According to the Oxford dictionary, the word propaganda means: \u201cinformation, especially of a\u00a0biased\u00a0or misleading nature, used to promote or\u00a0publicize\u00a0a particular political cause or point of view.\u201d\u00a0 The use of propaganda was on display last week at a state Senate hearing on New York\u2019s climate plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state\u2019s Climate Plan was developed over the past two years under a 2019 law that mandates the state meet certain climate goals, eventually leading to virtually no greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. That overall goal is consistent with one set by the world\u2019s experts, who have warned that unless the world kicks the fossil fuel habit by then runaway global warming will devastate the planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York\u2019s 2019 law ceded to a Climate Action Council the power to develop the blueprint that the state should follow in order to meet its aggressive, science-based climate goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were legitimate issues being raised by lawmakers and groups concerned about the ability of the state to implement the blueprint. But there was also the drumbeat of propaganda, one that bears the fingerprints of the behind-the-scenes work of the fossil fuel industry: \u201cThey are coming for your gas stoves!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Climate Plan says that in order to meet the requirements of New York\u2019s climate law, the state must stop adding <\/em>new fossil fuel infrastructure. Why build new oil and gas pipelines that take decades to pay off if the state has to stop burning those fuels? Thus, the Climate Plan recommends requiring that new building construction rely on electricity for heating and cooking, not fossil fuels. In addition, the Climate Plan says that in the future, appliances that run on gas should not be sold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that if you have, say, a gas stove now and you rely on an existing gas pipeline to power it, nothing changes \u2013 certainly not right away. After all, how often do you buy a new stove? No one is proposing that New Yorkers have to drag their gas stoves out to the garbage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n