OPINION:
New York has no shortage of climate radicals. With Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s push for the fantasy known as the Green New Deal, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s support for policies that make reliable energy harder to find, Michael R. Bloomberg’s billions bankrolling “clean” mandates and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s crusade against natural gas, it’s like the Premier League of Green Cluelessness.
Now there’s a new contender for the top spot: New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. During a debate Thursday, Mr. Mamdani didn’t focus much on climate. It’s clear why when you scrutinize his record.
He is mixing youthful inexperience with old-school socialist climate tyranny, and the result is a dangerous cocktail that working families simply can’t afford.
Let’s start with the basics. Mr. Mamdani wants to seize public lands and cover them with solar panels. Seriously. While Democrats in Washington cry foul over any use of public lands for American oil or gas, they are curiously silent when it comes to paving over public property with Chinese-made solar junk. If Mr. Mamdani’s plan moves forward, your children’s schoolyards could be covered in brittle, foreign panels, just to make activists feel better about their “climate goals.”
Although Mr. Mamdani claims to fight for working families, his track record says otherwise.
In 2021, he proudly joined the fight to kill a natural gas power plant in Astoria. “We should not be building new fossil fuel plants in Astoria, or anywhere across New York state,” he shouted. His lobbying worked: Ms. Hochul denied the permit. Mr. Mamdani and his green pals popped the Champagne, but New Yorkers got the bill. Literally.
Since that decision, electric rates for New York’s working families have skyrocketed more than 27%. In neighborhoods such as Astoria, monthly electric bills now top $330, all while demand continues to rise and reliable power sources vanish. Mr. Mamdani didn’t care then. He doesn’t care now. To him, it’s not about affordability; it’s about pushing the climate narrative at any cost.
Now, as a candidate for mayor, Mr. Mamdani wants to crank up the cost even higher.
His “Green Schools” plan would require more than $3.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to retrofit schools with solar panels. Every school. That’s not a plan; it’s a green fever dream. Say goodbye to rooftop gardens or actual learning space. Mr. Mamdani needs the square footage for solar hardware that will likely wear out before today’s kindergartners graduate.
In perhaps the most absurd twist of all, Mr. Mamdani wants to force green upgrades across New York City’s housing stock while freezing prices.
You read that right. He is mandating massive costs for landlords — new HVAC systems, new energy appliances and expensive building retrofits — but won’t allow rent adjustments to pay for any of it. It’s fiscal fantasy. Or worse, it’s willful sabotage. Mr. Mamdani is either completely economically illiterate or knows what he is doing and just doesn’t care.
Let’s be clear: Mr. Mamdani’s Green New Scam isn’t about the climate. It’s about control. It’s about punishing energy producers and making life more expensive for families, all while pretending it’s “justice.”
Thankfully, the American people fired the architects of the national Green New Deal when they sent the Biden-Harris administration packing. New York City voters should follow suit and reject Mr. Mamdani’s dangerous vision before it becomes policy.
Working families in New York don’t need more climate fantasies. They need affordable energy, functioning schools and leaders who actually put people first.
Zohran Mamdani is not that leader.
• Larry Behrens is an energy expert and the communications director for Power the Future. He has appeared on Fox News, ZeroHedge and NewsMax speaking in defense of American energy workers. You can follow him on X/Twitter @larrybehrens.
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