In response to Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address this afternoon, Evergreen Action Vice President for States Justin Balik released the following statement:

“Governor Hochul is to be commended for her leadership in pushing to rapidly build affordable housing and transportation options. It’s a key pillar of fighting the affordability crisis and cutting pollution. 

“On energy, the Governor is right that we need to hold utilities accountable, make big tech data centers pay their fair share, and stem the tide of skyrocketing energy costs across the state. These energy proposals are a start, but this moment demands more. We can only truly tackle the energy affordability crisis by aggressively deploying the best tools possible, starting with cheap, clean energy. That means continuing to invest in the sustainable future fund, rapidly scaling distributed energy, and ensuring that bring your own energy requirements for data centers focus on clean power.  

“We cannot allow greedy utilities and tech companies to use this moment to chain New Yorkers to decades of increased pollution and volatile fossil fuel prices. The governor and the legislature must require big tech and utilities to power us toward New York’s nation-leading climate targets by adding more cheap, clean energy to the grid. We look forward to working together this session to deliver for consumers and the climate.”

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