Trump could knock NY's climate goals over the edge

Politico

06-06-2025

New York state was already struggling to meet its aggressive climate targets before President Donald Trump took office. Now it's locked in a showdown with the president and his antagonism toward environmental policies, writes Benjamin Storrow.
Within weeks of taking office, Trump targeted a state plan to limit the number of gasoline-powered cars and trucks entering Manhattan. He reversed his decision to cancel a major offshore wind project in exchange for building a pair of natural gas pipelines the state had previously rejected. And that's on top of federal policies, such as killing generous clean energy tax incentives, that will make it harder for New York to go green.
'New York has been a leader on climate and this administration is coming after progressive climate policy,' Raya Salter with the state's Climate Action Council told Ben. 'That's why we need for our state to fight and push harder than ever and be the model that this country and the world needs.'
But even without Trump, it's an uphill battle. Only a quarter of the state's electricity is produced with clean power, lagging far behind its goal of 70 percent by 2030. Natural gas companies are challenging the state's ban on gas hookups in new buildings. And New York's climate pollution from transportation remains stubbornly high, continuing to account for 40 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions.
Rising energy costs are only complicating matters. While most of the country saw natural gas prices fall in 2024, New York and New England were exceptions. Gas prices in New York increased by 14 percent compared with 2023.
That has created a political pressure point for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said she is open to new gas pipelines to lower costs for consumers. While Hochul disputes it, Trump contends he secured Hochul's openness to pipelines by agreeing to lift his stop-work order on an offshore wind project.
Environmental activists worry the move will further imperil the state's climate targets.
'It's going to be hard to reach the goals if you keep building infrastructure to expand [natural gas] consumption,' said Ira Joseph, a longtime gas analyst and senior research associate at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.
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