{"id":345961,"date":"2026-09-14T01:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/345961\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T01:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T01:48:18","slug":"gops-bruce-blakeman-promises-to-end-hochuls-war-on-drivers-by-killing-dems-ny-green-mandates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/345961\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP’s Bruce Blakeman promises to end Hochul’s ‘war on drivers’ by killing Dem’s NY green mandates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman<\/a> promised to end a New York state \u201cwar on drivers\u201d by killing Democrat-driven green energy mandates if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n

Blakeman ripped his Democratic rival Gov. Kathy Hochul for her pro-EV crusade to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of zero-emission electric vehicles by<\/a> 2035.<\/p>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman joins Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement officials to announce future plans of Nassau County to cooperate with ICE. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul looks at middle-class commuters and sees an ATM,\u201d Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, told The Post. \u201cShe already hiked tolls and fares 21 times, slapped drivers with a congestion pricing <\/a>tax just to cross into Manhattan, and now she\u2019s literally trying to dictate what vehicle you can keep in your driveway.<\/p>\n

\u201cHochul may think everyone rides an electric scooter to an office, but out in the real world, we have kids to drive to school, tools to haul to job sites, and shifts to make,\u201d he went on. \u201cWhen I\u2019m Governor, Hochul\u2019s war on drivers ends, and her gas car ban goes straight to the garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2022 law backed by Hochul \u2014 the Advance Clear Cars Mandate 2 \u2014 requires all new passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs sold in New York State to be zero emissions by 2035.<\/p>\n

New York Governor Kathy Hochul attends a ribbon cutting of a Comunilife residence on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

Hochul promoted zero-emission electric autos to meet the state\u2019s climate change law requirements for dramatically reducing greenhouse emissions and air pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York is a national climate leader and an economic powerhouse, and we\u2019re using our strength to help spur innovation and implementation of zero-emission vehicles on a grand scale,\u201d Hochul said in a <\/a>September 2022 press statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith sustained state and federal investments, our actions are incentivizing New Yorkers, local governments, and businesses to make the transition to electric vehicles. We\u2019re driving New York\u2019s transition to clean transportation forward, and today\u2019s announcement will benefit our climate and the health of our communities for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul doubled down on her support for the ban on gas-powered vehicles during Earth Week in April, saying $30 million in government funds <\/a>were available to help subsidize New Yorkers\u2019 purchase or lease of an electric vehicle.<\/p>\n

Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, center, stands after a press conference in front of American Best Wings & Pizza. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the federal administration continues to roll back support for clean air and electric vehicles, New York State is leaning in to prioritize benefits that reduce consumer out-of-pocket costs while reducing harmful emissions,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when gas prices at the pump have soared in the wake of the war with Iran, electric vehicles will help make driving more affordable for New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Blakeman said the<\/a> edict strips driving consumers of choice while imposing crushing vehicle prices and overloading an already fragile electrical grid.<\/p>\n

Last year, New York\u2019s auto dealers interviewed by The Post warned the deadline to wean drivers off gas-powered cars to electric vehicles was pie in the sky.<\/p>\n

New York Mayor Kathy Hochul arrives to the memorial on the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in New York. AP Photo\/Adam Gray<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deadlines don\u2019t match the reality,\u201d said Jack Weidinger, chairman of the Greater Automobile Dealers Association of NY, who owns a Cadillac dealership in Great Neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cDealers want to extend the deadline so we don\u2019t destroy the market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even some Democratic lawmakers <\/a>urged Hochul to pump the brakes on the timeline forcing New Yorkers to switch from gas-powered cars to emission-free electric autos.<\/p>\n

Hochul and the Democratic-led legislature have also banned gas stoves, furnaces and propane heating in new buildings.<\/p>\n

Democrat Hochul, seeking re-election to a second term, did push back <\/a>and tweak a mandate that New York cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The new goal is 60% by 2040, with changes to how that measure is calculated.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s campaign did not address Blakeman\u2019s criticism of the electric car mandate and instead linked her Republican opponent to President Trump\u2019s energy and tariff policies and touted the governor\u2019s reforms to tame high auto insurance costs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Gas prices have surged amid the US war with Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s talk about Bruce Blakeman\u2019s war on drivers: while Governor Hochul lowers the cost of car insurance to put money back in families\u2019 pockets, Blakeman opposes those efforts while throwing his weight behind Trump\u2019s record-high gas prices that are draining New Yorkers\u2019 wallets and his illegal tariffs that make cars more expensive,\u201d said Hochul Campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman promised to end a New York state \u201cwar on drivers\u201d by killing Democrat-driven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1626,7443,5258,19475,426,57,9,11,10,13895,58],"class_list":["post-345961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-climate-change","tag-electric-cars","tag-green-energy","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-ny-governor-election-2026","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}