A heat wave is expected to impact the East Coast just ahead of the July 4th holiday, and an “Extreme Heat Warning” has been issued.
The heat wave won’t just be confined to New York. New Jersey will feel it too.The National Weather Service has issued an Air Quality Alert for ground level ozone Wednesday. The entire region is under an Extreme Heat Warning through Friday. Temperatures could feel like 110° or more.Record high temperatures for N.Y. and N.J. weather are possible over the next few days. For that reason, Wednesday, Thursday Friday and Saturday are all First Alert Weather Days….The Extreme Heat Warning through Friday extends up and down the East Coast.
In response, the office of Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani issued warnings that both encouraged the use of air conditioning:
“I am asking every New Yorker to make a heat plan before the worst of this weather arrives,” said Mayor Mamdani. “The best protection against extreme heat is air conditioning. If you don’t have it at home, know now where you’ll go to stay cool. Check in on your neighbors, especially seniors, and if you see someone outside who appears to be in distress, call 311 so we can get help to them. This administration is using every tool we have to keep New Yorkers safe, but the strongest city is one where neighbors look out for one another.”
Then, they asked companies to set the thermostat at 78 degrees.
Mamdani then went on social media and asked everyone to turn the thermostat up as well.
The mayor was met with a frosty reception, including references to the French aversion to this technology.
The approach was not appreciated by the independent-minded.
But perhaps the best was a reminder of why New York City and the rest of the region may be facing an energy emergency as well as an extreme heat event.
We have covered New York state’s attempts to impose “Net Zero” inanity, which has resulted in rising utility bills and fuel costs. Gov. Kathy Hochul is now openly moving to scale back and delay parts of the state’s 2019 climate law, but the impacts on energy availability and pricing may make keeping cool difficult for many New Yorkers over the next week.
Policymakers in New York and elsewhere systematically overestimate the reliability contribution of wind and solar while underinvesting in complementary infrastructure such as storage, transmission, and backup generation. Even as New York promotes renewables, the combination of intermittent output and slow project development means the grid still depends heavily on older plants during high‑load conditions.
I recall the Carter years, when wearing sweaters and turning down the thermostat were pushed as policy. Mamdani is taking the failed policy and updating it for the New Millennium with a summertime twist.
And the mayor’s recommendation is completely tone-deaf when it comes to using electricity to sustain the image of a glamorous New York City. I suspect the lights of Times Square will continue to burn brightly as citizens sweat.
The suggestions of privation and discomfort when the US has the technology and resources to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures are as unpopular now as they were in the 1970’s.
I can only hope that there is not a major blackout in the region.
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