Hochul signs greenhouse gas reduction bills, updating building codes and allowing thermal energy development

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Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed several bills into law designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the development of clean energy networks.

The bills — which call for updates to existing building and appliance codes specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, allow for utilities to pilot local geothermal energy networks, and subject the solar energy industry to prevailing wage standards — were passed before the US Supreme Court last week gutted the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions, in a wide-ranging ruling that could imperil the federal government’s entire regulatory apparatus.