ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 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 鈥 ," 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.
鈥淚 cannot in good conscience 鈥 knowing the moms and dads and the seniors and the families that are struggling, paying their bills now 鈥 I cannot do something I know at this very moment that鈥檚 going to raise those prices,鈥 Hochul said .
Hochul, who is running for reelection this year, is among several Democratic leaders trying to balance the party鈥檚 traditional support for clean energy policies with the current political imperative to deliver 鈥渁ffordability鈥 agendas.
Several states 鈥 particularly in the Northeast 鈥 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.
鈥淪he鈥檚 looking to, ultimately, keep New Yorkers on gas longer when it鈥檚 the very fuel that鈥檚 causing their bills to rise,鈥 Liz Moran of the environmental group Earthjustice said of Hochul's proposals.
Hochul insists she isn鈥檛 abandoning efforts to fight climate change. But she and other Democrats complain that under President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration raised the cost of meeting state climate goals. The Republican president to some clean energy sources, particularly farms, which his administration has .
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 from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Analysts cite multiple reasons for higher prices, among them from data centers and the price of natural gas, which often is used to generate electricity.
Power bills were won by Democrats last year in New Jersey and Virginia. And that was before the Iran war sent .
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 . Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said at the time that
Massachusetts and New Jersey are among the states looking at lowering charges on utility bills that help fund efficiency programs.
鈥淚t is hard to talk about climate at times, because everyone is very laser-focused on affordability and customer bills,鈥 said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for the Acadia Center. 鈥淪o climate, while still important, is getting kind of pushed aside, unfortunately.鈥
Cap and invest in practice
One of New York's key mechanisms for reducing emissions was supposed to be a 鈥渃ap-and-invest鈥 system, in which polluters buy allowances for their emissions and the revenue is invested in things like clean technology and renewable energy.
In California, cap-and-invest is crucial to achieving goals that include reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The state has used proceeds from cap-and-invest to direct billions of dollars to things like public transit and clean-vehicle incentives.
California regulators on Tuesday proposed cap-and-invest changes in response to concerns from lawmakers about electricity prices and economic worries from industry. Business incentives and electric bill relief would be increased under the proposals.
The program costs Californians an extra 24 cents a gallon at the pump and slightly more on their utility bills, though the state provides a regular 鈥渃limate credit鈥 on their bills, said Kyle Meng, associate professor of economics at UC Santa Barbara.
鈥淲hen you make things more expensive, people conserve. It鈥檚 like Econ 101 and that鈥檚 the basic idea behind a cap-and-trade program,鈥 Meng said.
New York officials, however, missed a 2024 deadline to create regulations detailing how such a system would work in their state. Without those rules in place, the system never launched. Environmentalists successfully sued the state over its failure to meet the deadline, which Hochul has mentioned in seeking a delay.
The governor鈥檚 new proposal, currently under consideration by legislative leaders, would give the state until 2030 to come up with regulations. And the state would set new targets for 2040 emissions levels.
Environmentalists dispute cost claims
If those deadlines are not moved, consumers will pay a cost, Hochul has said. Her administration estimates that implementing a cap-and-invest system now would pass along costs of more than $4,000 a year for some households.
Environmental advocates say the governor is estimating what an 鈥渆xtreme鈥 version would cost, and that the analysis ignores the benefits of incentivizing polluters to move away from fossil fuels.
They also point to Washington, decided to keep that state鈥檚 cap-and-invest program by a wide margin.
鈥淭he sky has not fallen,鈥 said Caitlin Krenn of Washington Conservation Action, 鈥渁nd the program is working as intended.鈥
Bruce Blakeman, a Republican county executive running for governor against Hochul, said he鈥檇 get rid of the state鈥檚 plan altogether if he wins this fall.
鈥淒elaying the pain won鈥檛 make it disappear 鈥 it just leaves bigger bills down the road,鈥 Blakeman said in a statement.
