As New York Gov. Kathy Hochul looks to balance climate action and affordability, she's taking heat from both state Republicans and environmentalists.
With the midterm elections just weeks away, WAMC's Grant Ashley spoke to state reporter Samuel King of the New York Public News Network about renewable energy, rebate checks, rising prices, and how it all fits into the race for governor.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Ashley: So to start off, if you could get us up to speed on New York State's 2019 climate law and the changes Hochul made — what did she do here?
King: Yeah, this started back around the first of the year when she was unveiling her budget, and there's a rollback of some of the timelines in the law, changing the deadlines for a 40% reduction by 2030 to a 60% reduction by 2040, sort of done in a way to put New York in line with other states. But more importantly, from the governor's standpoint, particularly in this election year, was to forestall any worries about costs and higher utility costs.
Ashley: So Hochul had what she saw as a choice between affordability and a more aggressive climate policy, and she chose affordability. Like, what's the bet she's making here? Why do you think she made that decision?
King: A lot of politicians do this: They're looking at what's tangible, and what's tangible to people is they see their utility bills — whether it's electricity or gas or water — going up. So, doing this is a way for her to say, "Look, I hear you. I understand you. We know climate change is an existential threat, but we also want you to survive in your day-to-day. Now, environmentalists and others who oppose this change feel that, in some ways, that might have been sort of a false choice. That this, on its own, right now, is not going to reduce utility bills, right? Because all of these things were sort of over the long term. So I think for political calculation, it's much easier to see a bill than it is to see temperatures increasing on average, or by one or two percent. So I think that's the gamble she was taking there.
Ashley: I was going to bring this up later, but since you mentioned it: whether it's from climate groups or other candidates, what's the movement to keep New York honest to its climate goals been like?
King: Yeah, the governor faced a lot of of criticism for this from environmental groups and people on the left and progressives. She also faced criticism from Republicans who felt they should just scrap the law altogether, that she didn't go far enough with this. During the legislative session, there was some small gloating from some of the Republicans in the legislature, like, "We told you." So it was just interesting to see that pressure from both sides. I think we're still going to continue to see that, but it did not harm her in terms of getting the nomination and receiving the support of several environmental groups as we go into the fall. But there is still some discomfort with that.
Ashley: Yeah, and you mentioned Republicans, so let's bring Kathy Hochul's Republican gubernatorial opponent into the race, Bruce Blakeman. He's been very critical of New York's climate laws.
Blakeman: NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] is sitting with $2.4 billion of your money that they want to invest in the coming year in the green energy scam. When I become governor, we're going to give you that money back.
Ashley: Could you tell us a little bit more about where he stands with that?
King: Looking at the Trump administration's, sort of, you can almost say war on certain renewable energy types like solar, like wind, Bruce Blakeman, who's the Nassau County executive, is sort of going along with that. That's one criticism he has: He says these renewable energy projects that the state is still undertaking — despite what happened with the climate law, there are still a number of initiatives that state government is taking when it involves renewable energy — he thinks that the state should stop spending money on all that. And we're seeing the rebate checks going out this month, and so he says that instead of that, the state should just stop spending money on renewable energy projects and give that money back to to consumers. So definitely a contrast there between what these two candidates see with the environment.
Ashley: I do want to get to the rebate checks, but let's take a step back: what is Gov. Hochul's vision for New York's energy economy? Because it's not "let's get as many solar panels out as quickly as possible," but it's also not "drill, baby, drill."
King: You know, it doesn't seem at this point that we're going to see her lifting the fracking ban like Republicans would like her to do, but one thing you hear over and over again from her is the all of the above approach, and that includes nuclear. She wants to build these small-scale nuclear reactors. So, if you take what the governor's team is saying, this is still a governor who's committed to the environment and reducing the impacts of climate change, but at the same time, finding ways to make New York more energy resilient. But there still continues to be, from all sides, debate and disagreement on how to get there.
Ashley: Let's return to the rebate checks. So these would be $200 for most energy consumers and $150 for New Yorkers with higher incomes; it depends on your income level. Could you kind of talk through that a little bit?
King: Yeah, going back to the session, it was really the State Assembly that really first floated this idea and put it to paper, so to speak, as part of their budget proposal. Then the State Senate was sort of like, "OK, maybe we need to find something more long-term here." But then they went along with it, and then it was the governor who was kind of hesitant until the very end. So I think now she sees it as sort of this way to get relief to people, short-term relief, while working on some of these long-term things like, you know, holding the utility companies and such more accountable.
Hochul: When you're trying to fill up a gas tank or buy some groceries, you know, this might help you have something left over at the end of the month. Every dollar counts, and I know that.
King: She would say the timing is because the budget was a little late, but it's clear that this is happening right before the election. And her opponent in the governor's race, Bruce Blakeman, he called it "peanuts," and again said the state should change its policy, and that would get more money back to people. And also some others are saying, "We need some more long-term solutions to utility bills and regulation to keep that from spiking." So a lot of considerations, but certainly the governor has traveled state in recent weeks touting these rebate checks, which are going out pretty soon.
Ashley: And what are some of those long term solutions? Whether that's coming from the State Senate or from Blakeman, what's being floated?
King: Well, one thing that was a part of the the state budget was giving the Public Service Commission more teeth, so to speak, in terms of affordability. Like, they have to come up with sort of an affordability index, and then if a power company is exceeding that, the state will send in a monitor to really examine what's going on there, why their bills are so high, what's their spending, what's leading to that. Like, keeping in mind being as fiscally responsible as possible when it comes to sort of capital projects. And tying affordability and rates to executive and management compensation, sort of as an incentive. So those are some things. Now, whether they will reduce rates in the short term remains to be seen, but the state wants to get some of that implemented, you know, within the year.
Ashley: And then just to zoom out and take a broader view of this as we head into the midterm elections, what does all this say about the future of climate policy in New York and nationwide, given all these pressures on affordability and also with a warming Earth? Where do we go from here?
King: Yeah, I think it's a tricky question. A lot of environmentalists probably saw what happened in New York this year as a step back. But clearly, New York remains sort of a leader on some of these things versus some of the other states in the country — and certainly, at this point, the federal government. But again, it's sort of the implementation. Getting there is messy, like any major transition to anything is messy. And I think everyone now kind of realizes there's an issue, but in terms of getting to that, I think that's the tough part that our leaders are going to have to grapple with in the years to come.
Ashley: That was Samuel King from the New York Public News Network. Samuel, thank you.
King: Thank you.
