New York State’s climate law and others like it that seek zero-emission power grids in coming decades are driving up energy costs and are "totally nuts," U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said during a visit to the Northport Power Station Tuesday.

He suggested that federal funds could help subsidize much-needed upgrades of aging fossil fuel plants such as those on Long Island.

"From just a common sense perspective it’s just totally nuts, that’s my technical term for what it is," Wright said of climate laws such as New York's that call for all-electric heating in buildings above a certain size and would limit use of natural gas.

"The goal of the Trump administration and my goal personally in the Department of Energy is how can we help every state in our country lower its cost of energy,

See Full Page