NY Renews Statement on 2026 Legislative Session
Session saw critical climate law rollbacks — and grassroots action that secured solar energy wins, lower energy bills, and a moratorium on data centers in New York State
For Immediate Release: June 5, 2026
Contact: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429
Web: www.nyrenews.org | Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Facebook
As the 2026 legislative session concludes, NY Renews Executive Director Stephan Edel issued the following statement on behalf of the coalition:
This year’s legislative session was two-pronged: Governor Hochul weakened NY’s climate mandates, hitching the state to more years of fossil fuels dependency, further destabilizing energy costs, and worsening public health and safety by paving the way for increased air pollution. The undemocratic nature of the state budget process, which gives the governor nearly unchecked power, means that despite overwhelming public opposition, she prevailed in her efforts to weaken the law.
But, members of the public and many state legislators did not stop their work to organize, educate, and build toward the future we deserve. In successfully passing a yearlong data center moratorium, the SUNNY Act for affordable plug-in solar, and in forwarding the Ratepayer Refund Act and elements of Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power Act in the state budget, as well as securing another billion-dollar investment in the Sustainable Future Fund and a statewide measure to report on heat related deaths, our communities proved once more that the solutions we need to address the climate crisis, out-of-control energy costs, and planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels, and to secure better health and safer neighborhoods for the people who need it most, exist here and now.
Though the Governor’s actions have set a precedent that may ripple across the nation, so has our climate and environmental justice movement. Communities from the Bronx to Buffalo will continue to advocate for strong climate policies that cut pollution, lower costs, improve public health, and raise revenue for people-powered projects that bring renewable, reliable, affordable energy, efficient buildings, and clean transportation to our state.
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 environmental justice, labor, and community groups, and the force behind New York’s climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. We fight for good jobs and climate justice for New Yorkers statewide.