The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) and NYLCV Education Fund (NYLCVEF) released their 2025 State Policy Agenda today. Among the League’s top priorities are:
- Developing an economy-wide cap-and-invest program that includes guidelines on program funding eligibility, along with project labor standards and a requirement that at least 40% of funds be invested in disadvantaged communities
- Passing a Clean Fuel Standard
- Passing the NY HEAT Act
- Deploying thermal energy networks (TENs) to decarbonize neighborhoods and public buildings
- Electrifying public transit fleets
- Making it easier for consumers to buy electric vehicles\
- Supplementing the state’s 2035 offshore wind commitment with a statutory goal to achieve 20 gigawatts by 2050
- Passing more extended producer responsibility laws, including for packaging
- Expanding the Bottle Bill
- Establishing minimum recycling content requirements
“The costs of inaction on climate change are escalating before our eyes and an incoming presidential administration bent on gutting the EPA, state environmental policy has never been more critical,” said NYLCV President Julie Tighe. “From cap-and-invest to a clean fuel standard and from decarbonizing buildings to bolstering large-scale renewable energy projects, it is time to deliver tangible results for New York and NYLCV’s State Policy Agenda is a roadmap to help lawmakers do exactly that.”
The 2025 State Policy Agenda is at once a summary of NYLCV’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session and a roadmap for elected officials to follow in order to achieve bold environmental action. In addition to the priorities listed above, NYLCV will also advocate for:
- Full funding of the Environmental Protection Fund and Clean Water Infrastructure Act
- Ensuring complete funding for mass transit capital and operating needs throughout the state
- Fully implementing the New York Metropolitan Region congesting pricing plan (as approved by the MTA Board in November 2024)
- Adopting a statewide policy for all public drinking water suppliers to create local lead service line removal programs.
The publication of this agenda follows a year marked by extreme drought, raging wildfires, and record-breaking heat. With an incoming presidential administration that openly opposes the clean energy transition and an anti-environment majority in Congress, there is an urgent need for state-level action to protect clean air and water, safeguard public health, and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.
The 2025 State Agenda, which was created with input from the NYLCV/EF Policy Committee, will drive the organizations’ advocacy and programmatic work throughout the year as NYLCV pushes for budget appropriations and legislation. Throughout the process, NYLCV/EF worked closely with New York’s leading environmental, public health, conservation, energy, environmental justice, and transportation organizations to identify the state’s most pressing priorities.
The full agenda is available here, and further details on some of the League’s top priorities are below:
CAP-AND-INVEST
To help accomplish the goals established by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the state is developing an economy-wide Cap-and-Invest Program that uses market forces to cap greenhouse gas emissions and generate funds from polluters that will fund carbon reduction infrastructure projects and programs. A successful program must include guidelines about which programs can be funded with cap and invest along with labor standards for said projects, with at least 40% of funds invested in disadvantaged communities.
BUILDINGS
Buildings are the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State, meaning building decarbonization must play a critical role as we set out to meet the state’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. We can significantly reduce emissions and develop a 21st century workforce that sustains and grows middle-class union jobs by passing the NY HEAT Act to plan for the phase out of fossil fuel infrastructure for heating needs, tightening building energy codes, deploying thermal energy networks to decarbonize neighborhoods and state-owned buildings, and a host of additional policies.
CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
Transportation is one of the leading sources of climate pollution in New York, damaging our public health and concentrating air pollution in low-income communities and communities of color. Aggressive action is required to protect public health, promote environmental justice, and achieve the state’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050, including electrifying public transit fleets, making it easier for consumers to buy electric vehicles, and establishing a clean fuel standard that makes the dirtiest fuel providers subsidize low- and zero-emission alternatives.
OFFSHORE WIND
Our ability to mitigate climate change is largely dependent on ambitious action to decarbonize New York’s energy grid within the next decade. New York’s continued progress toward achieving 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2040 depends on the timely procurement, responsible siting, permitting and transmission of 9 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and increasing our offshore wind goal to 20 gigawatts by 2050.
ZERO WASTE
Solid waste pollutes our environment, damages ecosystems, and is an often overlooked part of the climate crisis, accounting for about 6% of New York State’s greenhouse gas emissions. The recycling system is facing numerous challenges that must be addressed to make New York’s waste management more sustainable. New York should develop a range of short-, medium-, and long-term options to fix the recycling market, including: passing more extended producer responsibility laws, including for packaging; supporting local recycling efforts, including through additional funding; expanding the Bottle Bill; standardizing a statewide list of recyclable materials; and establishing minimum recycling content requirements.