New Climate Law Will Reshape NY's Key Sectors

Deep changes in the way electricity is generated, people and goods move around, and buildings are erected and renovated in New York will be required by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which both houses of the state Legislature have passed and Governor Andrew Cuomo has promised to sign.

The new law requires reductions of total statewide greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels to be 40% in 2030 and 85% in 2050. (As of 2015, the last year for which data are available, emissions were 8.5% below 1990 levels.) It also sets parameters by which emissions offsets can be used to reach net zero emissions toward an aspirational goal of 100% reduction by 2050.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is required to promulgate regulations "to ensure compliance with the statewide emission reduction limits." These regulations shall "[i] nclude legally enforceable emissions limits, performance standards, or measures or other