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Gov. Hochul signs bills targeting greenhouse gas emissions, clean energy jobs

Governor Kathy Hochul signs a legislative package of three bills that will strengthen New York’s commitment to clean energy development and energy efficiency, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Don Pollard
/
flickr.com
Governor Kathy Hochul signs a legislative package of three bills that will strengthen New York’s commitment to clean energy development and energy efficiency, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed three bills Tuesday to create clean energy jobs to build the infrastructure needed to switch away from fossil fuels. The legislation sets a new goal of reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 60% in 2030, and an additional 15% by 2050. Hochul credited one of the bills for updating the state’s building codes to meet energy efficiency standards.

“It’s going to help reduce greenhouse emissions from buildings all across the state because the biggest contributor of emissions, our buildings. We’ve known that we’ve recognized that and now we’re doing something about that that’s 1/3 of the state’s total emissions, greenhouse emissions.”

Hochul said signing this bill will also help New Yorkers save on their energy bills. Households across the state are expected to save a combined $2.5 billion by 2030. The legislation comes after the U.S. Supreme Courtruled last week to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority from imposing an emissions cap on power plants to incentivize the switch to cleaner energy sources.

Hochul said the Supreme Court ruling isn’t stopping New York.

“We are the first generation to really feel the effects of climate change. We’re also the last one that can do anything about it. That’s the weight that’s on our shoulders. And that is why New York will continue leading our nation into the clean energy future.”

The state has already made a $500 million commitment for offshore wind to create energy in its recent budget. The goal is to create a workforce pipeline from state universities and vocational programs to build wind turbines off the coast of Long Island. New York has over 20 large-scale energy projects in development — five are offshore wind.