NY HEAT Act and Climate Superfund excluded from state budget
As Earth Day came and went this week, some residents — and their representatives — expressed disappointment in what they see as the state’s failure to follow through on its pledge to limit the impacts of climate change.
Last week, the state unveiled and passed its $237 billion budget for fiscal year 2025, which many observers criticized its lack of investment in ways to address the ongoing environmental crisis. Two significant pieces of legislation — the New York Home Energy Affordable Transition, or HEAT, Act, and the Climate Change Superfund Act — were notably absent from the spending plan.
The HEAT Act aimed to limit the expansion of gas infrastructure by requiring utilities to explore alternative energy options before providing gas to new customers. Similarly, the Climate Change Superfund Act sought to hold companies accountable for their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions by requiring them to fund infrastructure upgrades to mitigate their environmental impact.
But despite Gov. Kathy Hochul’s advocacy of these initiatives, they did not appear in the final budget agreement.