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ALBANY – New York State Senate Republicans are calling on residents to submit official public comment on the Climate Action Council’s draft Scoping Plan and radical efforts to eliminate reliable, affordable sources of energy.
Officials say natural gas hookups and services, as well as those from propane and heating oil, are vital for New Yorkers – especially in rural communities and during harsh winters – and cutting off these dependable sources of energy would be costly to residents and businesses and ineffective on a global scale.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Rob Ortt spoke during a press conference this week. Ortt explains that natural gas is an issue that has an impact on the world as a whole.
“Energy policy isn’t just a local issue, not just a state issue, not just a national issue, ‘it’s a national security issue,” Ortt said. “Policies that we put forward here in New York State, across the country, have real life impacts on men and women, from their jobs, to their heating prices, to their gas prices, but it also impacts the national security of the United States of America. And we are seeing that today in ways we haven’t seen in a long time.”
Senate Republicans are proposing several measures to cut energy costs and tame the energy affordability crisis. Those measures include
- 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, commuting New Yorkers – which Senate Republicans called for months ago;
- Rejecting the Democrats’ 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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