Large fossil fuel companies will now have to hand over punitive reparations to help New York fight the effects of “climate change” under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul .a state fund for infrastructure projects meant to repair or avoid future damage from climate change has been set up to benefit from the payments.
Lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year to force big oil and gas companies to contribute to the cost of repairs after extreme weather events critics attribute directly to fossil fuel companies and their wares. “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 state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat who sponsored 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,” Krueger further warned.
The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases between 2000 and 2018 would be subjected to the fines imposed after New York Statethe first state in the nation earlier this year to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new buildings, mandating a shift to renewable energy and electricity as the state’s power grid runs short of capacity.