Energy Dominance Powering States’ Success: Byrne and Cushing in the Washington Reporter

Kevin Byrne, Putnam County Executive and Chair of the American City County Exchange (ACCE), recently co-authored an op-ed with Andre Cushing, Penobscot County Commissioner and Director of ACCE, examining New York’s underwhelming energy policies for the Washington Reporter. 

New York’s radical climate policies are driving up costs, short-circuiting our energy supply, and sticking taxpayers with the bill. While progressive lawmakers in Albany push unaffordable mandates and dream of government-run utilities, President Donald Trump is doing what leaders should — putting American energy and working families first.

We remember what energy dominance looked like. During his first term, President Trump made the United States a net exporter of energy for the first time in more than 60 years. He cut red tape, promoted domestic production, and unleashed the full strength of America’s abundant natural resources — creating jobs, lowering costs, and establishing a truly America First foreign policy.

Now, in his second term, he’s returned to form, and our country is benefiting again. President Trump recently announced a blockbuster trade deal with the European Union that includes $750 billion in U.S. energy exports and $600 billion in new investment here at home. Under EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a proud New Yorker who knows firsthand the damage Albany’s policies have caused, the Trump administration is rolling back the burdensome rules that once strangled American energy.

This is a sharp, and welcome, contrast to what’s happening in places like New York.

Thanks to the state’s so-called “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA) of 2019, local governments are drowning in unfunded mandates, including a radical plan to ban gas-powered stoves and other appliances, while ratepayers face higher bills and fewer energy options. In 2021, New York shut down Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, one of the Empire State’s most reliable sources of baseload power, with no plan B. The result? Grid instability and higher prices for electricity as modern technology continues to drive demand higher.

You can read the full op-ed here.