Cap-and-trade returns: NY plans to force big oil to 'invest' in 'green' by paying for emissions

In her State of the State address Tuesday, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to lay out her "Cap & Invest" anti-pollution program that critics warn will cause gasoline and utility costs to soar in the already fossil-fuel-averse state.

The plan seeks to reduce emissions by levying companies for their greenhouse gas outputs and investing that money into initiatives like retrofitting buildings to run on green electric power.

A "cap" refers to the limit of greenhouse gas emissions that is imposed by a state. The "cap" is often projected to decrease each year in order to meet climate change prevention goals.

New York drivers could see more pain at the pump from such a proposal, according to critics like the nonpartisan group Upstate United, which advocates for boosting upstate New York's economy. 

The AAA average gas price in New York sits at $3.14/gallon - comparable to most of the surrounding states except Pennsylvania - which usually remains higher than the rest of the Northeast due to its nationally-third-highest gas tax.

Since Democrats took the executive reins from term-limited GOP Gov. George Pataki in 2007 and have held them without interruption, the Empire State has progressively restricted energy exploration in the state. 

The trend began with Gov. David Paterson's 2010 "timeout" on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas that effectively remains to this day. 

State Sen. Tom O'Mara, R-Elmira, represents a district that sits on part of the Marcellus oil shale formation that remains untouchable under state policy.

Natural gas wells dot the countryside in neighboring Bradford and Tioga counties just to the south in Pennsylvania, but the landscape is clear of any signs of exploration to those traversing NY-17 through New York's Southern Tier only a few miles away.

On Monday, O'Mara criticized what he called the latest "radical climate mandate" to be handed down:

Hochul's cap-and-tax plan, he said, will only increase the cost of doing business in New York and drive more families and employers out of the state while exacerbating the affordability crisis.

The plan shows the governor is out of touch with New Yorkers, Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay told Fox News Digital.

"The last thing we need is more unworkable environmental policy from Albany that drives costs up and drives residents away. Democrats constantly lecture us about the need for Cap and Invest and other misguided energy policy, but when people are paying more at the pump and can't afford their heating bills, who benefits?" asked Barclay, R-Oneida.

"It's our responsibility to make sure New Yorkers have reliable, affordable energy sources - not force consumers to subsidize the green dreams of the liberal environmental lobby." 

A 2019 law commits New York to net-zero emissions by 2050, according to The New York Times.

Nationally, "Cap & Trade" first entered the American lexicon during the 2008 presidential campaign, when then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wooed environmentalists with the idea of taxing entities that release greenhouse gases and affect the atmosphere.