Is New York Abandoning its Climate Commitments? | Regional News

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have made a series of controversial decisions in recent weeks. Some claim these decisions undermine and backtrack on the state’s environmental laws mandated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). 

On Nov. 7, the DEC issued a permit allowing the construction of the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline, which will carry fracked natural gas through Pennsylvania and New Jersey to downstate New York. It was previously denied twice by state regulators over environmental concerns, but has now been approved following federal pressure from the Trump administration.

Reports from earlier this year exposed that President Trump had a series of conversations with Hochul in which he threatened to withhold federal funding from New York and cancel congestion pricing for New York City if the pipeline was not approved. 

The same day Hochul and the DEC issued the permit for the NESE pipeline, they also announced a settlement agreement with the Greenidge Generation cryptocurrency mining facility, allowing the facility — which is powered by fracked natural gas — to continue operating for the next five years.

The settlement effectively puts an end to a three-year legal battle launched by Greenidge after Hochul and the DEC denied an air quality permit for the facility in June 2022. 

When the DEC originally denied the air permit in 2022, the agency stated that the facility’s current operations, if maintained, would “be inconsistent with or interfere with” the emission limits established in the CLCPA. Those emission limits require “New York to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and no less than 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels.” In its permit denial, it said that Greenidge had no “serious plan” to transition from its current reliance on natural gas for mining operations. 

The settlement agreement reached in November stated that Greenidge, permitted to continue operations, is required to create a plan to reduce GHG emissions by 44% and make efforts to transition away from relying solely on fracked natural gas to power its crypto-mining operations. 

However, New York State Assemblymember Anna Kelles raised concerns during a Nov. 12 press conference where she explained that Greenidge has failed to provide a plan for transitioning away from natural gas in the past, and she believes the company will engage in “green washing” by claiming they’re reducing emissions through purchasing carbon offset credits rather than building on-site renewable energy infrastructure, which would reduce emissions.

“My greatest concern is that [Greenidge] will engage in green washing,” Kelles said. “They will say they’re reducing their greenhouse gas emissions but they will reduce them by buying environmental credits from the state and NYPA allowance so they can say that they’re paying for the electrons going on the grid, but if they’re increasing base demand on the grid they’re not reducing their emissions.” She added, “They would have to build renewable energy infrastructure on site if they’re actually going to reduce emissions.”

Kelles continued saying that allowing the facility to continue operations violates New York State”s constitutional guarantee that its residents have a right to clean air and water.

Throughout the legal battle the DEC’s decision to deny the air quality permit was upheld three times by state courts, but Greenidge was able to continue operating by appealing each denial and claiming that the DEC lacked legal authority to deny air permits based on the CLCPA. In the case’s latest ruling prior to the settlement, state courts decided that the DEC does have the authority to deny air permits based on the CLCPA guidelines, but that more justification was needed before doing so. The decision required the DEC and Greenidge to present their cases at additional evidentiary hearings before a final ruling was made, but those hearings were delayed at the request of Greenidge. The settlement was announced just over a week before evidentiary hearings were set to restart on Nov. 18.

New York State regulators’ approval of these projects after their previous denials has raised concerns among residents and elected officials that state leadership is being influenced by corporate interests and federal pressure to undermine New York’s ambitious environmental laws.

During a press conference held in response to the approval of the projects, New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado — who is running against Hochul in the 2026 Democratic primary for Governor — said, “This decision is not just wrong, it’s “a betrayal of New York’s values.” 

Delgado continued saying, “By allowing Greenidge to keep burning fracked gas, the Governor is rewarding a corporate polluter that has violated our climate law and stuck working families with the bill. Leadership means having the courage to stand up to powerful interests, not cave to them. New Yorkers deserve clean air, clean water, and a future built on renewable energy, not broken promises and fossil fuels.”

Responding to the approval of the NESE pipeline Delgado said the project remains “toxic, unnecessary, and a handout to fossil fuel billionaires.” 

When asked if Hochul and the DEC provided any rationale for not enforcing state climate law, Delgado said, “I don’t know why they’re [not following the law]. What I do know is the law, and the law is one that has been previously followed by the DEC in the terms of applying the standards of the CLCPA.” Delgado added, “This begs the question, what has changed such that we are now in a position where the law doesn’t seem to carry as much weight, or the science doesn’t seem to carry as much weight?”

After approving the pipeline, Hochul said that the decision was made in response to what she called a “war against clean energy” being waged by Republicans in Washington and New York. However, instead of pushing stronger for clean energy, Hochul has announced that New York will be shifting to an “all-of-the-above approach,” regarding energy policy which relies on both fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

This shift is yet another signal that New York State leadership is abandoning the climate goals that were set by the CLCPA. While the climate act mandates that the state should be decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, the state has increased its reliance on fossil fuels despite making historic investments in renewable energy since the passage of the act.

According to a study from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, natural gas contributed to 39% of the state’s electricity generation in 2017, but four years after the CLCPA was passed, the percentage of natural gas used for electricity generation increased to over 50% in 2023. The study claims that this increase in the state’s reliance on natural gas stems from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to shut down the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. While reliance on natural gas has decreased back to 39% as of this year, an estimated three-quarters of the state’s energy still comes from fossil fuels.

Kelles said that the state’s failure to live up to the goals set by the CLCPA are a direct result of state leadership choosing not to implement the Scoping Plan that laid out a plan to meet the act’s mandates. Kelles said that the scoping plan called for implementing policies like Cap-and-Invest and the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), but that neither of these policies have been fully implemented. She added that lobbying from the fossil fuel industry has played a significant role in influencing the governor to backtrack on state climate law. 

“There’s tremendous pushback from the industry because they don’t want to pay for it,” Kelles said.

A report by the LittleSis Public Accountability Initiative published on Nov. 18 backs up Kelles’ claims. The report found that 17 different “polluting corporations” spent a total of $15.9 million on lobbying to delay the implementation of the CLCPA from 2021 to 2025. The top three corporations included the American Chemistry Council, National Fuel Gas and the American Petroleum Institute. Ithaca’s regional utility monopoly New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG)  ranked 12th place, having spent $395,476 on lobbying. The report stated that the spending represents “a concerted effort by industry to frustrate the implementation of the [CLCPA] and to shape Gov. Hochul’s energy and environmental agenda in the early years of her administration.” 

Shortly after Hochul became governor in August 2021 following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, New York’s top lobbying firms helped the new governor raise a record-breaking $22 million for her 2022 re-election campaign. According to the report, “Polluter lobbyists Brown & Weinraub, Bolton-St. Johns, Hinman Straub, Ostroff Associates and Greenberg Traurig all held high-dollar fundraisers for Hochul in the first few months she served as governor, some charging as much as $25,000 per plate, with access restricted to firm lobbyists and their corporate clients.”

Lobbying firms Greenberg Traurig and Brown & Weinraub were hired by several fossil fuel and utility companies to lobby against Cap-and-Invest, which has now been delayed for several years. Greenberg Traurig held a fundraiser for Hochul in the early days of her administration that raised more than $600,000, while founder and managing partner at Brown & Weinraub, David Weinraub, has personally donated $79,469 to Hochul since 2021.

The report also notes that Hochul’s top aide, Karen Keogh, is married to Bolton-St. Johns partner Michael Keogh, who was paid between $350,000 to $450,000 by the lobbying firm in 2024. The firm also has a history of hiring former employees from Hochul’s administration, and its managing partner Emily Giske is the vice chair of the New York State Democratic Party. The report added, “Giske has personally given $41,250 to Hochul, according to Hochul’s filings with the state Board of Elections.”