ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Seven years ago, New York lawmakers set ambitious goals for slashing greenhouse gas emissions with clarion calls about saving the future. Now, with slow progress made and political realities shifting, Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking a delay, saying she wants to save consumers money.
Times have “ radically changed,” Hochul said, since 2019, when the state set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030.
She’s proposed giving the state years more to comply, saying pursuing that goal now by imposing planned fees on polluters would lead to crushing energy prices.
“I cannot in good conscience — knowing the moms and dads and the seniors and the families that are struggling, paying their bills now — I cannot do something I know at this very moment that’s going to raise those prices,” Hochul said at a recent rally.
Hochul, who is running for reelection this year, is among several Democratic leaders trying to balance the party’s traditional support for clean energy policies with the current political imperative to deliver “affordability” agendas.
Several states — particularly in the Northeast — are reassessing clean energy targets. Others are looking at shaving extra charges on utility bills that help fund efficiency programs.
The shifts have alarmed environmentalists, who call them shortsighted. They note that other states, including California, have remained committed to similar policies designed to lessen dependence on fossil fuels.
“She’s looking to, ultimately, keep New Yorkers on gas longer when it’s the very fuel that’s causing their bills to rise,” Liz Moran of the environmental group Earthjustice said of Hochul’s proposals.
Hochul insists she isn’t abandoning efforts to fight climate change. But she and other Democrats complain that cuts to clean energy grants under President Donald Trump’s administration raised the cost of meeting state climate goals. The Republican president has been hostile to some clean energy sources, particularly offshore wind farms, which his administration has sought to block.
Affordability concerns edge out climate worries
Meanwhile, U.S. residential electricity prices rose 27% on average from 2019 to 2024, with some of the most pronounced increases in California and Northeast states, according to a study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Analysts cite multiple reasons for higher prices, among them increased demand from data centers and the price of natural gas, which often is used to generate electricity.
Power bills were a key issue in the governors’ races won by Democrats last year in New Jersey and Virginia. And that was before the Iran war sent gasoline prices soaring.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has proposed pushing a 2033 deadline to reach 100% renewable energy sources to 2050, part of his plan to lower energy costs by $1 billion over five years.
Last year, Connecticut lowered its 40% renewable energy goal for 2030 to 29%. Democratic Gov….
Read More: As energy costs rise, some states back off ambitious climate goals
