Gov. Hochul pushes back against "false narrative" on Climate Law, teases changes

NYS Capital — New York Governor Kathy Hochul teasing a couple of her potential proposals in changing New York’s 2019 Climate Law on Wednesday, saying no one could have envisioned what she calls the “new normal” of the world here in 2026.

As Republicans ask for more changes, Democrats are asking her to keep the Law intact, setting up what will be a potentially contentious few weeks…or months, of negotiations.

This has come up, as utility rates have also risen. Both sides arguing that those costs have gone up because of the Climate Law, but in different ways. Proponents of the Climate Law says costs are up because the State hasn’t implemented it properly, the opposition says costs are up because of its implementation.

On Wednesday, the Governor says she’s been falsely attributed to saying she wants to roll back the Climate Law because it has contributed to higher utility costs.

“The false narrative is that I’m telling people their utility rates are higher because of CLCPA,” the Governor told reporters at an unrelated press conference. “That would be a stupid thing to say, because it’s not in effect yet. So those who’ve written articles in some of your publications, those who criticize me on the floor, they’re flat out wrong. I’ve never said that. What I’m saying is, I’m trying to stop your utility bills from going higher by rolling this out with a longer runway, which I think anybody who’s got a rational brain would look at everything I just laid out and say, ‘Oh, I get it.’ The Governor really is doing her best.’ She wants us to be successful. She’d love to be able to claim we did all this, but I have to also focus on the fact that people in our State are getting slammed and they need relief, and so there’s a way to get what we need to but just in a different time frame.”

On Wednesday, the Governor expressed openness to changing the current mandated compliance dates, which right now mandate the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. With that comes electric vehicle and building mandates as well.

In addition to pushing those dates back, the Governor also saying she wants to look at how the Law measures emissions, instead of a 20-year window, a 100-year window.

“There’s also metrics which were put in place at the time, we’re the only state in the nation under our law, other than Maryland, which followed our lead, which I think they’re rethinking, which measures emissions based on a 20-year period versus 100, the international standards for cutting down on climate change has a 100-year standard all the countries that are buying into this, every other State, but in the wisdom of the legislature and my predecessor, that’s fine. They said we have to meet the goals in 20 years. The way to meet the goals is offshore wind, battery storage, onshore wind, solar rays, and they’re all getting clobbered,” Hochul said.

Environmentalists have pushed back on these potential changes to the law. Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate at Earthjustice, telling CBS6:

“One thing to know, is the Climate Law that the Governor is seeking to now roll back through secret backdoor budget negotiations, has been the law of New York State for seven years,” she said. “The Governor has been in office for five of those years, and rather than put the law in place, implement the law and start cutting these high energy bills New Yorkers are suffering from. The Governor is looking to roll back this key tool. That’s unacceptable as New Yorkers are suffering from these high energy bills that are only going to get worse because of the war with Iran. We need the Governor and the Legislature squarely focused on policies that will reduce energy bills, not a red herring to roll back our climate law.”

In the face of that pushback, the Governor said her investments into the environment are proof of her record.

“Am I the staunchest environmentalist and fighter of climate change in New York’s history? Yes,” the Governor said. “$88.7 billion of clean energy investments. Just since I’ve been in the Governor’s seat four years, almost $100 billion of investments. Nobody can lay claim to that.”

Stay tuned for more on this story.