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Trump Presidency Looms Over New York’s Ambitious Climate Agenda
With former Hochul rival Lee Zeldin nominated as next EPA commissioner, commitments to carbon-free electricity and steeply reduced greenhouse gas emissions grow increasingly hazy.
NEW YORK - With President Donald Trump set to return to the White House, New York is all but on its own to play catch-up with its ambitious, legally mandated climate goals.
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019 during Trump’s first presidential term, requires the state to have zero-emissions electricity by 2040 and slash greenhouse gas emissions 85% by 2050.
While the state has made some progress — aided in large part by the Biden administration, whose friendly stance toward climate action gave way to smoother offshore wind permitting and tax incentives for cleaner vehicles — it’s got a long way to go. Even with that wind at its back, however, New York had already fallen about three years behind its own benchmarks.
“The role of the state is far more important, in that we can no longer rely on the federal government,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “There’s plenty we can do if we have the political will.”
Gerrard said Gov. Kathy Hochul should double down on advancing the climate law’s aims by following the sweeping policy blueprint that plots out a transition away from fossil fuels for all parts of New York’s economy, from home heating and energy sources, to what kinds of cars are on the road. But the state lacks a clear funding source or spending plan to carry that out.
“New York has taken significant steps to implement the Climate Act and we will continue our ongoing efforts to build a clean energy economy," Paul DiMichele, a spokesperson for Hochul, said in a statement.
One person who could help or hinder Hochul’s efforts is Lee Zeldin, Trump’s appointee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin, a former state senator and Congressman representing eastern Long Island, challenged Hochul for governor in 2022 and came within six points of winning. This summer, he called New York’s climate law “unrealistic and unobtainable,” saying its goals amounted to “pathetic political posturing.”
Zeldin said Tuesday that the EPA has the “opportunity to roll back regulations that are forcing businesses to struggle.” That echoes some groups in New York that have raised concerns over the impacts and feasibility of the state’s climate goals. The Business Council of New York gave Zeldin a “top pro-business score” in 2014 when he was a state senator, while just three years earlier, Environmental Advocates New York awarded him an “Oil Slick” award.
Still, Hochul is holding out hope that her former political rival will remember where he’s from: an area vulnerable to flooding and growing more so as sea levels rise, reliant on groundwater as its drinking source, and home to many whose livelihoods depend on a healthy environment.
“Hopefully, these are all factors that the new head of EPA will know, what was happening in his backyard, and try to help solve problems, not create more,” Hochul said this week.
Zeldin does not have a reputation as an environmental champion, though advocates who worked with him locally said he stepped up in crucial times.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said she asked Zeldin to publicly oppose Trump’s idea to drill for oil off the East Coast. He did, she said, in part because he recognized the harmful impact that would have had on Long Island fishermen.
“When pressed by his constituents on issues that they really cared about, he would be responsive. What I’m worried about now is that his responsiveness will turn away from the public and more towards Trump’s agenda,” Esposito said.
Regarding Trump, Esposito added, “He traded the industry’s bottom lines for public health. When he had to choose between the two, he chose industry. What we need Zeldin to do is fight for the public need above corporate greed.”
Rejecting Climate Science
What Zeldin ultimately decides to do if confirmed as head of the EPA may be a question of how closely he hews to Trump’s vision.
Trump has long rejected climate science. During his first term, his administration gutted research funding, and the EPA rolled back over 100 policies and rules aimed at lowering planet-warming emissions and protecting the environment.
Perhaps the biggest impact the EPA could have on New York’s climate aims is rolling back Biden-era rules that limit harmful tailpipe emissions. These rules aimed to slash pollution and push the U.S. vehicle market toward electric and hybrid vehicles.
This rule boosted New York’s efforts to tackle its largest source of planet-warming emissions: the transportation sector. Hochul issued a directive requiring all cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions — that is, powered by hydrogen or electricity — by 2035.
“Whether we're able to meet the 2035 target, and what happens along the way is mostly out of our hands, it’s mostly a federal matter,” Gerrard said. “That's the single thing that I think is the greatest problem that the election has for New York's achievement of these climate goals.”
One person uniquely poised to nudge the Trump administration toward greater support for electric vehicles is Elon Musk, Trump’s confidant, appointee to co-lead a new proposed Department of Government Efficiency, and founder of electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Some New York environmental advocates are pushing for the state to adopt a clean fuel standard, which would require a reduction in the carbon intensity of vehicles, thereby incentivizing a switch from gasoline to a lower-emissions fuels such as biodiesel. The state Senate passed legislation to do so, but the Assembly never held a vote on the measure. Hochul could prioritize state approval of such a standard.
‘Dominance,’ Renewables Included
Zeldin also promised to “pursue energy dominance” for the U.S., without specifying what kind of energy he wants to be dominant.
“Does that mean only fossil fuels? Trump has been outspoken in opposing offshore wind — do wind and solar and geothermal factor into that equation?” said Judith Enck, a former regional administrator of the EPA. “It’s in the EPA wheelhouse. The EPA sometimes issues permits for coal-fired power plants, fracking, pipelines.”
One clue: When Zeldin ran for governor, he vowed to overturn New York’s ban on fracking and said New York was not “tapping into” a supply of energy, suggesting the state could extract natural gas, which he said would also create jobs.
But clean energy has been a job creator nationwide, and years earlier, Zeldin had recognized its benefits.
“The key is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, to become more environmentally friendly and pursue clean and green energy,” Zeldin said during a 2016 congressional campaign debate against his Democratic challenger.
Environmental advocates say that fulfilling Zeldin’s “energy dominance” pledge will have to include renewables in the mix at some level.
“I don’t see how the country is energy dominant or energy secure and less reliant on the roller coaster ride of the oil markets if we’re not getting more of our energy, including for our vehicles, from electricity and renewable sources,” said Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters.
Zeldin, however, voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have been credited with spurring investment in clean energy and manufacturing — including in New York.
Trump has vowed to rescind unspent dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act — a big risk for the state. Already, his transition team is seeking to repeal the IRA’s electric vehicle tax credit.
“New York needs to be cognizant of that when it comes to prioritizing the resources it does have to maximize greenhouse gas reduction,” said Patrick Orecki, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, in an email.
He emphasized that while federal dollars and incentives help advance the climate law, the state is ultimately on the hook to find its own funding.
New York is slated to establish a program, known as “cap-and-invest,” that would charge polluters for emissions they spew in an effort to incentivize them to emit less and to raise money to pay for climate-related investments. But the state has yet to write regulations for the program — one of several key deadlines in the Climate Act its missed.
“If the state keeps missing climate law milestones, nobody else is coming to our rescue,” said Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. “We’re all disappointed and waiting to see if she will start taking climate change mitigation and adaptation with the urgency we need.”
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