Above photo: New York City, which is vulnerable to sea-level rise and flooding, seen from the Staten Island Ferry in New York Harbor on Feb. 21, 2024. Kena Betancur / VIEWpress.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires major emitters, such as fossil fuel companies, to compensate for damages by helping to fund climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
“By signing the Climate Change Superfund Act, Gov. Hochul is addressing the financial burden placed on New Yorkers by the fossil fuel companies,” Richard Schrader, director of New York Government Affairs at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a statement. “It’s a key example of what putting fiscal fairness and environmental justice front and center looks like. The funds raised by this measure will allow for investment in life-saving infrastructure improvements: safeguarding coastal communities from flooding, creating systems to protect people from extreme heat, and improving responses to environmental and public health threats.”
As ABC News reported, the law will require companies with the highest greenhouse emissions from 2000 to 2018 to pay fines, with that money going to extreme weather event repairs and infrastructure upgrades.
According to Environmental Advocates NY, funding collected through the act will go toward projects such as wetland restoration, upgrades to storm water drainage systems and installations of energy-efficient cooling in both public and private buildings. The organization reported that a minimum of 35%, with a target of at least 40%, of collected funds will go to projects in disadvantaged communities.
“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,” said New York Sen. Liz Krueger, a sponsor of the bill. “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.”
According to Sen. Krueger, costs of climate change-related extreme weather events in New York will reach more than $500 billion by 2050, averaging around $65,000 per household. The bill will require fossil fuel companies to pay a total of $75 billion over a 25-year time frame.
The fines will not go into effect immediately, ABC News reported. The state will first need to establish regulations around notifying companies, collecting fines and allocating funds to projects.
In the meantime, experts expect the law to face legal challenges, ABC News reported. Fossil fuel industry professionals have spoken out against the law, with the American Petroleum Institute stating, “This type of legislation represents nothing more than a punitive new fee on American energy, and we are evaluating our options moving forward.”
New York is now the second U.S. state to enact such a law. Vermont passed a similar law in May 2024, The Associated Press reported.