NEW YORK, NY— Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday outlined her plan to comply with New York’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, proposing a delay in the law’s 2030 emissions deadline.
In an op-ed published in Empire Report, Hochul wrote that while she remains committed to enforcing the Climate Act, it requires “common-sense adjustments.”
The Climate Act requires cutting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Environmentalists sued the state last fall for failing to issue regulations that enforce the law, and a state judge ruled the governor must comply.
With time running short, Hochul asked the state legislature to pass an extension through the budget process, proposing that regulations to reduce emissions statewide be issued at the end of 2030.
“We need more time,” she wrote.
Hochul cited federal policy shifts under the Trump administration as a factor complicating the transition, but the state has also continued to approve energy-intensive projects. She greenlit a proposed $1.4 billion data center in Genesee County that would consume 500 megawatts of electricity daily, more than half the output of the under-construction Sunrise Wind offshore project.
Legislators have called for a moratorium on data centers and similar projects, while Hochul’s main environmental proposal this budget season focuses on delaying emissions limits and adjusting how the state calculates methane pollution. State officials have not provided details on the new benchmarks.
The governor also directed a state environmental research agency to release a report estimating high costs for New Yorkers to achieve the Climate Act targets.
Hochul said she was responding to questions about energy costs, which have also been affected by aging fossil fuel infrastructure, increased demand, and oil company pricing.