Governor Hochul seeks to weaken New York’s leading climate law

ALBANY, N.Y. — Today, Governor Hochul announced proposed changes to the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, New York’s landmark climate law. Among several reported changes that would weaken the law, the proposal would delay the deadline for regulations to limit the state’s emissions until 2030 — another four-year delay on regulations already two years overdue. 

The state’s delay of these regulations — previously designed as an economywide cap-and-invest program — has already cost New York ratepayers at least $3 billion in investments that should be expanding access to cleaner, cheaper energy, including over $1 billion that could have directly lowered energy bills.

“With this proposal, Governor Hochul is backing down at a time when it couldn’t be more critical to protect New Yorkers from energy price spikes driven by fossil fuels, unpredictable extreme weather and pollution that harms our health.” said Kate Courtin, Senior Manager for State Climate Policy & Strategy at Environmental Defense Fund. “Kicking the can further down the road doesn’t help New Yorkers. It is far past time for New York to move forward with a cap-and-invest program that cuts climate and air pollution, helps shield families from rising energy bills and creates good paying jobs. Right now, residents in other states are benefitting from their cap-and-invest programs, and New Yorkers deserve the same.”

New York’s previously proposed cap-and-invest program will benefit communities

• Cost Savings: In its first decade, a well-designed cap-and-invest program would deliver $6.9 billion in net savings for households earning up to $200,000 — roughly $1,060 per household. Nearly 85% of New Yorkers fall within this income range.
• New Jobs: The program is also projected to create 300,500 jobs paying 21% above the statewide median income.
• Health Benefits: The program is anticipated to deliver up to $13 billion in annual health benefits by 2035 and prevent over 1,000 deaths and 137,000 emergency room visits from asthma.  

Other states are leveraging these programs to cut pollution and support affordable energy

• California: The Cap-and-Invest program alone has generated over $30 billion in climate and community investments in California since 2013 and directed $16 billion to reduce household energy costs through utility bill credits. As a result, the legislature voted to extend the program in September 2025, with Governor Newsom highlighting Cap-and-Invest as a tool to address affordability.
• Washington: In 2024, voters successfully defended Washington's Cap-and-Invest program on the ballot, beating a repeal attempt by a 24-point margin. An unprecedented coalition of over 500 organizations including labor unions, major businesses, Tribes, community groups and environmental groups successfully defended one of the nation’s most ambitious climate policies as they felt and saw the program’s benefits. In the next decade, the program is expected to create 40,000 new jobs and unleash $9 billion in economic growth.
• The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI): This cap-and-invest program for power plants operating across ten states in the Northeast has, for over a decade, delivered consumer savings while cutting emissions from power plants nearly in half. States in the RGGI region have realized more than 4:1 energy bill savings return for every dollar of program proceeds invested, totaling over $20 billion in projected savings for ratepayers.
  • Virginia recently passed legislation affirming the state’s commitment to RGGI under Governor Spanberger’s leadership. As a candidate, Spanberger included RGGI and other clean energy policies as part of her platform to make energy bills more affordable.
  • During her campaign, now-Governor of New Jersey Mikie Sherrill’s affordability agenda included tackling rising costs by building more clean energy.
• Colorado: In December, U.S. Senator and candidate for Governor, Michael Bennet, proposed launching a statewide cap-and-invest program, focused on delivering clean air and affordable energy for Coloradans

Background

This proposal follows years of delays by the Hochul administration to implement the climate law. In October, the Albany County Supreme Court ruled New York must release regulations to ensure compliance with the climate law’s requirements no later than February 6, 2026. However, the Hochul administration appealed the ruling, further delaying the rollout.