Ryan Taughrin
DemocraticQ1 Data centers are a controversial part of America’s growing AI industry, supporting cutting-edge innovation and potential job creation, but raising issues of resource use and utility costs. New York now has a moratorium on data center construction. At the same time, state tax law grants tax exemptions to equipment and services used by data centers, which some proposed legislation would repeal. What do you see as the right balance of costs and benefits for new data center construction in New York, and how would your policies accomplish that balance?
New Yorkers cannot be on the hook for the energy and water resource needs that come with AI data center construction. I fully support the AI data center moratorium while New York figures out the right way to protect people, protect communities, and protect our resources. Policy-wise, I would not feel comfortable with any AI data center construction without clear guidelines on how local communities would be involved in the project review, clear guidelines as to how any private company would be responsible for infrastructure and grid improvement in the community they are looking to build in, and evaluation of tax exemptions on any development.
I think the biggest component of finding this balance is ensuring local input, while also ensuring the state has guardrails in place to support residents.
KEYWORDS: Ratepayer protection, energy use, water, tax break
Q2 New York currently generates about 47% of its energy from low carbon sources including nuclear, hydropower, and wind and solar, with the remainder coming from combustion sources (natural gas, oil, biofuel, and solid waste). While New York committed to shifting to low-carbon energy sources and emissions reductions in passing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), Governor Hochul recently moved to delay implementation of several components of the state’s climate law to December 31, 2028. As concerns about energy costs, reliability, and emissions grow, what energy sources would you prioritize, under what timeline, and what evidence would guide that decision?
I support New York’s move to clean energy, and I think the CLCPA’s goals are worth reaching. How we get there has to be guided by science, engineering, reliability, and cost. My priorities are hydropower, more wind and solar, battery storage, energy efficiency, and real upgrades to our transmission system.
Here in Western New York, we’re already living with the effects of climate change: harder storms, flooding, and hotter summers. We’re also living with utility bills that keep going up. Our timelines should be ambitious, and they also need to account for grid reliability, actual emissions cuts, whether a technology is ready, and what families are paying.
First, we need to fix transmission so the power we generate upstate can get where it’s needed. Then we scale up solar, onshore wind, and storage with project labor agreements, so these are good union jobs that stay local. Niagara’s hydropower is one of the best things we have going, and we need to protect it. I also don’t want us shutting down any working clean power source before its replacement is up and running. And as I’ve written before, big users like AI data centers need to pay for the power and grid upgrades they use. Families in Cheektowaga and Lancaster shouldn’t be stuck with that bill.
KEYWORDS: Wind, solar, energy efficiency
Q3 Young adults say that social media is their top source of science information, but acknowledge that it is less trustworthy compared to other sources. In addition, the widespread usage of social media and other sources of scientific information has resulted in the spread of misinformation that has spurred public education policies to curb it, such as a NYC vaccine misinformation legislation. What role should public education play in combatting misinformation and disseminating trustworthy, up to date scientific information to students and their families?
Public education should play a critical role in combatting misinformation, and as a legislator, I hope to lead when it comes to making sure the public trusts our educators, our science communicators, and those who work in government doing the important work around science information, vaccines, and public health.
I would advocate for any programs, resource, or initiatives that can be created or expanded to not only empower our public school science teachers with more information, but also ways for Departments of Health to connect with the public through outreach and engagement activities through schools to support accurate, up-to-date science and public health information.
KEYWORDS: public health, science communication
Q4 Pesticides are widely used in food production to help manage pests and support crop yields, but ongoing debates over their safety have raised questions about their long-term use and led to proposals to restrict certain pesticides. What data and evidence will you use to weigh the role of these products in food security against safety concerns when shaping policy on their use in New York agriculture?
I would look to peer-reviewed research to find the type of evidence and data I need, any time a bill like the one shared is up for debate. We’ve seen corporate interests tip the scales when it comes to regulation, and that ultimately hurts farmers, hurts the farm workers who are handling these products, and puts people at risk when consuming food.
On the food security side, I want to know what a product is used for here, how much of it is used, and what alternatives exist.
KEYWORDS: pesticide, food security
Q5 New York has the second largest international student population of any U.S. state, the majority of which study in STEM fields. The federal government is pursuing largescale changes to student visa approval, including increased visa denials, revoking existing visas, restricting travel from certain countries, and decreasing student visa durations. How, if at all, should New York respond to federal visa changes affecting international STEM students and researchers, and the resulting projected changes in the scientific workforce supply?
My current work as Assistant Dean for Enrollment at UB lets me see daily how damaging the federal government’s decision have been when it comes to international student mobility. Ultimately, Visa decisions and those changes must be fixed at the federal level. However, New York can, and should take a strong stance on pushing back against the range of harmful policies that have been proposed and implemented by the Trump administration. Not only will this have negative impacts on the scientific workforce supply, but is putting enrollment and financial pressures on our colleges and universities, and hurting the overall fabric of higher education.
KEYWORDS: higher education, international student
Q6 Extreme weather events are increasingly impacting farmland and food supplies across NY, including up to 30 million dollars in damages to farmer livelihoods. This has prompted the USDA to designate 30 counties in New York as Natural Disaster Areas. What policies, if any, would you support to help farmers adapt to and prepare for increasingly erratic weather?
Based on the data provided for this question, Erie County was named a federal disaster area after the flooding at the end of March, and frost and freezes in April and May damaged crops across the state. Farmers can’t plan around weather like this on their own, and the state should be an additional partner in finding solutions when erratic weather impacts crops.
I would expand the Climate Resilient Farming program so more farms can afford drainage, irrigation, soil health work, and frost protection before the next storm hits. I’d also support a state emergency relief fund that gets money to farmers quickly.
KEYWORDS: Farming, weather, crops
Q7 Law enforcement agencies across New York have contracted with Flock to install Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras as a public safety tool. The technology is receiving pushback over concerns over privacy and data sharing, resulting in city councilors in Syracuse voting to remove Flock cameras. What are your views on accessibility and utilization of ALPR data by local and federal law enforcement, and what legislation, if any, would you propose governing how ALPR data is collected, stored, shared and retained?
I’ve spent months on this issue. I spoke at the Cheektowaga Town Board against expanding our Flock contract, and I’ve pushed with local candidates for real oversight. Last month, a Cheektowaga police officer and dispatchers were accused of using Flock cameras to track a fellow employee. That’s exactly the kind of misuse people have been warning about.
Plate data shows where people go: to the doctor, to church, to a protest, to a friend’s house. That information should stay under tight local control, and federal agencies should never be able to search it without a warrant. When data gets shared through national networks with little oversight, New Yorkers lose control over who sees it and why.
If elected, I will co-sponsor the Hinchey-Hunter bill (S9890/A10808). It would require plate data to be deleted within 48 hours by default, ban sharing outside New York government except under a felony warrant, require annual public reporting on how cameras are used, and make illegally obtained data inadmissible in court.
I’d work to strengthen it in three ways. First, independent audits, because Virginia found dozens of agencies breaking its sharing rules after they passed. Second, a warrant requirement to track any individual’s movements. Third, real penalties for officers who misuse the system, along with competitive bidding and a public hearing before any town signs a surveillance contract.
KEYWORDS: ALPR, data sharing, cameras