Majority of New Yorkers against Kathy Hochul gas stove ban: poll

A majority of New Yorkers are against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to phase out gas stoves in new homes by 2025, according to a Siena College poll released Monday.

The bulk of New Yorkers surveyed, 53% in total, were against Hochul’s plan to prohibit all fossil fuel-burning equipment – including stoves – for new single-family homes built beginning at the end of 2025.

Only 39% were in support of the proposed ban on gas hook-ups in smaller, new buildings. Hochul’s plan, which critics say would raise the costs for ordinary families and affects the quality of the meals being prepared, would extend to larger buildings under construction by 2028.

“Democrats strongly support Hochul’s proposal on prohibiting fossil fuel-burning equipment in most new construction within the next several years, however Republicans and independents are even stronger in their opposition,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

Along with barring gas hook-ups in new buildings, Hochul wants to start a “cap and invest” program that she says will raise $1 billion by making “large-scale” polluters pay up.

She has also argued that the state must push electrification mandates for new buildings in order to meet the legally mandated goal of cutting greenhouse emissions 85% by 2050 – an idea that has caused massive outrage among Republicans, who deem it impractical given the current level of renewable energy available to the grid.

“[My constituents] are talking about gas stoves and the state’s imposition of a policy that just doesn’t make sense where we live,” Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-Binghamton) told reporters at the state Capitol after meeting with members of the GOP Assembly minority earlier this month.

“They got rid of the gas stoves from the Governor’s Mansion yet,” Molinaro then quipped referencing backlash the governor has received after social media sleuths found that both Executive Mansion in Albany and Hochul’s Buffalo home still have the same type of fossil fuel appliances she is trying to ban.

Criticism of the proposals is part of broader attacks on Hochul’s draft spending plan ahead of the April 1 budget deadline.

Hochul’s record-breaking $227 billion budget proposal adds about $5 billion in new spending, including an extra $1.35 billion for New York City, which would get more than $20.9 billion in total state aid. 

But Hochul’s plan also calls for the city to pony up $500 million a year to fund the MTA’s para-transit programs, which Mayor Eric Adams has balked at.