Key developments
Hochul moves to weaken New York climate targets
Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing through budget negotiations to revise New York’s 2019 Climate Act, replacing the law’s 2030 benchmark of cutting emissions 40% below 1990 levels with a 60% reduction by 2040 while keeping the 2050 target. She says the state cannot meet current timelines without higher energy costs, while environmental justice groups and lawmakers warn the delay will prolong pollution exposure in communities near gas plants and highways. Inside Climate News says New York’s 2023 emissions were still about 15% below 1990 levels.
Why it matters
It would be a major rollback of a landmark state climate law and could slow near-term emissions cuts in one of the largest U.S. economies.
Sources & driving stories
INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS · Lauren Dalban
Inside Climate News coverageTexas solar projected to top coal
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects ERCOT to generate 78 billion kilowatt-hours from solar in 2026 versus 60 billion from coal, which would make this the first year solar tops coal on Texas’s grid. Solar already beat coal monthly from March through August last year and is forecast to do so from March through December this year, even as ERCOT still relies on gas, nuclear, wind and batteries for evening demand. Grist says the trend reflects Texas’s market design, land availability and permissive building rules, and mirrors the broader U.S. shift in which wind and solar surpassed coal nationally in 2024.
Why it matters
It marks a major electricity-market milestone on the country’s biggest competitive grid and undercuts claims that renewables cannot outcompete coal.
Sources & driving stories
GRIST
Grist coverageMOTHER JONES
Mother Jones coverageLouisiana bill narrows climate lawsuit immunity
Louisiana’s Senate Natural Resources Committee amended House Bill 804, the Energy Protection Act, to grandfather lawsuits filed before the bill becomes law. That change softens an earlier push for broad retroactive immunity from climate-damage claims, but the measure is still moving toward final passage. Attorney Victor Marcello warned the bill’s broad definitions could also affect localized pollution and contamination cases.
Why it matters
The bill could reshape climate-liability exposure for fossil-fuel and industrial defendants in a state central to coastal and pollution litigation.
Sources & driving stories
THE COURIER
The Courier coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
China floats 16-MW wind prototype
Goldwind’s buoyant offshore turbine has been formally validated and is now in real-ocean testing, signaling another step toward commercial floating wind.
WORTH NOTING
UAE storage deal advances round-the-clock solar
Masdar and Sungrow’s agreement advances a 5.2GW solar-plus-storage project designed to deliver baseload renewable power from 2027.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will New York’s revised targets stick?
The state is trying to rewrite a landmark climate law through budget negotiations while related pollution and cap-and-invest disputes remain unresolved.
OPEN QUESTION
Can ERCOT keep reliability as solar rises?
Solar’s coal crossover is real, but the grid still depends on gas, batteries and transmission upgrades to cover evening demand.