(The Center Square) — Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging state lawmakers to delay aggressive emission mandates in New York’s landmark climate law, citing the impact on energy consumers from spikes in utility and gas bills.
Hochul said Monday she plans to roll out a proposal this week to scale back provisions of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires New York to reduce its excess greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
“I think we need a longer runway,” she said in remarks in Buffalo. “All the goals we’re supposed to meet would have to be met by 2030, 2031. That’s not possible without prices going up.”
Hochul has warned that the aggressive goals in the landmark climate law could cost the average New Yorker up to $3,500 per year. She has also said the law’s emissions reduction mandates are “unrealistic” amid the Trump administration’s efforts to end support for clean energy projects.
A report by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority said the law’s requirements for homeowners and businesses to reduce reliance on fossil fuels would impose heavy burdens on New York households, especially those unable to afford lower-emissions technologies.
It would also drive up the price of gasoline in New York by an estimated $2.23 per gallon by 2031, on top of current prices as fossil fuel companies pass along the costs of the state’s proposed cap-and-invest program onto consumers, according to the report.
Environmental groups have pushed back on those claims, claiming the shift to clean energy will ultimately save New Yorkers’ money and offset the costs of rising temperatures, more intense air pollution, health impacts, and more frequent and more severe extreme weather events such as storms, flooding, heat waves, and wildfires.
A coalition of groups led by Earthjustice sued New York last year, claiming the Hochul administration is in violation of the 2019 law by failing to implement all of its provisions.
“The administration has chosen to turn away from years of its own modeling and research, give in to fossil fuel interests, and follow the Trump Administration’s lead by denying the real costs of climate change,” Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates NY, said in a statement. “The Governor should know better.”
It’s not clear whether Democrats who control the state Legislature will agree to Hochul’s proposals to dial back the climate change law. Progressive lawmakers have already pushed back against Hochul’s signals that she wants to change the law.
A group of nearly 30 Democratic state senators recently sent a letter to Hochul “categorically” rejecting the need for climate law rollbacks, claiming data for the NYSERDA report is “flawed.”
The Democratic-run Assembly’s state budget proposal released last week calls for one-time “rebate” checks of up to $500 to address rising utility bills. The proposal, if approved, would distribute about $2.6 billion to 5.4 million New York households, who pay some of the highest prices for energy in the nation.
Assembly Democrats are also proposing a two-year freeze on utility rate increases and the formation of a new state commission to study rising energy costs.
Republicans, who constitute a minority in the state Assembly and Senate, have filed a proposal that would require a $2 billion surplus sitting in NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Fund or any unspent funds collected by utilities be sent back to ratepayers as a bill credit.
