She’s taking a tough line on fossil fuels — except the ones she’s spewing.
Gov. Hochul — who recently approved a controversial law that will force oil, natural-gas and coal companies to pony up $75 billion for carbon emissions allegedly contributing to global warming — has taken at least 30 flights aboard private jets since 2021, state Board of Elections records show.
The $415,000 tab was picked up by her campaign committee, records show.
“It’s very wasteful, especially for an elected official. There is no reason why any elected official in New York should be taking a private jet. Nearly everywhere in New York or upstate has a [commercial] airport that will take you anywhere in the country. New York is one of the most well-connected places on the planet,” said a local pilot experienced in private aviation.
Hochul flew with two private-airline companies, Zephyr Jets and Apollo Jets, in the last four years. It is unclear what the destinations were, but no flight cost less than $5,000 while her most expensive was trip was billed Jan. 17 for $38,594.00, records show.
A medium-sized private jet from Albany to New York City would burn about 320 gallons of fuel, according to industry experts — about 55 times more than a car.
The majority of flights took place in 2022 when Hochul was in the midst of her nail-biter re-election campaign against former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, BOE disclosures show.
But Hochul’s official schedule offered few clues about her exact whereabouts. In May 2022, she recorded the use of “private flights” after participating in a slew of events — which were almost certainly fundraisers.
Her April 2022 schedule mentions four private flights, all to airports in New York and New Jersey to attend “private events.” In May 2022 a private plane whisked her to the Hamptons. In August she was in Montauk.
Hochul also jetted off to Washington D.C. and New Orleans, records show.
“My guess is she raises so much money, she’s probably in California a lot,” said one Democratic Albany insider.
A commercial flight to California on a Boeing 737-800 consumes 850 gallons of jet fuel per hour, but would accommodate 166 passengers, coming out to just over five gallons per person. A medium-sized private jet with 10 seats would burn around 320 gallons of fuel per hour — or 32 gallons per person.
The New York State Democratic Committee, which Hochul controls, spent an additional $75,000 on four private flights in 2021 and 2022, records show. Those flights were almost certainly for Hochul, insiders said.
The high-flying travel flies in the face of Hochul’s public commitment to crack down on profligate use of fossil fuels.
“I’m the only candidate for Governor of New York who is committed to cracking down on polluters, cutting carbon emissions, and treating climate change like the crisis that it is. Our environmental progress is at stake in November,” Hochul boasted in an X post from October 2022.
The Climate Change Superfund, which Hochul signed into law last week, would soak big-time carbon emitters of $75 billion and is modeled after a federal law that holds polluters responsible for abandoned toxic-waste sites, advocates said. Money taken from fossil fuel companies over a 24-year-period would go toward resiliency projects, such as coastal protection and flood mitigation.
Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres, who has become a ferocious critics of Hochul as he eyes a possible challenge to her in 2026, ripped her frequent flying.
“When it comes of combating climate change, the governor is conspicuously failing to practice what she preaches. New Yorkers viscerally resent hypocrisy, and the governor’s hypocrisy here is as staggering as her carbon footprint,” Torres told The Post.
Hochul spokesman Brian Lenzmeier insisted the trips, first brought to light on X in a post by social media sleuth Sam Antar, a convicted fraudster and former CFO of electronics store Crazy Eddie, are “strictly allocated for legitimate campaign activities.
“As the leader of the New York State Democratic Party, Governor Hochul frequently travels to campaign rallies, fundraisers, and events like the Democratic National Convention. These travel expenses are covered by the appropriate political entities,” he said.
