The state of New York has announced plans to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion over a 25-year period, in a move described as a ‘shot that will be heard round the world’.
Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the Climate Change Superfund Act, a piece of legislation based on the polluter-pays model, which will target the ‘parties most responsible for causing the climate crisis – big oil and gas companies’.
The income will be used to finance climate change adaptation measures over the coming years, including infrastructure repairs, storm resilience projects, and protection for regions such as NY Harbour, Long Island, and other vulnerable areas statewide.
The bill was carried in the Senate by Senator Liz Krueger, and in the Assembly by Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.
‘Holding firms accountable’
“The Climate Change Superfund Act is now law, and New York has fired a shot that will be heard round the world: the companies most responsible for the climate crisis will be held accountable,” Senator Krueger commented.
“Too often over the last decade, courts have dismissed lawsuits against the oil and gas industry by saying that the issue of climate culpability should be decided by legislatures. Well, the Legislature of the State of New York – the 10th largest economy in the world – has accepted the invitation, and I hope we have made ourselves very clear: the planet’s largest climate polluters bear a unique responsibility for creating the climate crisis, and they must pay their fair share to help regular New Yorkers deal with the consequences.”
Climate-related projects
Last year alone, the state allocated $2.7 billion for climate-related infrastructure projects, however escalating climate-related costs in New York are expected to exceed $500 billion by 2050, which has prompted local government to take affirmative action.
“Repairing from and preparing for extreme weather caused by climate change will cost more than half a trillion dollars statewide by 2050,” Krueger continued. “That’s over $65,000 per household, and that’s on top of the disruption, injury, and death that the climate crisis is causing in every corner of our state.
“The Climate Change Superfund Act is a critical piece of affordability legislation that will deliver billions of dollars every year to ease the burden on regular New Yorkers.”
The measure has received backing from economists, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, and institutions such as NYU Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity.
Public support
According to a recent poll by Data for Progress, some 89% of New Yorkers support fossil fuel companies covering at least some of the cost for climate damages.
A separate poll, meanwhile, found that 70% of New York voters support the Climate Change Superfund Act, including majorities across party lines. Read more here.
