NY Renews Coalition Responds to Rollback of Key Protections in New York’s Climate Law
Delayed deadlines and weakened emissions standards will lead to thousands of deaths and higher energy bills over the next five years
For Immediate Release: May 26, 2026
Contact: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429
Web: www.nyrenews.org | Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Facebook
In response to the release of the New York State budget, which significantly amends the state’s climate law, NY Renews Executive Director Stephan Edel issued the following statement on behalf of the coalition:
Governor Kathy Hochul’s retreat from New York’s nation-leading climate and clean energy law is a major blow for New Yorkers and for the country. It sets a dangerous precedent for the nation at a time when the Trump administration has been systematically destroying renewable energy and climate progress of any kind.
If Governor Hochul wanted to secure an affordable energy system and a livable climate for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, she would not dismantle a law that pointed the way to a New York with cleaner air, healthier communities, and low-cost renewable energy, setting a bold standard for the nation. And she wouldn’t do so during a period of fossil fuel wars while most of the world is making the sensible shift to clean, locally produced energy.
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (2019) was designed to meet the scale and reality of the climate crisis. Its binding emissions reduction targets and goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions are intended to transition the economy off of fossil fuels and protect the Black, Brown, and low-income communities whose neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted by toxic pollution thanks to decades of environmental racism.
These goals have never been more critical. As we enter a Super El Niño year, more New Yorkers are fated to succumb to extreme heat and pollution-related illnesses, to go into utility bill debt trying to keep their homes cool, and to struggle in the face of crumbling infrastructure, flooding, and storms.
Hochul’s move spells out a loss on all fronts: for our energy bills, our communities, our climate, and our future. And her rollbacks were predicated on falsehoods: Hochul claimed she needed to change the law because of Trump’s attacks on renewable energy and for the sake of affordability, but later walked back her own statements, calling the idea that the climate law was raising costs “stupid.” Her actions should concern anyone who cares about leaving the fossil fuel era behind to secure a climate that supports life on Earth. The truth speaks for itself: renewable energy, like solar and wind, and clean energy technologies like heat pumps and EVs, are the best and fastest way to lower energy costs and protect households from the volatility of fossil fuels.
Weakening the law at all, but especially in this way, is an affront to New Yorkers and a painful blow to Black, Brown, and low-income communities already struggling under the weight of excessive pollution and historic disinvestment.
With the final days of the legislative session, elected leaders must take meaningful action to salvage what we can: Pass the SUNNY (A.9111/S.8512B) Act to accelerate New York’s solar energy development, and continue to fight for mandated solar goals and to strengthen interconnection reforms to support new solar projects. Enact a moratorium on superpolluting AI and crypto data centers (S.9144/A.10141). And stop letting utilities make inordinate profits from working people; return some of this stolen money directly back to our pockets.
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 environmental justice, labor, and community groups, and the force behind the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. We fight for good jobs and climate justice for New Yorkers statewide.