The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
SPEAKING OUT
Madison County condemns state climate plans
WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. >> Madison County’s Board of Supervisors voted last month to condemn the New York State Legislature for proposing a ban on fossil fuel-based heating systems. Their actions reflect an ongoing conflict with the state regarding what county officials consider impractical and dangerous green energy moves by the state to transform New York into green energy dependence.
The ban is part of the state’s climate action plan, which will phase out any new gas-powered vehicles and appliances as the state promotes green energy reliance by 2030.
Hochul’s recent State of the State address contained a proposal to ban all new fossil fuel-powered heating systems by 2030 for smaller buildings and 2035 for larger buildings. Hochul is also calling for all new construction to be zero-emission, with no on-site fossil fuel combustion, by 2025 for smaller buildings and 2028 for larger buildings.
Hochul recently urged state lawmakers to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel-powered heating equipment by 2030. She cited a study published in January that claimed gas stoves are responsible for 12.7% of childhood asthma cases nationwide.
If the ban happens New York would join California, which unanimously approved a ban by 2030 in September. Approximately 49 percent of new homes started in 2021 use natural gas as the primary heating fuel, compared to 47 percent powered by electricity. On average, natural gas is cheaper than electricity.
The Biden administration has come out against any prohibition of gas stoves on the federal level. “The president does not support banning gas stoves,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-pierre said at a press briefing on Jan. 12.
The county is also concerned with the state’s proposal to use rule of law to buy up farmland and use it for solar farms.
Madison County Chairman John Becker will be form
ing a committee, Madison County 2030, to investigate ways county officials and business and civic leaders may cope with the changes brought about if the plan is approved.
“The governor’s ban is intended to help address climate change but the government mandate is more of a burden on our region’s working-class residents and will have a devastating effect on restaurants, businesses and manufacturing facilities when they have to convert to all-electric,” the resolution read.
The cost to convert a house to electric will result in a cost of between $20,000 and $50,000 per household, and would not include any kind of back-up system in the event of a power outage, county officials said in the resolution. The conversion to electric will create an unnecessary burden and hardship for businesses to compete on a national or global level.
The board said it vehemently opposes the governor’s plan to ban natural gas heating appliances as it is not feasible or warranted for Madison County.
“Contrary to popular opinion I did not come up with this resolution but I like it, “Becker said.
The resolution said the county condemned the state legislature for their plans. Hamilton Town Supervisor Eve Ann Schwartz urged the board to modify the wording in the resolution.
“I just think that last paragraph is just a little over the top…basically your resolve is strongly urging them and we’ve talked about going to the legislature and asking for their support for a number of issues coming up in front of the county,” Schwartz said. “So could we tone it down… a little tiny bit less political?”
“I understand what you’re saying, Eve Ann, but they didn’t tone it down during COVID and they’re ramming it down our throats now. And they don’t care,” Becker said.
During the roll call vote, Schwartz voted against the resolution because of the phrasing it contained.
Becker gave an example of his concern over what may be coming if state officials vote the climate action plan into law.
“This past summer I bought two firetrucks in the town of Sullivan,” he said. “They were $650,000 apiece. The salesman told me if they were electric, which they will be in 2035, they will be $1.5 million apiece. We’re all gonna be broke when we have to buy thirty highway trucks that are all-electric, that are $1.2 million apiece and that won’t go one mile down the road in the cold. We’re gonna be in big trouble.”
Oneida City Supervisor and county vice-chair Matthew Roberts took the state legislature to task for ignoring India and China, countries that produce far more unregulated pollutants than the United States.
“If you really want to affect climate change you go after the biggest polluters first,” Roberts said. “New York State produces zero point four percent of the world’s carbon. So we could go to zero and it doesn’t make a hill of beans of difference. You have to go after the biggest polluters first if you truly are doing what you say you’re doing.”
According to climate. selectra.com in 2022 China and India combined for 12.2 billion tons of emissions while the U.S. produced 4.4 billion tons.
“I’m just telling you the truth,” Roberts said. “If your money is where your mouth is then our legislature is saying something but nothing is being done, except to our cost of electricity and living. That’s just my personal opinion based on data.”
Not all experts agree that the Earth is threatened by global warming…or that green energy is workable Former Undersecretary for Science under Pres. Barack Obama Steve Koonin gave the following facts:
-heat waves in the U.S. are no more common than they were in 1900;
-hurricane activity is no different than it was during the same period;
-floods worldwide have not increased in 70 years;
-Greenland’s ice sheet is shrinking, but at the same rate it was 80 years ago.
Cloud coverage affects the planet as much as human activity, Koonin said, and since 80 percent of the Earth’s energy is gained by fossil fuels like oil and coal getting rid of it is impractical.
“It is scientifically impossible because carbon dioxide doesn’t disappear from the atmosphere in a few days like, say, smog,” he said. “It hangs around for a really long time.”
Koonin said 60 percent of any carbon dioxide emitted on a daily basis will remain 20 years from now; between 30 and 55 percent will remain after a century and 15 to 30 percent will remain after a thousand years.
“It takes centuries for the excess carbon dioxide to vanish from the atmosphere,” he said. “Any partial decrease in carbon reductions would only slow the increase human influences, not prevent it, or let alone reverse it.”
Mark Mills, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a New York Citybased research group, says wind and solar power are also impractical means to produce energy.
The maximum rate at which the sun’s photons can be converted to electrons is about 33 percent; current technology has a rate of 26 percent. The maximum capture for wind power is 60 percent, our technology runs at 45 percent.
“Wind and solar only work when the wind blows or the sun shines, but we need energy all the time,” Mills said.
And storing solar and wind power will not work, Mills said. It would take 500 years to make enough batteries to provide just one day’s worth of electricity for the U.S. That is why wind and solar only supply three percent of the world’s energy.
“They think all the energy we need can be had by building enough wind and solar farms and batteries. The simple truth is that we can’t, nor should we want to,” Mills said. “Not if our goal is to be good stewards of the planet.”