New York Green Advocates Reckon With Climate Loss to Hochul

New York climate advocates closed out a bruising legislative session this month in which they say Gov. Kathy Hochul weakened the state’s landmark climate law and claim to climate policy leadership.

Hochul and lawmakers changed the state’s 2019 climate law during the last few weeks of the 2026 legislative session, including how the state accounts for its greenhouse gas emissions, while scaling back climate targets. Hochul’s administration was slow to implement key provisions of the law—like a cap-and-invest program—before moving to amend it over energy affordability concerns.

The blue state has long been a front-runner on climate policy and in ...