ICYMI - SIENA POLL: 58% of Voters Think the Legislature Should Have Passed The NY HEAT Act

ALBANY, NY (06/20/2024) (readMedia)-- The New York State legislature left Albany earlier this month without taking any action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. This morning, with the #HeatDomeHochul raging across the state and only thoughts and prayers from Governor Hochul, who is co-chair of the US Climate Alliance, a new Siena Poll shows that 58%-26% of voters agree that the legislature should have passed the NY HEAT Act.

View more about the poll here, and crosstabs here - with NY HEAT on page 5, question 29.

"It's not surprising that the NY HEAT Act is popular with the people of New York. The entire state is suffocating right now under the #HeatDomeHochul, and too many New Yorkers who can't afford to pay up the nose to run their air conditioners are vulnerable to the negative – often fatal – impacts of extreme heat. Instead of falling for the fossil fuel industry's lies, our elected officials literally just need to step outside to see why we need the NY HEAT Act to lower energy bills and fight climate change. We need Albany lawmakers to hold a special climate session to pass the NY HEAT Act now!" said Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate at Earthjustice.

The NY HEAT Act was popular across party lines, with 67% of democrats, 47% of republicans, and 55% of independents agreeing it should have passed. It was also popular with 60% of upstate voters, 55% of union households, and across income groups. 74% of Black voters and 70% of Latino voters also wanted it to pass.

According to Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg, "By 51-17%, voters say the recently concluded legislative session didn't succeed in passing laws to improve the quality of life in New York. It's unclear if that's related to the Legislature not passing either the Heat Act or the Plastics Reduction Act, but both are popular with New York voters and they would have liked the Legislature to pass them. Each had the support of two-thirds of Democrats, a majority of independents and a plurality of Republicans."

Background

Despite lawmakers' failure to pass the bill, the NY HEAT Act has support across the legislature. Governor Hochul embraced key parts of the NY HEAT Act in her Executive Budget proposal, the Senate passed the bill twice, and the bill has support from a majority of Assemblymembers.

The Home Energy Affordable Transition Act, also known as the NY HEAT Act, will stop the expansion of New York's outdated and dangerous fracked gas system. The bill gets rid of the 100-foot rule, which forces New York families to pay $200 million every year to subsidize new gas hookups, and amends the obligation to serve fracked gas. The bill would allow utilities to provide cheaper and clean heating alternatives at no additional cost to customers – a win-win for New Yorkers and the environment.