Gubernatorial Candidate Warmington Dumps Net Zero Plan, Blames President Donald Trump

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

After months of refusing to release her updated energy plan, Democrat Cinde Warmington has now reversed course on her “net-zero” policy — and she’s blaming Donald Trump.

In an NHPR interview released Monday, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee was asked about her 2024 plan to require New Hampshire to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 — 10 years ahead of deep-blue Massachusetts.

“Well, I proposed 2040 in the last election, and that is when we had sort of record investments by the federal government in helping communities to do that. Under the Trump administration, of course, that money has gone away. So they’ve made the 2040 date impossible.”

Warmington also denied claims she supports an eventual ban on burning fossil fuels, as NHJournal has reported.

“I do want to clear up a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation of my position. I am not against all emissions. I’m not against gas-powered cars. I am not against gas stoves. I cook with a gas stove myself,” Warmington said.

The problem, energy policy experts note, is that achieving net zero as Warmington proposed is impossible unless fossil fuel use is drastically restricted, if not eliminated entirely.

The 2024 plan called for net-zero emissions by 2040, clean-energy standards, more wind and solar, and taxpayer-funded subsidies for electric vehicle purchases. It also relied on Granite Staters abandoning their oil furnaces and propane home heating for electric heat pumps.

If gas stations are still pumping and natural gas power plants are still firing, what’s the “net-zero” plan?

Warmington’s answer: “Net zero does not mean zero,” she told NHPR.

“There are other ways that you take carbon out of the environment, both including forestry, but also technology, technology that isn’t even developed yet.”

Setting aside technology that doesn’t exist, achieving net zero for New Hampshire through carbon offsets like planting trees would be a drastic undertaking, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The EIA estimates about 14 million metric tons of CO₂ from New Hampshire’s fossil-fuel energy use in 2024. That would require around 16 million acres.

New Hampshire’s entire landmass is only 5.73 million acres.

It would take more than three New Hampshires to achieve Warmington’s original net-zero goals through offsets alone.

Warmington’s campaign has filed a formal complaint with the state attorney general, demanding that a Kelly Ayotte campaign ad claiming she “would eliminate natural gas and home heating oil in New Hampshire” be pulled from the airwaves. The Attorney General’s Office has taken no action.

Team Ayotte isn’t backing down.

“Facts are a stubborn thing. Opioid Lobbyist Cinde Warmington is on the record supporting a ban on gas-powered vehicles, eliminating home heating oil, and pushing a net-zero target even more extreme than Massachusetts’ that would drive up energy costs. We can’t trust a word she says, and we certainly can’t afford her energy plan,” said Ayotte spokesman John Corbett.

One reason for the confusion is that Warmington has declined multiple requests to explain the details of her updated energ lan — a plan promisedmising to release for months.

In June, Warmington told Democrats in Pelham that she was revising the energy proposal from her 2024 campaign. “We’re tweaking that now, updated, and we’ll be putting that out,” she said. Four months later, still no plan.

Meanwhile, polls show the most pressing issue for Granite Staters is the high cost of gasoline and energy. New Hampshire consistently ranks among the most expensive states for electricity, and it’s also one of the states most reliant on natural gas for electricity and home heating.

Warmington, however, continues to oppose expanding access to natural gas to New Hampshire or the New England grid.

In an August WMUR interview, she was asked whether she supported efforts to increase natural gas access in New England to lower electric bills.

“I believe that we need to stop the addiction to fossil fuel,” Warmington answered. “We need a clean energy economy in this state, an investment in energy efficiency, in renewable energy.”

That stance is striking as Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey asks federal regulators to expedite review of a gas-pipeline expansion. Healey says the Project RARE expansion would lower customer costs by bringing more pipeline gas into the region and reducing reliance on more expensive liquefied natural gas.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called Warmington’s net-zero approach “just a horrifically bad idea” during a recent New Hampshire visit. “This is an example of using politics to decide energy instead of what I think energy should be about, which is humans and math.”

Meanwhile, Ayotte released a letter Monday demanding Eversource, Unitil and National Grid “immediately refund the $150 million that is owed” to ratepayers due to overcharges identified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“Transmission utilities have overcharged Granite Staters to boost their bottom lines, and they continue to delay the return of this money at a time when families are struggling,” Ayotte said.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.