Letter: It’s time to change the course

Dear Editor,

John Howard, New York State Public Service Commission, reports that the state’s carbon-free-energy law, ‘Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019’, will cost New Yorkers an undisclosed “hundreds of billions” in higher energy bills per documents released by the state Climate Action Council, who are charged with the task of figuring out how to make the plan work. 

Governor Cuomo, knowing that the initial capital investments needed would surpass $300 billion via income tax and energy billing that users pay, knew all this. Pointed out also was the additional transition to all green; electric requires not just vast new wind and solar farms, but new transmission lines and enormous investments in batteries and other power storage because “green” energy is utterly weather-dependent.  

If honesty and truth were the attributes to the dominant Democrats in power in Albany, why was the actual cost not disclosed to New York taxpayers when they passed this bill? Even now we have Governor Kathy Hochul duplicating Cuomo’s style of governing; she, who also has ALL these facts and continues to push this insanity.  

Her current time in office with her vow to deliver the “transparency” that Cuomo didn’t is already a sign of what to expect if she is elected. Governor Hochul has shown her cards, and in style of Cuomo, and we already see a semi-quasi CYA leader. Her actions, to date, are buying gratitude projects by spending taxpayer dollars to grease her way to an election.  

Taking just one page out of Cuomo’s scandal of his pet project backing the “Buffalo Billion” with taxpayer dollars, Governor Hochul has committed $850 million of tax dollar revenue, in a an all-time high of inflation, to build a football stadium in Buffalo. This is considered to be the largest public commitment of tax dollars for an NFL public facility in New York, and at a time that New York State and City have road and bridge infrastructure projects sitting on a backlog of five to six years. 

Inflation under President Biden is predicted to continue until he is out of office. We will then have the benefit of electing a Republican president to start a turn around in 2024 for a roadway to recovery. Until that can happen, Governor Hochul, if elected Governor, would have four years in office and would continue to keep the same policies that drive those people who can afford to, to move out of New York with those who remaining trying to maintain living on the cusp of keeping what they have worked for, and with even more living on the “Dollar Short and A Day Late” of making ends meet. 

For the balance of our other residents, we pay them to live here via state and county funded Social Service programs. The only way to keep New York State from going down the rabbit hole faster is to get out and vote Republican to change and set a correcting course. Your vote for Republican candidates via the June / August primary elections and our federal election in November can and will change the course. 

You have three opportunities to get up to bat. Make a ‘3-Homer’ this year.

Sincerely,

Florence Alpert

Candor, NY