NY Renews Coalition Responds to Governor Hochul’s State of the State Address
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2025
Contacts: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org (646) 389-8429
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In response to Governor Hochul’s 2026 State of the State Address, NY Renews Executive Director Stephan Edel issued the following statement on behalf of the coalition:
As a “mom from Buffalo,” Governor Hochul has put forward some policy goals that will positively impact the lives of children and families, notably, a commitment to universal childcare. But what kind of future will the children of New York face in a state where toxic fossil fuels and costly, dangerous nuclear power produce the bulk of the energy we use, and continue to destroy the livability of our planet?
Under Governor Hochul’s watch, New York has shifted from being a national climate leader to a state where the fossil fuel industry status quo holds New Yorkers hostage, pummeling us with record-breaking heatwaves and floods, endlessly rising energy bills, and ever more cases of asthma, heart and lung disease, stroke, and early death. Rather than putting forth a bold agenda for energy affordability and climate, Governor Hochul has put forward insufficent solutions, while taking us back in time by greenlighting toxic fossil fuel pipelines that threaten the health and lives of humans and animals alike, allowing corporate utilities to price-gouge working people, diverting state dollars into costly nuclear energy plans, and destroying progress toward a cap-and-invest program that would make corporate polluters pay for their emissions — violating our climate law in the process.
While the governor insists these decisions are based on “governing in reality,” we know better. The impacts of these retrograde decisions will race full speed ahead, and New Yorkers will continue to suffer from the worst impacts of extreme weather, rising energy costs, and environmental illness at ever-rising rates — particularly Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities.
In this moment of crisis for climate justice and cost of living, we’re calling on Governor Hochul to lead with clarity and vision. Uphold the Climate Law. Launch cap and invest to raise billions of dollars from corporate polluters to:
Lower New Yorkers’ energy bills. Use the funds cap and invest would raise to provide working people with energy bill relief.
Help make our buildings green and healthy. Help us weatherize and upgrade our homes, schools, and workplaces to clean energy at low or no cost.
Build the unionized clean-energy workforce of the future. Create 30,000 jobs annually across NYS in heat pump installation, building shell upgrades, vehicle recycling and scrappage, electric vehicle and charging, and more.
We’re also calling for the Governor to continue to fund the Sustainable Future Program with at least $3 billion in general revenue in the 2026-2027 Executive Budget. This will account for the money we could have raised in the first year if cap and invest were already in place — as it should be, both morally and legally. These funds can and should be directed to NY’s Climate Action Fund to prepare for when, not if, New York launches cap and invest.
New Yorkers facing the twin burdens of extreme weather and extreme costs don’t have time to waste. Governor Hochul, put the needs of our children, households, and small businesses ahead of corporate profits.
Member organization quotes:
“New Yorkers across the state are already struggling to keep up with medical bills, rent, childcare, and groceries. On top of that, greedy utilities are raising rates and expanding harmful gas infrastructure that locks us into more climate-warming pollution and higher costs. The affordability and climate crises demand bold, urgent action from our Governor—but instead, Governor Hochul is turning away from the proven solutions at her fingertips. By continuing to ignore the 2019 Climate Law and by sidelining the cap-and-invest program, Governor Hochul is delaying action that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, hold corporate polluters accountable, and put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets, right when we need it most,” said Ethan Gormley, Climate Justice Organizer, Citizen Action of New York.
"Governor Hochul's decision to double down on new nuclear development demonstrates how unserious she is about tackling both the affordability and the climate crisis. Decades of experience demonstrate that nuclear energy is too toxic, too dangerous, too expensive, and too slow to build to be an actual climate solution,” said Sarah Howard, Campaign Organizer with Rethink STAMP and Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. “While the Governor continues to undermine the sovereignty of the Indigenous Nations in New York who oppose nuclear energy and straddle ratepayers with more costs, private corporations will continue to benefit, showing us again that her affordability agenda is really about corporate profitability.
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 environmental justice, labor, and community groups, and the force behind the nation’s most powerful climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. We fight for good jobs and climate justice for New Yorkers statewide.