March 23, 2026 – Vanessa Fajans-Turner, the executive director for Environmental Advocates NY, issued a statement calling the memo “a political tactic meant to scare legislators into giving her a way out of obeying the law.” That may be so, but the memo also raises uncomfortable questions about New York’s climate strategy in a political environment dominated by affordability concerns. Environmental Advocates NY argues that extending the law’s deadlines would “increase costs for households and the state,” citing the hazards of a warming world. The state’s earlier analysis also found that the financial benefits to New Yorkers would outweigh the costs. But in both examples, there is a lag between when the costs and benefits hit.
