Albany, NY — In a press conference today, Governor Cuomo appeared to fumble on a commitment made in his January State of the State address to replace fossil fuel plants with clean power. In his remarks today, Governor Cuomo said his goal was to use renewable energy sources for the power plants, but “that may not be a realistic option.”

In his State of the State speech, Governor Cuomo committed to fossil fuel phaseout, a necessary step to make progress against climate goals, saying “we must replace fossil fuel plants with clean power. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.” His backtracked remarks today seemed to indicate an unwillingness to fulfill his legal obligation under the state’s climate law to move New York off fossil fuels, including stopping the Danskammer, Gowanus and Astoria fracked gas plants.

In response, Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director Alex Beauchamp issued the following statement:

“To make any serious progress on climate change, Governor Cuomo must fulfill his legal and moral obligation to phase out fossil fuels. We cannot continue to import fracked gas, let it flow through pipelines in our communities, or burn it in our power plants, factories and buildings. Governor Cuomo must get back on track and put in the hard work to move New York off fossil fuels for good. As he said himself, there are no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Contact: Phoebe Galt, Food & Water Watch, [email protected]