Hochul Proposes Weakening New York’s Climate Law

ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul is backing measures that would weaken the strict deadlines for implementing New York’s landmark climate law and make the targets easier to meet.

Hochul has formally proposed changing the way the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act calculates New York’s emissions, effectively requiring less aggressive reductions, according to three people familiar with the proposal who were granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.

The governor has also proposed delaying the timeline to establish regulations to achieve the goals — which is the subject of ongoing litigation — to 2030, while keeping the law’s emissions deadlines intact.

"The undeniable fact is we cannot meet the Climate Act’s 2030 targets without imposing new and additional crushing costs on New York businesses and residents," Hochul wrote in an opinion pieceoutlining her proposal in the Empire Report.

POLITICO was first to report the details of the proposal.

The governor’s proposed changes, if she succeeds, would be the most significant weakening of an ambitious climate law in a liberal state since Democrats embraced aggressive efforts to combat global warming. Hochul’s push exemplifies the increasing focus of many Democratic leaders across the country on affordability as they grapple with rising energy costs. The governor has said she wants changes in the state's budget, which is due March 31.

Hochul blamed the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation for putting the goals out of reach. She also pointed to President Donald Trump's opposition to clean energy including offshore wind.

"These proposed changes preserve the intent of the law while realistically recognizing the economic and political challenges we face," Hochul wrote. "I look forward to working with lawmakers to achieve an outcome that will make our state both more sustainable and more affordable."

Some Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists have criticized Hochul’s approach, arguing that transitioning quickly to clean energy would insulate New York from price shocks from volatile fossil fuels, a problem that’s been highlighted in recent weeks by the war in Iran.

The governor’s proposal doesn’t change a 2030 deadline to reduce emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels, according to the three people familiar. The governor had floated a potential change to the baseline from which reductions would be measured but that doesn’t appear to be included in the latest discussion.

But by changing the deadline for regulations to achieve the law from 2024 to 2030, that near-term reduction target likely becomes moot since there would not be a requirement for rules to achieve it. The regulations are expected to still implement a cap-and-trade style program to charge a fee for pollution, which Hochul previously embraced before delaying action on it.

Her delay and the state’s failure to issue regulations to achieve the climate law’s goals led to a lawsuit from environmental justice groups that Hochul has pointed to as forcing her to seek changes this year. Those groups dispute the governor’s claims and say they’re willing to settle for incremental progress.

The changes proposed would also align New York’s method of accounting for emissions with other jurisdictions. Under the state’s current methodology, New York reduced emissions about 14 percent since 1990 as of 2023. The change advanced by Hochul would make the progress thus far about 24 percent.

The largest impact of that change is the removal of upstream emissions from the extraction and transportation of natural gas and other fuels imported into New York.

The state would also switch from considering the emissions impact of pollutants over a 20-year time frame to a 100-year time frame. The 20-year time horizon makes reducing methane, the main component of natural gas, a more urgent priority, since it breaks down quickly in the atmosphere and doesn’t have much of an effect when considered over longer periods.

This is an issue environmentalists and some climate researchers have pushed back hard on, arguing the urgency of addressing short-term warming impacts from natural gas only increases as the planet rapidly warms.

The governor's changes would also treat biofuels, including renewable natural gas, in the way other states do, opening the door to programs to incentivize capturing gas from landfills and dairy farms. That's aprovision prioritized by some trucking interests and businesses that produce renewable natural gas."

In addition, the proposal includes some interim funding for progress on climate action, likely an infusion into the Sustainable Future Fund, which got $3 billion last year. It may also include a 2040 interim deadline for emissions reductions, which could require the state to make progress ahead of a long-term 2050 deadline already in the law, according to two of the people familiar with the proposal. An interim target may also mollify some environmentalists and lawmakers.