ON LI, CHEERS FOR AI: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is all in on the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence — even as he acknowledges AI servers require colossal amounts of electricity.
Making the United States “the artificial intelligence capital of the world” is, after all, one pillar in the five-pronged EPA initiative to power the “Great American Comeback.” And President Donald Trump has made clear he wants American dominance in the AI market, though his tariffs threaten to crimp his plans.
The energy demand of an AI revolution will get sorted out, Zeldin told reporters on his home turf of Long Island after speaking to business leaders at a Long Island Association breakfast. The former House member and GOP gubernatorial nominee has been targeted for protests by environmental advocates, including those outside the event who say his agenda hurts the air, water and land.
Zeldin told reporters, “Let’s just say we said: ‘Because of how much energy is required for AI, that we’re just not going to do it.’ What ends up happening is that China will eat our lunch.”
But the administrator was vague on his vision for literally powering AI.
“We’re going to have to ensure that there’s the energy capacity for them to be able to power these data centers,” he said. “And we should work together to figure out how they have those sources of energy.” — Emily Ngo
TRUCK TROUBLE: Business and trucking industry groups want Gov. Kathy Hochul to delay a clean truck rule that requires dealers to sell increasing percentages of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles. Think a large cargo van, a furniture box truck, city bus, tractor-trailer or dump truck. New York’s rules are based on California’s Advanced Clean Trucks II rule, which the Trump administration and Republicans and Congress are seeking to overturn. In New York, the trucking industry says the rules are too onerous and will harm consumers. Business groups sent a letter on Tuesday to Hochul urging her to back a two-year delay proposed by Sen. Jeremy Cooney and Assemblymember Donna Lupardo.
“As you’ve noted, we continue to face an affordability crisis,” wrote business groups including the Trucking Association of New York and Business Council of New York State. “New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet. Now is not the time for New York State to claim the mantle of responsibility and add yet another burden to working- and middle-class families.”
The letter focuses particularly on the requirement that 7 percent of 2025 model year trucks in Class 7 and 8 have zero emissions. The letter says 400 Class 8 internal combustion vehicles are registered each month in New York so 28 electric trucks would need to be sold monthly, but over the past two years only four have been sold each month. The letter blames the lack of public zero emission charging on highways as a major barrier.
Environmental advocates argue there are enough trucks in that class used for short-range that could be charged at non-public sites to make delaying the rules unnecessary. Earthjustice’s Liz Moran pointed to data from a CALSTART analysis of federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics data showing nearly 80 percent of Class 7-8 tractors travel less than 100 miles. “They are not dependent on public charging stations,” Moran said. “So New York can easily move ahead with these targets while moving forward with funding for additional charging infrastructure down the road.”
Kendra Hems, the president of the Trucking Association of New York, said that data is based on a survey that doesn’t get many responses. She said the majority of the group’s members are traveling hundreds of miles a day. Private fleets that operate in New York report about 39 percent of Class 7 and 8 trucks (the heaviest type including tractor trailers) travel less than 100 miles daily, according to DEC data. Public fleets travel shorter distances: 94 percent of Class 7-8 vehicles reported by government agencies traveled less than 100 miles a day. That includes snowplows, street sweepers, and garbage and dump trucks.
A spokesperson for Hochul declined to comment on “pending legislation” after being asked about trucking companies seeking a delay of the regulation. The Department of Environmental Conservation issued an enforcement discretion letter granting leeway on the sales requirements for snowplows and street sweepers in October last year. The agency has also emphasized that pending changes to the program in California, which New York would move to adopt, would delay any penalties for manufacturers until 2029. — Marie J. French
TRUMP TARGETS CLIMATE PROGRAMS — POLITICO’s E&E’s Adam Aton and Lesley Clark: President Donald Trump is throwing the weight of the Justice Department against the last bastion of U.S. climate action: states and cities.
In a sweeping executive order signed late Tuesday, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to “stop the enforcement of State laws” on climate change that the administration says are unconstitutional, unenforceable or preempted by federal laws.
The order names California, New York and Vermont as specific targets. It also lists a broad range of state policies that the administration would seek to nullify — from cap-and-trade systems to permitting rules.
NEW YORK PERSPECTIVE: Trump’s order specifically mentions New York’s Climate Superfund law, which the industry and Republican attorneys general have already challenged in court. The measure seeks to retroactively charge fossil fuel companies for historical emissions and associated damages linked to climate change.
“What Trump fails to understand is that there are three equal branches of government, and it is not his to decide whether a law is constitutional or not,” said Assemblymember Jeff Dinowitz, the sponsor of the bill. “I remain confident that courts will ultimately conclude what many legal scholars and I have determined, that the Climate Change Superfund is constitutional and that ultimately Big Oil will be held accountable and help clean up the mess that they have made.”
“Make no mistake, this effort could hike taxes on New Yorkers that otherwise would have been covered by the oil industry,” said NYPIRG’s Blair Horner, who advocated tirelessly for the measure. The American Petroleum Institute praised Trump’s executive order.
Environmental groups slammed Trump’s order as an attempt to override New York’s authority. “This executive order is a desperate attempt to stop the only place progress is still possible: the states,” said Environmental Advocates NY executive director Vanessa Fajans-Turner. “New York’s nation-leading climate law, our efforts to hold polluters accountable, and our commitment to protecting irreplaceable places like the Adirondacks and the Catskills are a threat to President Trump’s fossil fuel agenda. That’s why we’re the target.”
The order mentions state permitting delays as a barrier to energy production. Trump officials have called out New York for blocking pipeline permits in the past and vowed a revival of the Constitution pipeline. It also targets "environmental justice" laws. Acting DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton in a statement said the state's air is cleaner than it has been in decades, "driven largely by the State's strong environmental laws and regulations." She cited reductions in harmful pollutants improving air quality across the state and "particularly [for] those that bear the brunt of environmental pollution."
"Prioritizing environmental justice by protecting those communities and tackling climate change through initiatives like the Climate Superfund is crucial," Lefton said. "New York State is committed to safeguarding its clean air and water and we will vigorously defend our constitutional authority to build on our progress."
The order also calls out California’s cap-and-trade system — and directs the U.S. attorney general to report on essentially all state laws and policies related to climate and the environment. The priority is to stop state actions that “address ‘climate change’ or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.” New York’s landmark 2019 climate law has ambitious environmental justice protections and funding mandates alongside targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions. New York is also part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which charges power plants for their carbon emissions and has withstood many legal challenges.
“We are thoroughly reviewing the EO to determine the potential impact to New Yorkers,” said Hochul spokesperson Paul DeMichele. “The Governor is committed to ensuring a clean, affordable and reliable energy grid in New York State.”
Hochul earlier this year punted on New York’s own cap-and-trade style program to charge for pollution. The governor’s administration has released draft regulations for reporting emissions, which would provide data to advance the “cap and invest” program. Some environmental groups have already sued Hochul’s Department of Environmental Conservation for not issuing regulations to achieve the goals of the state’s climate law. NY Renews again called for Hochul to release those regulations in response to Trump’s executive order.
“A well-designed cap-and-invest system would reduce energy bills for working- and middle-class households, require corporate polluters to pay their fair share to fund the switch to clean and efficient energy sources, and create thousands of good, family-sustaining jobs across our state,” the group wrote. — Marie J. French
SCHUMER SLAMS FEMA: Sen. Chuck Schumer called for the Trump administration to reverse cuts that will slash $300 million in funding for climate and flood resiliency projects in New York. FEMA yanked the funding through the Building Resilient Infrastructure And Communities program.
“New Yorkers are no strangers to natural disasters and FEMA’s BRIC program was one of the best tools for helping communities big and small rebuild to keep communities safe in the face of flooding, snowstorms and more,” Schumer said in a statement Tuesday. “By ripping away over $300 million in funding for projects with no warning or explanation, imperiling them from moving forward, FEMA is going against its mission and putting the lives and safety of New Yorkers during the next emergency at risk.”
The Times reported the cuts on Monday and Gov. Kathy Hochul provided more details on Tuesday. Hochul said $65 million in projects where construction has already started is also at risk. “Cutting funding for communities across New York is short sighted and a massive risk to public safety,” Hochul said. “Without support for resilience projects now, our communities will be far more vulnerable when disaster strikes next.”
PASSING PEANUT THE SQUIRREL’S LAW: The owner of a euthanized pet squirrel wants lawmakers to provide more protections for wildlife sanctuary operators who may be running afoul of state law.
Mark Longo’s experience of having his raccoon and Instagram-famous squirrel seized by state officials sparked intense anger and threats against the Department of Environmental Conservation. The animals were euthanized by local health officials to test for rabies after the squirrel bit a DEC employee.
Longo traveled to Albany in support of a bipartisan measure dubbed “Peanut’s Law: Humane Animal Protection Act.” The proposal would exempt wildlife sanctuaries from DEC policies that allow the agency to seize and euthanize animals unless there’s a public health risk. It would also provide appeal options and delay any euthanization by 72 hours.
“There are multiple, multiple Instagram famous ‘wildlife animals’ who do live in New York state who did not get 12 people to invade their privacy, invade their home and kill their animals,” Longo said. “This was a clear, clear overreach of government.”
In New York, keeping a squirrel as a pet is illegal. Longo is not a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
Longo said he has more than 300 animals rescued from slaughterhouses and elsewhere at his animal sanctuary in Chemung County. “Rules and procedures need to be changed so more people can do what we’re doing,” he said.
“Let us make New York a sanctuary for compassion,” said Assemblymember Jake Blumencranz, a Republican from Oyster Bay.
Blumencranz noted that the DEC recently issued a statement promising improvements, but that a legal change is needed to ensure protections.
“We have carefully reviewed all the public feedback and we understand the distress caused to communities throughout the state,” said acting DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton in a March 28 statement. “We know that we can do better moving forward.”
The Department of Environmental Conservation plans to implement a statewide policy on animal seizures, have DEC police officers use body cameras and update wildlife protocols as well as the system to license wildlife rehabilitators. — Marie J. French
TIME FOR TOLLS — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: New York’s congestion pricing tolls aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
At the very least, the tolls will stay in place through early fall, according to a timeline the Metropolitan Transportation Authority submitted Friday to a federal judge.
The timeline, which lays out a schedule for legal motions the MTA and the federal government have agreed to, shows the legal battle over the tolling program that President Donald Trump is trying to kill will continue through late October.
That is far beyond the April 20 deadline the Trump administration gave New York to stop tolling drivers coming into parts of Manhattan. The MTA sued in federal court to block that move. |
