Last month, Assemblyman Josh Jensen (R,C,I-Greece) and his regional colleagues from the Assembly Minority Conference called on the Climate Action Council (CAC) to hold an in-person hearing in the Rochester region for their draft scoping plans; however, residents of the area have yet to be heard. Recently, the Hudson Valley area was added to the in-person hearing schedule and surrounding areas such as Buffalo and Syracuse were given the opportunity to give public input, yet still no scheduled time has been given for the residents of Rochester which has a population of more than a million New Yorkers.

The CAC’s Draft Scoping Plan would make fundamental changes to daily life for every resident and business of the state in efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent to zero emissions by 2050. The draft plan would mandate 100 percent electricity in newly-constructed homes and buildings by 2024, no new natural gas appliances for home heating, cooking, water heating or clothes drying beginning in 2030, and no gasoline automobile sales by 2035. The potential costs to fully electrify a home could reach $35,800 for each residence, while adding additional costs to goods and services.

“With such a dramatic change of day-to-day life, residents of Rochester deserve the same opportunity as any other major city to voice their concerns. If CAC wishes to fully convert all homes to electric and cause costly changes that burdens the pockets of hard-working families, then they should be hearing from as many residents as possible to omit any troublesome elements to their plan now rather than later,” said Jensen. “It is unfortunate that Rochester has still been left out of their public hearings while the Hudson Valley was recently added. I will continue advocating for my constituents.”

To make your voice heard, New Yorkers can visit climate.ny.gov, email scopingplan@nyserda.ny.gov, or send a letter to NYSERDA, Attn: Draft Scoping Plan Comments, 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203.

**Editor’s note: For a letter from Assembly members, please click here.

The full Climate Action Council plan can be viewed here.