Hochul Blinks When It Comes to Climate Act Costs
14 hours ago Guest Blogger
Roger Caiazza
Rebecca Lewis posted two City and State articles that cited evidence that the Hochul Administration recognizes that the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (Climate Act) is so expensive that the Governor appears ready to propose changes to the Climate Act to reduce the costly clean energy transition.
In the first article Lewis explains that state budget director Blake Washington described the cost burdens of the green energy requirements at the Citizens Budget Commission breakfast on 2/25/26. Lewis stated:
Blake Washington called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act “well-intentioned,” but said circumstances had changed since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the law in 2019. “Sometimes you can change governmental rules to just fit the times and actually adapt to the realities, the realities before us, not how we wish them to be,” Washington said. He added that the estimated average cost to New Yorkers of the energy transition under current rules comes to roughly $3,000, a number the governor finds “unacceptable.”
In the second article Lewis described the contents of a NYSERDA memo from President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority Doreen Harris to Jackie Bray, Director of State Operations outlining “likely costs of CLCPA compliance” under hypothetical cap‑and‑invest regulations needed to hit the statutory 40% by 2030 GHG reduction target. This appears to update some of the numbers that Washington quoted the day before. Lewis notes also that Hochul commented on the cost issues in an unrelated press conference at the same time the memo was “leaked”.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/02/hochul-blinks-when-it-comes-to-climate-act-costs/
