Hochul’s ‘Bait and Switch’ on Climate: State of the State 2025

If all you heard was her State of the State address, Kathy Hochul would sound like a governor ready to make bold moves on climate.

“We need look no further than the deadly fires in Los Angeles for a reminder of how fragile our world is and what the future will hold if we sacrifice mother nature on the altar of profit,” she said. “We are truly the first generation to experience the effects of climate change and we are the last generation who can do anything about it.”

It was a departure from last year, when she barely mentioned climate at all. She promised on Tuesday to back up the talk with “an historic $1 billion investment to further the transition to a zero emission economy.”

But the bigger news was what Hochul didn’t include: a plan to move ahead this year with cap and invest, the flagship climate funding program she has promised for the last two years. Instead, in the briefing book accompanying her speech, Hochul appeared to further delay the program, once again calling into question New York’s ability to deliver on its climate law.

Read the full piece here.