The accountability feed

News

Vetted coverage of Governor Hochul's administration, grouped by day. Every item names its publication and carries a source-credibility tier — Tier 1 primary/wire, Tier 2 established outlet, Tier 3 secondary. No spin; each story links to its original source.

Source tier

All sources Tier 137 Tier 257 Tier 32

Priority

All Breaking2 High45 Routine49

Topic

All topics hochul16 blakeman15 election15 campaign14 climate13 economy12 other12 budget11 immigration8 data-centers7 transit7 campaign-finance7

12 items

Jul 30, 2026

GothamistTIER 1

Finger Lakes bitcoin mine Greenidge rebrands as data center, testing Hochul's EO 62 moratorium

Greenidge Generation, the gas-fired Finger Lakes bitcoin-mining plant, has rebranded as Vulcan Infrastructure and Power and is seeking 200 MW of additional grid power (roughly 150,000 homes' worth) to become an AI data center — raising ~$40M for the effort. Hochul's EO 62, signed this month as the country's first data-center moratorium, pauses permits for facilities of 50 MW+, but DEC says it has received no new application and would not say whether Vulcan's plan falls under the moratorium; Hochul's office referred questions to DEC. Earthjustice and Seneca Lake Guardian say the rebrand is an attempt to escape the moratorium and the plant's pollution record. A first test of how far EO 62 reaches.

climate

Jul 24, 2026

Fingerlakes1.comTIER 3

Blakeman calls for statewide halt on battery storage facilities, citing East Hampton fire

Blakeman called Jul 23 for an immediate statewide halt to battery storage facilities until regulators can guarantee safety, tying it to an East Hampton battery fire and alleging PFAS-contaminated runoff reached groundwater. His campaign release asserted independent testing found PFAS but published no test results. He accused the Hochul administration of withholding information about the incident, cited Niagara County radioactive waste and the Bethpage Grumman plume as state failures, and repeated his pledge to cut utility bills in half without explaining how.

climate

Jul 20, 2026

Mid Hudson NewsTIER 2

Blakeman vows to reverse New York's all-electric buildings law and restore natural gas in new construction

Blakeman called the state's all-electric mandate for most new buildings "unscientific" and "unaffordable," arguing it raises housing costs and that the grid can't handle the added demand, and pledged to reverse the natural-gas restrictions if elected. The law, phasing in over the coming years under the CLCPA framework Hochul backs, targets one of the state's largest emissions sources. The vow puts the in-progress All-Electric Buildings Act promise squarely on the November ballot, alongside his earlier pledges to rescind the data-center moratorium and cap-and-invest.

campaign

Jul 16, 2026

Governor's OfficeTIER 1

Hochul expands wildfire-smoke air quality advisory statewide, sends 100K+ N95 masks to counties

With Canadian wildfire smoke and high heat pushing air quality to "Unhealthy" across most regions, DEC and DOH issued a statewide Air Quality Health Advisory for July 15 and 16. Hochul directed 100,000+ N95-style masks to counties, with the MTA distributing at Penn Station and Grand Central. Forecasts warned of temporary spikes to "Very Unhealthy."

climate

Jul 15, 2026

CNBCTIER 1

Trump calls Hochul's data-center moratorium a "terrible decision," urges New York to reverse it

A day after Hochul signed EO 62 — the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers (50+ MW, up to one year) — President Trump attacked the move on Truth Social, writing "New York State has made a terrible decision" and calling data centers "Money Machines" whose taxes and jobs "amount to LIQUID GOLD!" The clash adds a federal front to the moratorium fight; Blakeman had already said localities should cut their own deals.

climate

Jul 2, 2026

WRVOTIER 2High

Hochul urges voluntary power conservation as heat wave strains the grid

Amid a prolonged heat wave, Hochul asked New Yorkers to voluntarily conserve electricity after coordinating with Con Edison and NYISO on peak-load challenges, raising grid-reliability questions.

climate

Governor's OfficeTIER 2