New York Approaches The Green Energy Cliff With Morons In Charge
March 22, 2026/ Francis Menton
As New York approaches the Green Energy Cliff, developments are starting to come more quickly. When last I addressed the subject on March 6, there had just been “leaked” a three-page memo from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to the Governor’s office, revealing that implementation of what New York calls its “cap and invest” program — actually, an artificial scarcity program intentionally designed to drive prices up and impoverish the people — would cost every New York household thousands of dollars in increased energy costs. (I put the word “leaked” in quotes because most knowledgeable observers think that the Governor released the memo intentionally.).
Clearly the Governor was using this memo to provide cover for her next move. That move then occurred on March 20, in the form of an op-ed published by the Governor in something called the Empire Report. Several of my co-energy realist bloggers have already commented on this piece at Watts Up With That, including Robert Bradley (“Democrats Retreat From Climate Activism”) and Roger Caiazza (“Hochul Claims the Climate Act Can Be Affordable”).
The only proper response to Gov. Hochul’s piece is scorn and derision, and no matter how much of those you can muster, it’s not enough. The Governor and all of her staff and agencies have approached the subject of energy policy as morons, and they also treat the people as morons. They have never done any credible assessment of either feasibility or cost of the Climate Act mandates. Now that the mandates are approaching, it is obvious that they cannot be achieved at any remotely reasonable cost; but our leaders have no plan forward. Their only idea is to pretend that the Climate Act plan is real when it is not, and that it is moving forward when it is not, and then postpone the hard deadlines until after the current Governor is gone.
The spin in the Governor’s piece will leave you dizzy for weeks. I’ll give you a few choice quotes, with my translation into plain English:
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2026-3-22-new-york-approaches-the-green-energy-cliff-with-morons-in-charge
