Major fossil fuel companies will be required to pay into a “climate superfund” that will support resiliency projects across New York under a bill Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Thursday — as long as the fund isn’t tanked by potential legal challenges.. The law is meant to raise up to $75 billion over 25 years that can be put toward infrastructure designed to mitigate the effects of climate change, including more frequent flooding and extreme heat.
“By creating a Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program, this law ensures that these companies contribute to the funding of critical infrastructure investments, such as coastal protection and flood mitigation systems, to enhance the climate resilience of communities across the state,” Hochul said in a statement.
“This type of legislation represents nothing more than a punitive new fee on American energy, and we are evaluating our options moving forward,” a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute said in a statement on Thursday.“If signed, the law would certainly face a long and costly legal challenge,” the council said in a release on Dec. 5., who both represent parts of New York City and took victory laps after the governor’s announcement on Thursday.