Hochul Moves to Weaken NY's Landmark Climate Law
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to revise New York's 2019 Climate Act through the FY2027 budget process, shifting to a 60% emissions reduction by 2040 instead of the current 40% by 2030 target, while keeping the 85% by 2050 goal intact.
- Hochul said the economic policy to meet revised targets won't be announced until 2028, arguing, "We cannot meet the current timelines without driving energy costs higher."
- Environmental justice advocates, including Eunice Ko of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, warn the delays will prolong exposure to unhealthy conditions for low-income communities near gas-fired power plants and highways, and criticized the budget maneuver for lacking "full transparency."
- New York statewide emissions in 2023 were approximately 15% below 1990 levels — far short of the 40% reduction goal by 2030 — and the state's own Climate Scoping Plan concluded that the cost of inaction exceeds the cost of action by more than $115 billion.
- New York has delayed the All-Electric Buildings Law (buildings account for nearly 30% of state emissions) and gas-fired plants produced nearly half the state's net electricity generation in 2024.
- Two gas-fired "peaker" plants will remain open until at least May 2029 despite being slated to close last year, after the grid operator cited reliability needs driven by rising demand from data centers and electrification.
Why it matters: For environmental justice communities already living near gas-fired peaker plants and high-traffic corridors, a six-year delay in the 2030 emissions target translates into years of additional exposure to harmful pollutants — and Hochul is routing the change through the budget process, which advocates say bypasses the normal legislative and public-review transparency built into the 2019 law. The state's own emissions data shows New York is only 15% below 1990 levels, well off the pace the Climate Scoping Plan says is needed.
