Kathy Hochul defended New York’s decision to walk back near-term carbon emissions targets during a POLITICO Energy podcast interview on July 13, 2026. She said the state still intends to fight climate change, but argued it cannot meet those shorter-term goals while keeping energy affordable for residents.
Hochul also told critics, “Please do not question my credentials in this space.” She said, “If you think we’re doing nothing in New York, I encourage you to look at where we are in relation to other states,” while pointing to solar deployment, a major new transmission line and plans to boost nuclear power as part of the state’s path to its 2050 net-zero target.
Kathy Hochul and New York
The remarks put Hochul back at the center of the dispute over changes she enacted to New York’s climate law earlier in the year. Environmental activists have criticized the rollback and said the state cannot afford to wait for more action, while some have alleged that she did not even try to meet the original goals.
Hochul’s defense rested on a simple tradeoff: she said New York remains committed to climate action, but the state cannot hit its near-term targets and keep energy affordable at the same time. That leaves the policy split between shorter-term emissions goals and the longer-term net-zero target she said the state is still pursuing.
POLITICO Energy podcast
Her comments came in a public interview, not a formal policy memo, which gives them immediate political weight. In that setting, she was speaking directly to the criticism that the changes signaled retreat, and she answered by tying the rollback to a broader clean-energy buildout rather than to a change in the end goal.
For readers in New York, the practical issue is the direction of the state’s climate schedule, not the existence of a climate target itself. Hochul’s defense means the fight is now over pace and affordability: how quickly the state pushes reductions, and whether near-term obligations give way when electricity costs enter the debate.
Kathy Hochul announced $2 billion STAR tax relief for 2.78 million New Yorkers earlier this month, another signal that affordability has become part of her broader public message. That message now extends to climate policy, where she is asking critics to judge the state by the scale of its current clean-energy work rather than by the original schedule she changed.
The unresolved issue is not whether New York still says it wants net zero by 2050. It is what exact changes Hochul made earlier this year, and how much slower the near-term emissions path will be before the state reaches that target.
