Senator Gallivan Urges Public Comment on Plan to Eliminate Traditional Energy Sources

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan (R-C, Elma) and members of the Senate Minority Conference are calling on all New Yorkers to submit official public comment on the Climate Action Council’s (CAC) Draft Scoping Plan and proposals to eliminate reliable, affordable sources of energy.

The CAC has released a blueprint to alter the state's energy plans, which includes:

• No new gas service to existing buildings, beginning in 2024;
• No natural gas within newly constructed buildings, beginning in 2024;
• No new natural gas appliances for home heating, cooking, water heating, clothes drying beginning in 2030;
• No gasoline-automobile sales by 2035;
• Installing onsite solar or joining a community renewables program by 2040; and
• Installing geothermal heating by 2040.

New Yorkers have through April 30, 2022 to submit formal public comments on the proposed energy plan.

“The plan put forth by the Climate Action Council calls for dramatic changes in how New Yorkers will heat their homes in the future, but is short on specifics,” Senator Gallivan said.  “Eliminating the use of natural gas, propane and heating oil will substantially increase the state’s demand for electricity and prove costly for consumers and businesses.  I encourage residents, community leaders and others to voice their concern by submitting their comments on the proposed energy plan before the April 30 deadline.”

Residents can review the Draft Scoping Plan and submit comments here.

In the meantime, New Yorkers continue to face extreme short- and long-term economic challenges, including:

• Inflation – a 7.5 percent spike in consumer prices over last year, the highest since 1982 – including skyrocketing costs for transportation, food, and other essential goods and services;
• Pain at the Pumps – average gas prices in the state have gone up by more than a dollar-per-gallon, or an estimated 39 percent increase from a year ago;
• Rising Home Heating Costs – monthly average home heating oil prices have also risen by more than a dollar per gallon from a year ago;
• Overall Tax Burden – New York has the highest tax burden in the nation at 14.1 percent – without factoring in a plethora of other burdensome fees.

As the global energy crisis rages on, Senate Republicans have proposed a multi-pronged approach to provide relief, especially to low and middle income families. The Take Back New York 2022 agenda includes:

• Mitigating the Impact of the Global Energy Crisis by providing nearly $300 million in energy tax relief by eliminating the two-percent gross receipts tax and removing the underlying 18-A Assessment on utility bills;
• Suspending the State’s Gas Tax to provide instant economic relief for hard-working New Yorkers;;
• Rejecting the proposed carbon tax that would raise prices at the pump by 55 cents per-gallon and on home heating bills by more than 25 percent; and
• No New Tax or Fee Increases in this year’s New York State Budget.

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