must act now to regain New York’s position as a climate leader. Here are a few suggestions on what she must do:

The multinational gas utility National Grid distorts facts about the energy transition in its territories. The company falsely claims that legal mandates to include outreach to low-income and Indigenous communities are the reason for increased customer bills. However, these mandates were enacted five years ago and should have already been adopted into utility protocol.

Our climate law was passed to ensure inclusivity in a historically racist energy system. National Grid, thus, has admittedly left disadvantaged communities out of its equation, resulting in our achievement to pass a law to ensure they were serving all households in its territory.

The governor must debunk National Grid’s explanation for outsized utility bill hikes and act to forestall the company’s proposed rate increases. If approved, gas heating bills will soar by $67 per month over the next three years in its downstate territory encompassing Brooklyn, parts of Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island, which disproportionately burden vulnerable populations.

National Grid’s recently released long-term gas plan fails to address critical affordability, public health, and climate issues. The company’s plan ignores price volatility and public health risks by proposing to expand the aged, hazardous Iroquois pipeline, a 414-mile relic that threatens public safety, local farm businesses, and New York’s ability to meet its climate goals. This almost 40-year-old pipeline should be retired, not expanded.

The fate of the Iroquois is in the hands of the Public Service Commission and the Department of Environmental Conservation, which Hochul oversees. She must block expanding projects like the decaying and sinking Greenpoint Energy Center, a barely used liquefied fracked gas (LNG) storage facility spanning a whopping 120 acres in north Brooklyn in an already over-polluted residential and business community.

And since the private market is failing us, the governor also has an opportunity to direct the New York Power Authority, the largest state public power utility in America providing some of the lowest-cost electricity in the nation, to build 15 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and shutting down the peaker power plants that run on toxic fracked gas.

While generating clean energy is crucial, we must prioritize upgrading homes with 21st-century technology, regardless of income or zip code. We need clean indoor air and comfortable temperatures to thrive at work, home, and school. A more energy-efficient New York will lead to a more robust economy and an improved quality of life for all residents. We have the technology to make it happen.

Although it was blocked this year by the heavy hand of gas industry lobbyists, we desperately need legislation like the enormously popular Home Energy Affordable Transition Act (NY HEAT Act), which would enable us to stop corporate utilities from forcing ordinary New Yorkers to empty their wallets to fund their ill-conceived fossil fuel projects.

Instead, we should invest in cost-effective, energy-efficient upgrades. By transitioning away from expensive and potentially dangerous gas systems rooted in 19th-century technology, we can create healthier, more comfortable living spaces for all. The governor needs to embrace the passage of the full NY HEAT Act.

Ultimately, Gov. Hochul is responsible for taking action on these critical issues. As New York’s chief executive, she can influence the policies and priorities of state agencies and restore New York’s role as a climate leader.

Gallagher represents the North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg in the state Assembly. Fraczek is the director of the Sane Energy Project.