7.8.24 - New York Unlikely to Hit 2030 Climate Goals, State Report Concedes
' New York is not on track to achieve one of its chief, legally mandated climate goals, according to a new state report.
The state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019 and hailed then as a nation-leading law, requires New York to source 70% of its electricity from renewables like solar and wind by 2030. But the state will likely not achieve that benchmark by the deadline.
Instead, the report acknowledged, New York could hit that 70% mark by 2033.
Why the delay? The report pointed to the global market and economic conditions, notably logistics and supply chains affected by “geopolitical tensions.” The report also cited inflation and high interest rates as factors that undermined the financial viability of renewable projects.
“It’s still worthwhile to push as aggressively as fast as we can for these goals. With fighting climate change… every little bit counts,”said Patrick McClellan, state policy director for the New York League of Conservation Voters.
“We hope that this is kind of a wake-up call for the state — not that I think that they weren’t aware, obviously, there were these problems — but they probably need to be pushing harder,” he added.
While the lack of timely progress does not come as a complete surprise for those tracking the state’s progress, it brings a finer point to the challenges involved with moving away from burning fossil fuels, the major contributor to climate change.
Key Deadlines Missed
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s interim 2030 target was supposed to put the state on a path to have zero-emissions electricity by 2040, a deadline also mandated by the law. A failure to green the grid in time could jeopardize slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, which must fall 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 — and 85% by 2050 — as the climate law stipulates.
As of 2023, just seven years away from the 70% target deadline, renewables generated just under 30% of New York’s electricity, according to the state grid operator. Including nuclear power, a zero-emissions energy source, that total hits about 50%.
Plus, the delayed transition to a greener grid makes other climate efforts harder to realize. For instance, large New York City buildings face caps on their emissions under Local Law 97. The concept of emissions, in the law, counts not only direct exhaust from any fuels used by occupants’ stoves, heaters or boilers, but also the emissions connected to the electricity the building uses, wherever it was generated. A dirtier grid means those buildings will have a harder time complying with those caps. '