Nassau County Executive and Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman speaks during an April 16 event at Hessian Hill Farm in Wright calling for farmland preservation and a more balanced energy approach. Photo by Chris English
WRIGHT - A host of state officials and others took dead aim at what they feel are New York State's misguided energy policies during an event at Hessian Hill Farm in the Town of Wright on Thursday, April 16.
In an event that was kind of half press conference and half campaign stop for Nassau County Executive and Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman, he set the tone with his remarks.
Blakeman and other speakers asserted that state energy policies under Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul have leaned way too far to the side of solar and wind energy developers with tax breaks and other advantages.
"I'm a fan of solar energy but not here in New York State, it has very little use in the state of New York," said Blakeman, citing the state's lack of consistent year-round sunshine. "Their party (Democrats) likes to talk about the science but doesn't adhere to the science. It's the green energy scam."
"There's thousands of acres of beautiful farmland and they're putting these ugly solar panels on them," he continued. "It doesn't make sense. Kathy Hochul is full of it. We're the highest taxed, highest regulated state in the country."
Blakeman and others said the Southern Tier of New York State has one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world and yet there's no drilling for it. Many Pennsylvanians are prospering from natural gas drilling in their state, Blakeman said.
An advance email for the April 16 event stated the state's Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment Act, along with mandates stemming from the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, were promoted as efforts to streamline renewable energy development. "However, they have instead paved the way for the large-scale conversion of farmland into industrial energy sites, often with little benefit to local communities."
Speakers at the April 16 event in Wright called for a more balanced "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that includes renewables alongside nuclear and natural gas to ensure affordability, reliability and the preservation of New York's agricultural resources and green space.
"Protect our Farms, Preserve our Communities, Support Reliable, Affordable Energy," read a sign posted at the event. Lamenting the loss of so much farmland to solar energy facilities was a recurrent theme among the speakers.
"Who can blame farmers (for leasing land for solar development) because the state has screwed them over time and time again," said State Assemblyman Phil Palmesano. He went on to criticize Hochul and others for electric school bus mandates he called the "mother of all unfunded mandates" and for policies "designed to take away consumer choice. We need a common sense energy agenda."
The afternoon's first speaker, State Assemblyman Chris Tague, blasted "these idealistic green schemes that aren't helping. It conflicts with a long history of municipal home rule. We need balance, including efficient nuclear power and affordable natural gas. We can have clean energy without sacrificing our rural way of life."
Tague and others at the event urged voting for Blakeman, saying he would be a refreshing and needed change in the governor's office.
Town of Blenheim Supervisor and Schoharie County Board of Supervisors Vice-Chairman Donald Airey, and Grassroots Advocate and Ecopreneur Alexandra Fasulo both called out ORES (state Office of Renewable Energy Siting) as a state agency they feel has grown inordinately and unfairly powerful. The agency holds hearings and considers permits for wind and solar facilities.
"They get around local laws they deem cumbersome. We don't get to know who ORES is. No other state agency would be allowed to get away with these things. ORES needs to be dissolved," Fasulo said.
"If there is an agency that qualifies as Fascist, it's ORES," Airey added.
One of the main leaders of a Schoharie County lawsuit that challenged what many consider a far too lenient tax structure for solar and wind energy facilities, Airey said that structure is depriving towns, villages, counties and school districts across upstate New York of millions of dollars in badly needed revenue.
"That money is sorely needed for rural upstate communities. We're being denied that revenue," he noted.
State Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy vowed that changes will be made if she is elected.
"When I'm AG, my focus will be keeping New York and America safe, not pursuing partisan ideological agendas," she said. "I will defend property rights. I love the land."
Hessian Hill Farm owner Elizabeth Goblet Schubert said farming is a cherished way of life for so many and needs to be preserved and protected.
"Our farm represents 63 years and four generations of perseverance," she said. "We work the farm full time and we're not going anywhere for a very, very long time.
"There has to be better solutions than using valuable farmland and woodlands for solar energy, like putting them in vacant parking lots or in place of vacant industrial buildings. Agriculture is a heavily regulated industry that costs more than it gives in return, (But) farmers are more heavily invested in our communities than solar companies could ever be."
Former U.S. Congressman and State Assembly candidate Marc Molinaro and State Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra also made the case for protecting farmland and a more balanced energy approach.
"No farms, no food," Ra said.
"Farming is the largest industry in New York," Molinaro added. "Kathy Hochul should get on a tractor and visit a farm in upstate New York. Upstate New York deserves to have protection. Bruce Blakeman will respect the people of upstate New York."
