EXCELSIOR
PLURIBUS UNUM
March 5, 2026
The Honorable Kathy Hochul Governor of New York State NY State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224
Re: Upholding New York’s Leadership in the Fight Against Climate Change
Dear Governor Hochul,
At a time when the Trump Administration is doing everything possible to tear down decades of progress in the fight against climate change, it is incumbent on states like New York to reject this new wave of climate denial and put forward bold policies that will save New Yorkers money, reduce pollution, and protect a livable climate for our constituents and our children and grandchildren.
That is why we, the undersigned senators, categorically oppose any effort to rollback New York’s nation-leading climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and urge you to stand strong in the face of misinformation that seeks to blame the CLCPA for the energy affordability crisis that fossil fuels have created.
Climate change remains one of the greatest threats that our constituents – and societies across the globe – have ever faced. New Yorkers are already living through extreme weather events that run the gamut from searing heat waves to Arctic cold snaps, and they are already paying the price¹, with their dollars, their homes, their health, and even their lives. The climate crisis is driving up the cost of home insurance, of health care, of groceries, and of countless other daily necessities², and every delay in taking action will only drive those costs even higher. Confronting this crisis is a generational task and a legacy issue for every elected official, and it is inseparable from any credible effort to address the high cost of living.
At the same time, there is no question that we must address energy affordability, capacity, and reliability. But while President Trump and the fossil fuel industry want New Yorkers to believe that we must choose between those needs and climate action, nothing could be further from the truth. The recent three-page memo from NYSERDA purporting to show unacceptable costs of implementing CLCPA erroneously conflates CLCPA with a Cap & Invest program, treating them as one and the same when they are two entirely separate issues. Further, the memo is based on a specific Cap & Invest program design that has not been shared with the public and clearly does
1 https://heatmap.news/economy/climate-costs-insurance
2 https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-01-14/a-stealth-heat-tax-has-already-cost-americans-1-trillion
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