Climate Week NYC Recap, Part 2.1: The Empire (State) Strikes Back
Building upon my initial experiences at Climate Week NYC, I shifted from thinking globally to focus on how actions are being taken on the state and city level. While the foolish actions of Trump seem intent on taking the wrong side of history, states are showing leadership. New York is stepping up.
This was on full display at the US Climate Alliance roundtable, where Governor Kathy Hochul made a major announcement: Not only was New York supporting the fight against climate change, but also making tangible investments.
“New York is a national leader in climate action, and we’re proving that we can build a thriving green economy while protecting our planet,” Governor Hochul said. “While others may retreat, we are doubling down. The $1 billion investment from our Sustainable Future Program will directly benefit New Yorkers by making our homes more energy-efficient, our schools healthier, and our communities more resilient. We are creating jobs, improving public health, and ensuring a just and affordable transition for every community.”
Getting into the Details
Following that announcement, I attended “New York’s Climate Leadership: Forging Ahead” hosted by: Alliance for Clean Energy New York, E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), and New Yorkers for Clean Power.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton delivered an address that expanded upon the leadership of the governor. She emphasized New York’s leadership and added emphasis not just to the headline initiatives, but also to the overall approach to the environment and ensuring that the improvements address those most affected. She said that the people who have been disproportionately impacted are staring down Trump. To quote governor Hochul: “We are New Yorkers, we know a con when we see one.”
Overall, New York is leading, despite the disfunction in Washington, DC. It may surprise some people, but New York City tends to have the lowest carbon emissions per capita and per household in the US, largely due to density, mass transit, and the fundamental efficiency of the city. However, it gets cold here in the winter and hot in the summer. Buildings account for over 70% of NYC’s total carbon emissions, largely related to heating and cooling. Our more prevalent apartments tend to have lower emissions than detached single-family houses, but many of our buildings are older, with outdated insulation and heating systems based on fossil fuels. In addition, as the first city with an electrical grid, much of our infrastructure and buildings need to be updated. However, as with most things, many of those challenges also present an opportunity to reduce emissions. Local Law 154 is establishing a city building code to electrify and phase out fossil fuels from new construction. Meanwhile, Local Law 97 seeks to upgrade, electrify, and cap and phase out carbon emissions from the over 50,000 existing buildings in the city in excess of 25,000 square feet, which account for the majority of building carbon emissions. In addition, efficiency upgrades were mentioned as potentially creating 42% room for electrification, reducing the electrical infrastructure that needs to be built and reducing energy bills.
The State of New York plans for 70% of its electricity to be renewable by 2030 (not including 10–30% nuclear and other zero-emission generation, depending on region) and 100% emission free statewide by 2040. However, these plans are facing challenges from Trump’s assault on wind, which NY is fighting in court. In addition, the Hertel–New York interconnection line and Champlain Hudson Power Express will send hydropower from Quebec to New York City. The 1,250 MW transmission line will help NYC shift to cost-effective renewable energy. That work continues in spite of Trump’s tariffs on imports of clean Canadian electricity, which are poised to increase prices. In terms of overall emissions, New York State is taking a holistic approach to become net zero by 2050 under policies like the CLPCA.
Beyond electricity, the New York City metropolitan area also has the majority of rail transit ridership in the country. In addition, despite the pushback, congestion pricing has reduced driving and emissions, while increasing mass transit use. However, to implement change, the planning and approval process can be slow, with multiple stakeholders involved. As the city has expanded, some areas are still underserved by mass transit. Budget fluctuations can lead to stops and starts during planning and construction that greatly inflate costs and extend timelines. In the 45 years it took to go from construction start to opening the 2nd Avenue subway line from 72nd Street to 96th Street, China built the entire megacity of Shenzhen (founded in 1979). While the panel highlighted New York’s leadership, they also emphasized that we have a long way to go by global standards. We may be leading mass transit in the US, but we could be moving much faster.
And you could feel a sense of frustration with the speed of bureaucracy. The discussion often drifted into a confusing array of bills, dockets, regulations, and acronyms. It often seemed to lack a human face. Protestors in the audience expressed frustration, and panelist Eric Walker, Director of Energy Development and Management for Erie County and former founder of PUSH Buffalo, expressed sympathy. Some people also voiced frustrations with policies that distort markets, supporting commercial customers paying wholesale rates while shifting costs onto retail energy consumers. To gain public support, it was emphasized that the discussion had to reach kitchen tables in terms people could relate to — supplying energy to people at prices they can afford; relating to people where they are; helping people to realize that pollution can go down while ensuring they can live comfortably and keep the lights on.
While sitting in the audience, I started thinking about what else we could do with the resources we have in New York, in contrast to what is happening in Washington. New York City alone has massive scale. Our population is greater than many countries, like Norway and Singapore. The New York City metropolitan area’s $2.3 trillion GDP is more than the nation of Canada’s. We have a wealth of capital and influence that extends far beyond our borders. With Wall Street and the World Trade Center blocks away, having just left an event on trade, I started contemplating how New York can better engage on a global level. What global collaborations could New York create in the absence of national leadership? For example, New York City collaborated with the Midea on heat pumps for NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) buildings. Could we leverage our resources and global connections to collaborate on other technologies? People seemed interested in the idea, but their current focus tended to be on responding to the disfunction and destruction on the federal level. I’ll get back to technology in a following post.
Pushing the Transition Forward
The cost and speed of change was still on my mind when I had several conversations at the Queens Climate Expo, sponsored by Borough President Donovan Richards.
In speaking to a representative from ConEdison, he mentioned several energy affordability and efficiency programs, particularly for low-income customers. They also mentioned the taxes in electricity bills, with the revenue collection running counter to the promotion of electrification. Policy could be more outcome-driven. He also mentioned the infrastructure age and need for repairs and upgrades. As with many things, those upgrades can be expensive, but it can often be more expensive to keep patching an older system together than doing a more sweeping upgrade.
A representative from our Regional Clean Energy Hub program from NYSERDA also highlighted several efficiency upgrade programs and training programs, ensuring that the benefits of the clean energy economy make it to the people who need it most.
I also spoke to representatives at the NYPA (New York Power Authority), the nation’s largest state power organization, building electrical transmission and generating electricity for many NY institutions, businesses, coops, and community-owned electric systems. However, it does not use tax dollars for its operations or capital projects. They also support electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including K–12 electric school buses. They supply over 25% of the energy generated in New York State and 36% of all emission-free electricity in the state. Currently, 83% of electricity generated by NYPA comes from hydropower and pumped storage, but they also support 2 MW of distributed solar. They also promote environmental justice and energy education, sponsoring energy efficiency and weatherization workshops. But their scope is growing. Regulations have been opened up to allow for a rapid expansion of additional new renewable energy and storage. As such, New York State is effectively leading by getting out of the way of the development of inexpensive renewable energy.
I also had a conversation with representatives from Soltage, who are developing battery storage at the distribution level. They mentioned challenges at the federal level, including those related to LFP batteries, but also highlighted the power of our local leaders. They mentioned that NYC faces complexities due to fire regulations, but that those regulations exist for good reasons. When I asked them what they would most like to see, they answered: “Sync Up the Hoops” they have to go through that serve a purpose but can be confusing and redundant so that “everybody is working from the same playbook” to speed up implementation.
I’ll get back to the technology and local action in future posts, particularly here in Queens, but I came away with a better appreciation of New York’s leaders and the challenges they are up against. In the face of obstacles on the national level, it makes me even more proud of the fight we are putting up to combat climate change and progress we are making.
Cover photo: Climate Week NYC
