Undermining the CLCPA in State Budget Is A Failure of Leadership That Will Cost New Yorkers

Contact: Seth Nelson

A strong cap-and-invest program and rapid clean energy deployment are more critical than ever 

The New York State Legislature today released a budget bill that significantly undermines the state’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The budget delays implementation regulations to 2028 and replaces the CLCPA’s 2030 target with a new goal of a 60 percent reduction in climate pollution by 2040. In response, Evergreen Action States Vice President Justin Balik released the following statement:

“Undermining the state’s landmark climate law is not an affordability plan—it’s a failure of leadership that will make life more dangerous and more expensive for New Yorkers. These changes don’t address what’s actually driving utility bills through the roof, like New York’s dependence on the volatile gas market. This move only delays the obvious solutions: rapidly deploying clean energy, reforming utilities, and delivering overdue investments in communities throughout the state to cut pollution and costs. Governor Hochul herself has acknowledged that the climate law isn’t what’s causing high energy prices. So why double down on the fossil fuel system that actually is? The answer to high energy prices is cheap, homegrown clean energy—the fastest-to-build sources of new power we have.

“Let’s be clear about what’s happening: state leaders are choosing a perilous path that will leave families facing higher energy bills and more pollution, and those costs will compound with every passing year. We urge legislators to vote against this budget legislation that weakens the CLCPA.

“If these changes are enacted, Governor Hochul must work with renewed urgency to deploy clean energy at the scale and speed New York needs. That means implementing a strong cap-and-invest program paired with a ‘Let Them Build’ agenda to tear down the barriers preventing cheap, clean energy projects from coming online, while building on the initial utility reforms and affordability measures that emerged in this budget. The climate movement demonstrated its strength in this fight—now it’s time to put that strength to work building the cleaner, more affordable New York we know is possible.”

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