Onlookers check out a flooded road on July 10, 2023, in Chester, Vermont. Torrential rain and flooding has affected millions of people from Vermont south to North Carolina.
The so-called climate Superfund measures are based on the “polluter pays” concept of the 1980 federal Superfund law, which covers the cleanup of toxic waste sites. Under the proposals, states would determine how much to charge fossil fuel companies based on their historical role in producing the emissions responsible for climate change.
The state will then collect money to cover those costs from any company responsible for more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 30 years, proportional to its share of global emissions. Mandi Risko, a spokesperson for Energy In Depth, wrote that the bills are “based on shoddy attribution science which arbitrarily picks winners and losers according to an ideological agenda.” Risko also claimed the bills would raise energy costs.
The governor has until the end of the year to decide the bill’s fate, and climate advocates don’t expect her to act until after the November election. Krueger said a veto from Hochul would be “disturbing,” given New York’s potential to be a climate leader.