Spitzer unveils energy policy

By JORGE FITZ-GIBBON
jfitzgib@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 23, 2006)

NEW YORK — State attorney general and gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer laid out a campaign energy policy yesterday that calls for funding for low-income residents and businesses alike to make their buildings more energy efficient, and calls for a complete audit of New York's energy use.

The policy, announced at the Association for Energy Affordability in the Bronx by Spitzer's running mate, state Sen. David Paterson, D-Harlem, also calls for a "scrap-and-replace" program to lease fuel-efficient cars to poorer residents and pledges support for research and development of ethanol as an alternative fuel.

"These are not new ideas," Paterson said. "They're not dramatic. They don't even cost that much. But they are effective. And the most effective and immediate way to establish some kind of impact on our environment is through conservation."

Spitzer and Paterson, speaking at the association's training center on Bruckner Boulevard, chastised federal policy toward the environment and energy conservation. They were joined at the association — a nonprofit group that provides energy conservation assistance, training and technology — by a frequent critic of government energy policy: Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading environmental lawyer at Pace University School of Law in White Plains and vice chair of the environmental group Riverkeeper.

"We have these extraordinary technologies that can now solve our greatest environmental problems, including global warming," Kennedy said. "The problem is we need the political will to support these technologies."

Polls show Spitzer, a Democrat, as the front-runner to replace out-going Gov. George Pataki this year. He chose Paterson, the state Senate minority leader, to run for lieutenant governor alongside him.

In announcing the ticket's energy platform, Spitzer said he would push for New York to work with neighboring states to enact regional initiatives to improve energy consumption and fuel alternatives.