ESFPA E-News

ESFPA Weekly Update

NYS Governor Kathy Hochul is scheduled to deliver her annual State of the State Address tomorrow, January 13, 2026, outlining her priorities and policy proposals for the year ahead. ESFPA will be closely monitoring the address and its implications, and to help keep you informed, we will be releasing a YouTube video and an accompanying e-alert that will summarize key takeaways from the Governor’s remarks. 

In addition to coverage of the State of the State Address, we will also include updates on other upcoming news and events relevant to our members. Please to watch for these releases and stay engaged as the legislative session begins and policy discussions take shape in Albany!

Trade Updates

It was expected that the Supreme Court would rule Friday on the legality of the Trump Administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the basis for its “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed on our international trade earlier this year. While the Court did issue opinions, it did not rule on IEEPA.

The Court could rule any day on this. Should the Court rule against using IEEPA as a basis for imposing tariffs, the Administration has signaled that it does intend to use other channels to pursue its tariff agenda. We will keep you apprised of developments in this space.

Statewide GHG Emissions Report

DEC recently issued its 2025 “Statewide GHG Emissions Report,” covering emissions for calendar 2023.  The summary report and sector-specific reports are available here, as are archived reports going back to emissions for calendar year 2019.  The new report illustrates the extent to which achievement of the CLCPA’s 40% by 2030 emission reduction mandate remains impractical.

Most significant, the new report shows 2023 statewide emissions at 354.06 mmtCO2e, using the CLCPA’s mandated reporting format, compared to the CLCPA’s mandated 2030 statewide emission target of 245.87 mmtCO2e. This shows the state still about 110 mmtCO2e above the 2030 target of 60% of the 1990 baseline of 415.74 mmtCO2e (or at 85.3% of baseline levels) – a shortfall roughly equivalent to 2023 combustion emissions from the transportation and residential building sectors combined. 

The Business Council of NYS also produced a great memo summarizing this report, which notes that under the CLCPA reporting requirements we will fall far short of our 40% reductions by 2030. It also notes that if we used the international reporting standards used by virtually all other entities (US EPA, California and others) we would be very close to meeting our targets. 

Hardwood Timber Tipping Point

Bill Smith from SUNY ESF shared a very interesting editorial from Dan Meyer of the Hardwood Review discussing “Hardwood Timber Tipping Point - We’re Now Losing More to Mortality Than We Are Harvesting”, presenting summarized Forest Service data and an interesting insight.

In short, our era of many consumers desiring “protecting the environment by saving forests” through using materials other than wood products from managed forests has become, likely naively unknowingly to them, unfortunately counterproductive. 

Click the link below to read the full editorial:

Northern Forest Center's Tupper Lake Project

In Tupper Lake, NY, The Northern Forest Center is mid-way through building a 9-unit apartment building that serves the community by creating middle-market housing and supports climate resilience and the forest economy by using forest products -- including innovative products such as wood-fiber insulation and cross laminated timber -- instead of fossil-fuel-based materials.

They recently released a video with detailed information on the project; click the link below to watch it: