Planning Ahead by Tom Reynolds
People In leadership positions are supposed to consider both the short-term and long-term effects of their decisions. For instance, NY Democrats want to disarm the average citizen but they passed “Bail reform” that ties the hands of prosecutors and judges, flooding our streets with repeat offenders. NY State prisons face a staffing crunch following Governor Hochul’s decision to fire 2,000 correction officers; to solve the problem, Hochul wanted to release thousands of inmates convicted of violent crimes. And cooperating with federal officials to keep criminal aliens off-the-street is a no-no.
In light of Albany’s decisions, it seems to me that they made carrying a gun for protection into a good idea, in spite of the NY Democrats objections.
It’s not 2A, but since it will crush your pocketbook, here is another example of how well thought out are the NY legislature’s efforts.
In 2019, New York State legislature passed and Governor Cuomo signed a law called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCP.) It set mandatory goals of a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. It also requires that 70% of the state’s electricity come from renewable resources by 2030 and be carbon free by 2040.
On February 26th, the CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA) sent a memo which basically said, “OOPS.”
Under CLCP’s mandatory requirements, according to NYSERDA, by 2031, if you live in upstate NY and heat with oil or Natural Gas you can expect their heating bills to increase by $4,000, annually.* That’s $4,000 more than you are paying now!
Gas at the pump could increase by $2.00 a gallon to about $5.00 a gallon.
And in case you don’t have a calendar handy, 2031 is only five years away.
Keep in mind that the government almost always underestimates costs.
But according to the NYSERDA memo, “The acceleration in clean energy deployment…as required to meet CLCP’s targets is infeasible today.” The marketplace does not have the capacity to deliver the volume of renewables that would be called for and it is “difficult to envision how all the actors in the state could adequately ramp up to spend the $28 Billion that such a policy would generate annually quickly after program launch.” (Emphasis added.)
NYSERDA believes it would “…lead to high burdens to New York households…” Ya think so!
Not to defend energy companies (mine is NYSEG) but they will take the knee-jerk blame when people see their energy bill go up. However, in this case, they are just the middle man passing through costs mandated by Albany politicians.
New York State has enacted a plan, mandated in law, that cannot be met. Will we see Kathy Hochul hauled off in handcuffs for violating the law?
Not so shockingly, New York politicians are blaming President Trump.
Three years after passing CLCP, because the NY Legislature has done such fine work, they rewarded themselves with a $32,000 raise from $110,000 to $142,000.
In light of NYSERRDA’s report and being tone-deaf to NY taxpayers, State Senator James Sanders Jr. (D) is sponsoring a bill to again raise the legislators’ pay; this time to $180,000. If you are math challenged, that is a $38,000 (26%) raise! And to be sure our state legislators don’t get further burdened, he included an annual cost-of-living adjustment, too. (See, they can plan ahead when it involves their own pocketbook.)
By the way, at $142,000, NY State has the highest paid legislators in the nation.
Governor Hochul and the legislative leaders are always saying that NY State needs to lead the nation. Unfortunately, in lacking any appreciation for the consequences of their actions, NY State legislators and Governor Hochul are challenging California for the nation’s lead. And in greed and self-interest they are leading the nation.
*Rebecca C. Lewis on X: "NEW: NYSERDA has sent a memo to the governor's office on the "likely costs of CLCPA compliance. This is after both Gov. Hochul and her budget director cited costs in the thousands for New Yorkers. The memo says upstaters could face up to $4,000 in costs and NYC residents $2,300 https://t.co/zbN5hfeGjO" / X
