Among the savviest phrases in American politics is “controlling the narrative.” That means telling a story your way, before someone else tells it — and possibly tells it better — their way. Sometimes it even means spinning a policy narrative so that the public never hears of the underlying policy failure.

A good example of that will occur this week with Governor Hochul’s “Future Energy Economy Summit.” The Summit, being held in Syracuse, N.Y., is being advertised as an opportunity for policymakers to “gather feedback on strategies to accelerate renewable energy deployment and explore the potential role of next generation clean energy technologies…”

The Summit comes on the heels of gathering criticisms of the Hochul Administration’s implementation of New York’s Climate Law. The Climate Law was approved five years ago and sets the state on a path toward “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this Century. The “net zero” goal is consistent with the standard set by the world’s climate scientists who have warned that in order to avoid the worst consequences of global heating, all nations need to adhere to the net zero goal.

New York’s law set interim goals designed to guide policymakers as benchmark steps to meet the goals advised by the world’s climate experts. Those interim goals commit the state to generate 70 percent of its electricity from renewable power sources and achieve a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

After the Climate Law was passed the state then convened a panel of “stakeholders” to develop a detailed blueprint to meet those interim goals. The panel was chosen, and their work completed after a public hearing process and other ways to allow input.

Their blueprint, known as the “Scoping Plan,” was released at the end of 2022. Among its findings was one that stated that unless measures were taken, New Yorkers faced a considerable financial risk from climate-change impacts.

During the ensuing five-year period, it has become clear that the state did not do enough to meet the law’s requirements as well as the recommendations made in the Scoping Plan. Reviews of the state’s efforts, both inside and outside state government, found that far too little was accomplished — largely due to an anemic response by the Administration.

Now that it looks increasingly clear that the state will miss its first benchmark, the governor has organized the Energy Summit. In an apparent effort to help change the narrative for a policy failure, one key element of the Summit is to gather “further input on technologies,” such as “advanced nuclear.”

Nuclear power has been an ongoing controversy since the near-meltdown at a Pennsylvania plant in the 1970s. Since then, the nation has had a near freeze on expanding its use. Here in New York, four ancient nuclear power plants are operating north of Syracuse and continuing to run due to multi-billion-dollar ratepayer subsidies — meaning all electric consumers are propping up these old plants.

The governor’s mention of “advanced nuclear” is the product of Congressional legislation approved by President Biden earlier this year. The ADVANCE Act, aims to further streamline permitting for new reactor designs, change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s mission to not only protect public health and safety but also to protect the financial health of the nuclear power industry, and promote deployment across the globe.

The problems with constructing nuclear power plants are massive — given the legitimate safety concerns. Nuke plants have been plagued with construction delays, cost overruns, taxpayer subsidies, dangerous risks from uranium mining, and serious problems with the lack of long-term spent radioactive fuel storage capacity. To date, the only long-term spent radioactive fuel storage occurs on the site of the facility itself. So, each nuclear power plant location is also a radioactive waste site.

Moreover, the new “advanced nuclear” technology has problems. A project to build a first-of-a-kind small modular nuclear reactor power plant was terminated earlier this year. The project had the only small modular nuclear reactor design certified for use in the United States. The company cited lack of consumer interest and cost increases as the main reasons. The story is the same elsewhere, as delays, huge cost overruns and the dropping cost of solar and wind power make “new wave” nuclear power a questionable option.

In New York, however, the mere advancement of the concept will change the narrative and force a public debate over nuclear power and divert attention from the state’s failure to meet the Climate Law’s 2030 goals.

New York’s science based goals are too important to get lost in the debate. New Yorkers should continue to hold the Hochul Administration’s “feet to the fire” and demand that it follows the law’s mandates. There is too much at stake.