Enviro Groups Respond to Governor Hochul's Earth Day Push to Gut the Climate Law

ALBANY, NY (04/22/2026) (readMedia)-- It's Earth Day, and the Governor is still trying to gut the Climate Law. Earthjustice, New Yorkers for Clean Power, AGREE, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and NY Renews released the following statement:

"It's Earth Day - three weeks since the budget was due, and New Yorkers are suffering under skyrocketing energy prices made even worse due to Trump's war. Governor Hochul could implement the Climate Law and advance policies that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and save New Yorkers money, but instead, she's still trying to advance unreasonable policies that gut the Climate Law. New Yorkers deserve real effort and commitment to our clean energy future, not the unaffordable and worsening status quo. The Governor's proposals must be rejected by the legislature."

As Governor Hochul doubles down on fossil fuels, New Yorkers are paying record-breaking prices and oil companies are making record-breaking profits. According to NYSERDA, compared to this time last year, New Yorkers are paying:

• 38% more for gasoline
• 50.9% more for diesel
• 35.1% more for home heating oil

Meanwhile, other countries around the world are responding to this crisis by investing heavily in renewables. To note just a few examples:

• France is banning new gas heating systems, nearly doubling support for electrification from 5.5 billion euros to 10 billion in the next four years, and heavily subsidizing EVs
• South Korea is accelerating their roadmap to develop 100 GW of renewables by 2030
• After adding 55 GW in solar and wind capacity over the past 5 years, the United Kingdom substantially cut Britain's dependence on gas (39% lower in March 2026 compared to March 2021) and saves 7 million pounds per day on gas purchases.

It's not just other countries. Many states - blue and red, are proving that even under Trump, we can make progress. For instance:

• Virginia has adopted a flurry of clean energy reforms. These include:
  • Legalizing plug-in solar (which New York can do too by passing the SUNNY Act)
  • Increasing procurement requirements for rooftop solar from 1 to 5%
  • Increased procurement targets for energy storage - including 4.5 GW of long-duration storage
  • Requirements to quantify grid utilization and adoption of grid-enhancing technologies, and a requirement to add storage at existing solar projects.
• California has added 12 GW in the past 5 years.
  • Following grid strains brought on by climate-driven wildfire and extreme heat, California set aggressive procurement targets that drove a record-breaking buildout of battery-storage. Batteries are now able to supply 43% of evening peak energy demand, more than twice the energy supplied by natural gas. The pace of growth has accelerated.
• Texas has quadrupled the scale of battery storage additions to the grid in the last 3 years, adding over 10 GW of batteries.
• Illinois increased procurement targets both for renewables and for storage, boosted energy efficiency programs, and created a major new framework to expand Virtual Power Plants.

But instead of taking practical action like the governors of the states listed above, Governor Hochul is focusing on what New York can't do. In the month since the war started, New Yorkers paid $265 million more for the exact same amount of gasoline. This doesn't even cover the costs from diesel premiums - which have been even steeper than gasoline, or for heating oil or natural gas. In the past 2 weeks, costs for these fossil fuels have only continued to rise.

If Governor Hochul instead invested in financing the transition to renewable energy, we could lower costs now for the majority of households while making the downpayment that will shield us from future price shocks. Multiple studies draw this conclusion. A strong Cap and Invest program would yield $6.9 billion in net savings for households earning up to $200,000, or $1,060 per household, over the first decade.

So here's what Governor Hochul can do right now, even with Trump as president, to lower costs for New Yorkers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

1. Accelerate renewable generation
   • She can do this by boosting solar and battery storage procurement targets and building renewables.
2. Increase electrification of vehicles and buildings
   • Electrify public buses and corporate fleets (the Clean Deliveries Act does this), target EV subsidies to the highest-mileage low-income individuals
   • Eliminate the Obligation to Serve (remember the NY HEAT Act?!) which is a key bottleneck to saving ratepayers money and enabling whole neighborhoods to pursue alternatives to gas pipes, like heat pumps
   • Accelerate building repairs and weatherization to help New Yorkers save money by saving energy
   • Help homeowners on delivered fuels go all-electric
3. Make clean energy transmission a top priority
   • Connect the upstate and downstate grids, so we can bring onshore wind and solar downstate
   • Accelerate the installation of Grid Enhancing Technology so that we can get more out of our grid without a massive, expensive overhaul of the aging infrastructure

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