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Hochul Seeks to Ease New York Climate Law With 2030 Delay and Methane Accounting Shift

She is pressing to enact the changes through the April 1 state budget.

Overview

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed moving the deadline for issuing required emissions regulations to the end of 2030, adding a new 2040 benchmark and keeping the 2050 target.
  • Her plan would switch New York’s greenhouse-gas accounting from a 20-year to a 100-year measure, a change that would make statutory targets easier to meet and that environmental groups strongly oppose.
  • Hochul framed the move as an affordability measure, citing state analyses that warned of steep household cost increases if the 2030 mandates were enforced under current rules.
  • Business groups endorsed the proposals, while many Democrats and climate advocates criticized them; legislative leaders said they have not received written bill language.
  • The fight unfolds alongside active litigation over overdue climate regulations, with a judge ordering the state to release cap-and-invest rules and the administration appealing.