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Key developments
New York weakens climate targets in budget deal
New York used its 2026-27 budget to scale back the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The state dropped the 2030 renewable-electricity benchmark, softened the 2040 target to a 60% emissions cut from 1990 if feasible and cost-effective, and pushed new emissions-reduction legislation to 2028. The revised law also shifts methane to a 100-year accounting horizon and stops tracking out-of-state emissions tied to imported power, after environmental groups sued over the abandoned cap-and-invest program.
Why it matters
It is a major rollback of one of the country’s most ambitious state climate laws and weakens near-term accountability.
Sources & driving stories
THE HIGHLANDS CURRENT · Brian PJ Cronin
The Highlands Current coverageGAO says DOE may have shifted clean-energy funds
The Government Accountability Office said the Department of Energy may have run afoul of appropriations law in fiscal 2025 by steering clean-energy money far beyond congressional levels. GAO found geothermal funding rose to nearly $489 million from $118 million appropriated, while solar was cut to $41.9 million from $318 million and wind to about $30 million from $137 million; clean vehicles and hydrogen were also reduced. The watchdog said it needed more information and DOE did not respond to its questions.
Why it matters
The finding increases legal and political scrutiny over how federal clean-energy dollars are being redirected.
Sources & driving stories
LATITUDE MEDIA · Catherine Boudreau
Latitude Media coverageB.C. Hydro extends gas plants for power gap
B.C. Hydro told regulators it needs to keep the Island Generation and McMahon natural-gas plants running to cover most of a projected 500-megawatt shortfall by 2030. Extending the 275-megawatt Campbell River plant and the 120-megawatt Fort St. John plant would provide about 400 megawatts while new clean capacity comes online. The move marks a policy shift away from the province’s fossil-fuel phaseout goal and could prolong gas dependence if the supply gap persists.
Why it matters
Reliability concerns are forcing British Columbia to preserve gas generation as a bridge in its power transition.
Sources & driving stories
VANCOUVER SUN
Vancouver Sun coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Metro Vancouver enters Stage 3 restrictions
The region banned lawn watering and most sprinkler or soaker-hose use as low snowpack and a hot, dry summer strain water supplies.
WORTH NOTING
Mangroves may lose carbon storage
A new model suggests higher sea-level rise can shrink mangrove habitat enough to turn some areas from carbon sinks into carbon sources.
WORTH NOTING
Wine buyers reward heat adaptation
Cornell researchers found American wine buyers would pay more for shade-cloth protection than for switching grapes or moving vineyards.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will New York’s 2028 deadline produce a real replacement for cap-and-invest?
The state has already missed prior milestones, and the revised law still leaves enforcement and implementation unresolved.
OPEN QUESTION
How long can B.C. keep gas plants online without delaying clean capacity?
Hydro’s shortfall estimate suggests the province may have to choose between reliability backstops and deeper fossil-fuel lock-in.