Some New York Dems starting to realize climate targets are too extreme

Some New York Democrats are sounding the alarm over the state’s climate goals, arguing that New York should delay implementing some of its stringent green energy mandates.

Donna DeCarolis and Dennis Elsenbeck — appointed members of New York’s Climate Action Council — wrote to the state’s Public Service Commission requesting a hearing to consider delaying the state’s climate goals, including its 2030 70% green energy mandate and its 2040 zero-emissions grid goal on July 29. New York has some of the most aggressive climate goals in the U.S. and higher-than-average energy costs, with state officials recently admitting that the state may miss its green energy targets on the current timeline due in part to the costs that would hit consumers.

“I was intent on becoming known as a strong environmental governor,” Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in early August, according to local news outlet Spectrum News. “I also cannot ignore the fact that the disruptions in our economy that have occurred since the laws went into place, but also since we even supported this, that need to be examined in terms of what is happening to people’s pocketbooks right now. … I also have to moderate and make sure that I’m not doing something that’s going to drive up costs for consumers, and the data shows at this time it would.”

Energy sector experts have previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that New York’s reliance on intermittent green energy has undermined the stability of its power grid. Policy analysts also explained to the DCNF that the broader trend of Democrats signaling retreat from hardline climate policy is not substantive given that many aggressive policies remain in place, despite corporate media narratives suggesting otherwise.

New York has developed and is still building several offshore wind farms, and Hochul recently kept the state’s massive Empire Wind project alive after President Donald Trump moved to pause the project in April. Though the Trump administration reportedly made a deal with Hochul allowing the development to continue in exchange for the advancement of two natural gas pipelines, Hochul’s office has denied making any official deal.

Several New York Democrat lawmakers reportedly wrote to Hochul requesting the state delay work on the pipelines on Tuesday, according to the Washington Examiner.

Hochul’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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