Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., on Sunday said he plans to champion energy production if elected New York State's next governor.
In an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Zeldin said he's confident residents in the traditionally blue state are supportive of any efforts to "help relieve this economic pressure."
He's running against Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.
"We have to reverse the state's ban on the safe extraction of natural gas," he asserted.
"We could be exporting not just to other states, we could be exporting energy to other countries," he said. "We could create jobs and generate revenue and revitalize commitments. We can help pay for what is a plan for the largest tax cut in the history of the state."
According to Zeldin, progressives who are allies of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have an outsized voice in Albany and are impeding fossil fuel projects.
"I believe that we need to approve new pipeline applications," he maintained.
"There are a bunch of applications sitting in the New York State Capitol in Albany being delayed, denied," he argued. "And AOC has gotten a bunch of her friends elected to the state legislature. They have outsized power. They self-describe as socialists. They want to be able to get a new bill passed that would ban all gas hook-ups on new construction statewide."
"The contrast in this fork in the road couldn't possibly be any clearer," he declared.