Environmental groups are suing the state of New York for allegedly failing to carry out its landmark climate law, which calls for making deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
Citizen Action of New York, PUSH Buffalo, Sierra Club and WE ACT for Environmental Justice filed the lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court on Monday seeking to force the state to issue regulations that were required under the 2019 law. The groups are represented by Earthjustice, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic.
The state law, named the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, set a goal of cutting emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050. The plan was one of the most ambitious in U.S. history and the lawsuit notes that the state started developing regulations in 2023 for a cap-and-invest program to raise money for clean energy and climate mitigation.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, however, has raised concerns about the law and announced in January that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would not release regulations to impose the cap-and-invest program, but would instead propose new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
