Editorial: Chicken Littles all around
If you listen to the people who are opposed to the gas stove ban and the Public Service Commission’s decision to deny higher wholesale rates to offshore wind projects, you might think that lives will be ruined — ruined! — by these policies. Here's another way of looking at it: Even more lives would be affected by not implementing the gas stove ban, or by allowing projects already under development to double their costs to $22 billion, an increase that would be borne by ratepayers. The time is now for New York to transition away from fossil-fueled homes and businesses, and that includes the fuel that powers our many appliances. Opponents argue in a recently filed lawsuit that a federal provision regarding national energy efficiency standards preempts the state’s ban. That's absurd. How can standards addressing the effectiveness of a given appliance somehow apply to how that appliance is powered? But incredibly, a court in California agreed wit...