With less than two weeks before the state budget is due, Gov. Kathy Hochul says the state’s 2019 climate law needs to be overhauled because New Yorkers are facing an affordability crisis.

The move on Friday came as an op-ed column, drawing criticism from Democratic lawmakers and climate groups, but praise from pro-business organizations.

What You Need To Know

With less than two weeks before the state budget is due, Gov. Kathy Hochul says the state’s 2019 climate law needs to be overhauled because New Yorkers are facing an affordability crisis

The move today came in the form of an op-ed column – drawing criticism from Democratic lawmakers and climate groups, but praise from pro-business organizations

She argues that in 2019, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the legislature could not have anticipated the Trump administration’s energy policies as well as today’s geopolitical and economic challenges that are altering New York’s ability to ramp up compliance

“Despite supporting the intentions of the Climate Act, I am pushing changes to the law as part of our budget discussions with the Legislature. This is solely out of necessity – to protect New Yorkers’ pocketbooks and economy,” she wrote in an opinion piece published on Empire Report.

She argues that in 2019, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the legislature could not have anticipated the Trump administration’s energy policies as well as today’s geopolitical and economic challenges that are altering New York’s ability to ramp up compliance.

“The governor essentially is trying to diffuse a time bomb,” Manhattan Institute fellow Ken Girardin said. “The grid, especially in New York City, is coming under increasing threat as it’s becoming more and more difficult to maintain reliability. You have electric bills that have jumped significantly.”

Now, her eleventh-hour pitch? The state “needs more time.”

Hochul proposes pushing back the deadline for new emissions standards to 2030 and creating new emission limits for a new 2040 deadline. She also wants legislators to agree on a new definition of how emissions are cut down.

“Otherwise, these impossible emission reduction targets… only used by NY and one other state… will ensure our failure despite all of our efforts and billions of dollars spent,” she writes.

“If we actually try to meet that 2030 goal with four and a half years to go, it would be extraordinarily expensive, but that’s the law,” said Kenneth Pokalsky, the vice president at the Business Council of New York. The governor’s proposal is drawing ire from lawmakers like state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, who sits on the chambers’ Energy and Telecommunications Committee.

“I represent a peaker plant, a district is situated towards near another peaker plant in Brooklyn,” Gonzalez said in an interview. “Every time we have a peak day, they are breathing poisoned air because of our reliance on fossil fuels. So any indication that we’re walking away from the [climate law] or climate goals is an insult to a lot of our constituents.”

“This predates the Trump administration. We have not met the maximum amount of renewable energy we could be building,” Gonzalez added.

Hochul’s proposal still needs approval from the state legislature, which could become a major sticking point in budget talks. But businesses say the law as is would require changes that would not only be costly but could force them to move to states where green energy standards are more lax.

“The direct emissions from industrial facilities in New York state is 3 to 4% of total greenhouse gas emissions in New York state. You can get rid of all of them, and that’s not going to help us meet the target,” said Pokalsky. “Unless they come out of buildings and transportation, which means not power plants and factories, but like you and me and our households and our cars.”

Hochul has been hinting at the changes for months, and although she’s coming up on an April 1 state budget deadline, she says she’s missed it in the past and typically got what she wanted after negotiating with the legislature.

“I will strive for that, but if you look at what we achieved in overtime, all my priorities have been implemented. Whether it’s the necessary changes to the bail laws, last year the discovery laws,” she said during a Thursday interview hosted by the Association for a Better New York.

Hochul is also trying to move quickly because climate groups are suing her over the state’s tardiness and a judge agreed. The state is appealing the decision.