Jan 10, 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul spelled out a sweeping climate agenda on Tuesday as part of her State of the State address, unveiling new programs and mandates to finance New York’s transition to a green economy and move the state closer to meeting its ambitious emissions-cutting mandates. A key proposal is a cap-and-invest program recommended  by the state’s Climate Action Council last month. Hochul is calling on the Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to design a program that would set increasingly strict caps on greenhouse gas emissions. It would require fossil-fuel emitters to purchase allowances, with the proceeds invested back into emissions reduction programs. “We're taking these steps now because climate change remains the greatest threat to our planet and also to our children and our grandchildren,” Hochul said during her speech. Related The cap-and-invest program seeks to create a mechanism for New York to comply with a 2019 state climate law requiring New York to reduce emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. To lessen the financial strain of that transition on New Yorkers, Hochul called on the state Legislature to authorize $1 billion of the funds raised by the program to be annually distributed to households as “universal climate action rebates.” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said the state would launch “ a robust and transparent stakeholder process ” to develop the program in the coming months. Similarly, Hochul announced what she described as a “series of policies to insulate our most vulnerable households from exorbitant energy bills,” with $200 million to help more than 800,000 electric utility customers. The aid would go to those who earn less than $75,000 a year and have not been eligible for the state’s current utility discount program. Hochul also plans to launch a program called Empower Plus, designed to help 20,000 low-income families retrofit their homes with new insulation, energy-efficient appliances and electric alternatives to fossil fuel heating. Households that qualify would also be eligible for the “energy affordability guarantee” once they are fully electrified. The pilot seeks to ensure that those participating wouldn’t pay more than 6% of their income on electricity. To accelerate New York’s path away from fossil fuels, Hochul backed a proposal for new construction to be fossil fuel-free by 2025 for smaller buildings and by 2028 for larger buildings. The governor wants to prohibit the sale of any new fossil fuel heating equipment as of 2030 for smaller buildings and by 2035 for larger buildings. Both measures set the stage for a legislative fight. Hochul supported a stricter timeline to phase out fossil fuels from buildings last year but failed to get the Assembly on board. Other climate highlights from the State of the State include: The creation of the Office of Just Transition to equitably plan the state’s workforce transition to the green economy. Hochul plans to introduce the Waste Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act to “transfer the onus of recycling to the producer—not the taxpayers.” The bill seeks to incentivize producers to create products that reuse materials and that can be recycled instead of thrown away. Hochul vowed to commit an additional $500 million toward clean water infrastructure in her upcoming budget. The Department of Public Service will initiate a process to identify and remove the barriers to building charging infrastructure needed to electrify New York’s medium and heavy duty vehicles. A new program will offer financial assistance to municipalities to investigate sources of toxic contamination and remediate those sites in the next five years.