Gas industry-backed coalition taps ex-N.Y. officials as Albany debates climate rollbacks

A national natural gas coalition is moving aggressively to shape New York’s climate debate, enlisting prominent former elected officials as Gov. Kathy Hochul presses for changes to the state’s emissions mandates in budget talks now running past deadline. Pipeline and power plant companies, long stymied in New York, see an opening as the state weighs a slower transition away from fossil fuels.

Leading the charge is Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, a nonprofit backed by major pipeline builders and other gas interests, which has begun state-level advocacy to advance Hochul’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. Central to its agenda is pressing pause on New York’s climate targets.

At a late-March conference of the Independent Power Producers of New York, the group’s New York co-chair Ruben Diaz Jr.—a former assemblymember and Bronx borough president—defended the governor’s approach as “responsible leadership.” “Yes, more renewables,” he said, “but yes also to modern efficient natural gas when needed to maintain stability.

That is not retreating from climate action. That is governing with common sense.” Diaz, who describes himself as an environmental justice champion, said he was helping build “a coalition” to give Hochul backing and to persuade legislators to change the climate law.

Natural Allies says it does not lobby in New York. The group announced Diaz and former Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy as its New York co-chairs last fall. Duffy, who leads the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, is spearheading outreach upstate and said the coalition’s priorities align with businesses that fear they could be forced out of the state if current deadlines stand.

“It just defies logic that this is even controversial,” he said. Formed in 2020, Natural Allies has recruited a roster of high-profile former officials to persuade Democrats—and especially Black and Latino voters—that gas remains part of the energy mix. Over the past six months, it has expanded similar efforts to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The push comes at a pivotal moment. Energy demand is climbing, President Donald Trump’s administration is pulling support for renewables and waging war on offshore wind—central to New York’s green buildout—and state energy regulators are weighing a proposal from business groups to pause efforts to achieve a zero-emissions grid.

At the same time, the governor is fighting a court order over violations of the state climate law. Hochul’s proposed rollbacks have become a flashpoint in budget negotiations with the Assembly and Senate, with some upstate Democrats expressing support but the governor acknowledging she faces an uphill battle.

For pipeline and power plant companies, the outcome could determine whether years of project rejections give way to a comeback. For lawmakers, the immediate question is whether to slow the state’s timelines—or stick with the current law—as negotiations continue.