Written by Jonathan Allen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for climate damage under a bill signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday.
The law aims to shift some of the costs of recovery and adaptation to climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas and coal companies, which the law says are responsible. The funds raised will be spent on climate change mitigation, including adapting roads, transit, water and sewer systems, buildings and other infrastructure.
“New York has fired a shot that will be heard around the world: the companies most responsible for the climate crisis will be held accountable,” New York Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger, who co-sponsored the bill, said in a statement.
Fossil fuel companies will be fined based on the amount of greenhouse gases they released into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2018, with payments to the Climate Superfund starting in 2028. This will apply to any company determined by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to be responsible for more One billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
New York becomes the second state to pass such a law after Vermont passed its own version this summer. The laws are modeled on existing state and federal laws that require polluters to pay to clean up toxic waste.
Kroger said in its statement that repairing damage and adapting to extreme weather caused by climate change will cost New York more than $500 billion by 2050. It added that major oil companies have made profits of more than a trillion dollars since January 2021, and have known since at least the 1970s. The extraction and burning of fossil fuels contributes to climate change.
Energy companies are expected to file legal challenges to the new law, arguing that federal law regulating energy companies and polluters preempts it.
