Cap-and-trade rollback: NY plans to force big oil companies to ‘invest’ in ‘green’ by paying for emissions
In her State of the State address on Tuesday, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to outline her “Cap & Invest” anti-pollution program that critics warn will cause gas and utility costs to skyrocket in the already fossil fuel-averse state.
The plan seeks to reduce emissions by charging companies for their greenhouse gas emissions and investing that money in initiatives such as retrofitting buildings to run on green electricity.
“Cap” refers to a state-imposed limit on greenhouse gas emissions. The “cap” is often projected to decrease each year to meet climate change prevention goals.
The state can then organize an auction to allow energy companies to bid for “permits” based on the severity of pollution – revenues from which the government can invest in “green” initiatives, according to New York Focus.
New York drivers could feel more pain at the pumps because of such a proposal, according to critics such as the nonpartisan group Upstate United, which advocates for a boost to upstate New York’s economy.
The AAA average gas price in New York is $3.14 per gallon – comparable to most surrounding states except for Pennsylvania – which tends to remain higher than the rest of the Northeast due to its nation’s third-highest gas tax.
A Hochul spokesman said for New York Post that the governor is “focused on lowering the cost of living, putting money back in the pockets of New Yorkers with refunds, tax credits and more.”
Since Democrats took over executive power from term-limited Republican Gov. George Pataki in 2007 and held it without interruption, the Empire State has gradually limited energy exploration in the state.
The trend began with Governor David Paterson’s 2010 “timeout” on natural gas hydraulic fracturing, which effectively remains to this day.
The “Marcellus Shale” range is named after a town in New York – but any fracking activity since that time has occurred at the end of the Pennsylvania deposit.
State Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Elmira, represents a district that sits on a portion of the Marcellus oil shale formation that remains untouched by state politics.
Natural gas wells dot the landscape in neighboring Bradford and Tioga counties in southern Pennsylvania, but the landscape is clear of any sign of exploration for those driving NY-17 through southern New York just a few miles away.
An oil pump works in the drive-thru area of a McDonald’s in Bradford, Pennsylvania on October 6, 2017. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
On Monday, O’Mara criticized what he called the latest “radical climate mandate” to be issued:
“Governor Hochul and the Albany Democrats will continue to talk about solving New York’s money supply crisis. But it’s clear that their actions like Cap and Invest, more appropriately called ‘Cap and Tax’ … will only continue to economically ruin this state,” he said. .
In 2014, O’Mara strongly condemned New York’s initial decision to ban it fracking in his areasaying it is “losing the hope of so many farmers, landowners, companies and potential jobs in the natural gas industry from the southern tier.”
Hochul’s cap-and-tax plan, he said, will only increase the cost of doing business in New York and drive more families and employers out of the state, while exacerbating the affordability crisis.
The plan shows the governor is out of touch with New Yorkers, Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay told Fox News Digital.
“The last thing we need is more unworkable environmental policies from Albany that drive up costs and drive residents out. Democrats keep lecturing us about the need for Cap and Invest and other flawed energy policies, but when people pay more at the pump and can “can’t afford their heating bills, who benefits?” asked Barclay, R-Oneida.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that New Yorkers have reliable, affordable energy sources – not to force consumers to subsidize the green dreams of the liberal environmental lobby.”
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Governor Kathy Hochul (Reuters/Cindy Schultz)
In 2021, then-Gov. of New York. Andrew Cuomo successfully shut down the massive 2,000 MW Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw.
At the time, Cuomo cited security concerns and said it “doesn’t belong … in close proximity to the most densely populated area in the country.” Critics responded that the area in question – New York City – relied heavily on the electricity it generated and complained about increased utility bills.
The 2019 law commits New York to net zero emissions by 2050, writes The New York Times.
Nationally, “Cap & Trade” first entered the American lexicon during the 2008 presidential campaign, when then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., appealed to environmentalists with the idea of taxing entities that emit greenhouse gases and affect the atmosphere.
