Albany Times Union ~ January 21, 2026
By Yvonne Taylor, Seneca Lake Guardian
link: https://eedition.timesunion.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=e84d128d-6e22-4bf8-8a21-869b177927c9&share=true
At a moment when New Yorkers are looking for consistency on climate and affordability, Gov. Kathy Hochul has dealt a serious blow that conflicts with the state’s own climate law.

Recently, she cleared the final hurdle for the Northeast Supply Enhancement gas pipeline and approved a five-year pollution permit for Greenidge Generation, the fossil-fueled Bitcoin mine polluting the Finger Lakes. It’s a betrayal of New Yorkers, of the climate law she swore to uphold, and of every voter who took her at her word.

These decisions come amid intensifying climate impacts and ongoing affordability pressures, signaling that even in a state once hailed as a national climate leader, the law is only as strong as the political will behind it. Hochul’s actions confirm what we’ve long feared: New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act can be compromised if deep-pocketed polluters or political pressure from Donald Trump controls our leaders.

Hochul likes to cast herself as a fighter — “Rambo,” in her own words — standing up to the president and defending New York’s values. But when it comes to fossil fuels and crypto, she’s doing Trump’s dirty work. The NESE pipeline has been a Trump priority since 2019, and her decision to approve a fossil-fueled Bitcoin mine mirrors his fixation on cryptocurrency and willingness to enrich polluters.

This is the same governor who has rightly criticized the Trump administration for proposing to pause offshore wind projects in New York, yet her own actions are kneecapping the clean-energy transition from within. Hochul can’t claim to be a bulwark against Trumpism while advancing his playbook for polluters and profiteers.

The governor insists she’s balancing climate goals with energy reliability, but that’s a false choice. The Climate Act requires the state to cut emissions 40% by 2030, 85% by 2050, and to run on 100% clean power by 2040. By greenlighting new fossil fuel projects, Hochul is undermining the law’s premise.

Her decisions also blow a hole in her own affordability agenda. Fossil-fuel expansion and Bitcoin mining devour enormous amounts of electricity, raising rates for everyone. Researchers estimate that crypto mining could add over $1 billion a year to ratepayers’ power bills. National Grid has estimated that the NESE pipeline, a $2 billion project, will raise downstate New Yorkers’ energy bills by $7.50 a month. We’re not just worsening pollution — we’re making New Yorkers pay for it.

Greenidge Generation was denied its air permit in 2022 because it violated the Climate Act. Its emissions — nearly half a million tons of carbon dioxide a year — were deemed incompatible with state mandates. That should have been the end of the story. Instead, Hochul’s administration has reversed that hard-fought victory, cutting a deal to let Greenidge run until 2030. They call it a “voluntary agreement,” but I’ll call it what it is: a surrender to corporate polluters.

Voters will remember who stood up to corporate power and who folded. Gov. Hochul can still change course — but until she does, New Yorkers and the nation will know exactly whose side she’s on.

Yvonne Taylor is the vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian and the president of the National Coalition Against Cryptomining.