New York to charge fossil fuel companies for climate change damage

(The Center Square) — Large fossil fuel companies will be required to pony up money to New York state for damage caused by climate change under a bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, but critics say the move will stifle innovation and drive up costs for energy consumers.

The Climate Change Superfund Act authorizes the state Department of Environmental Conservation to collect $75 billion from oil and gas companies over the next 25 years, averaging $3 billion a year. The funds are earmarked to pay for climate-related infrastructure upgrades like coastal wetlands restoration or stormwater projects, according to the Hochul administration.

The measure, modeled on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's superfund program, targets high-emission corporations such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron, and mandates that they be held financially accountable for a portion of the costs of extreme weather damage in the state.

Democratic lawmakers who backed the measure say New York taxpayers face rising costs to cover damages caused by climate change and argue that the oil companies must be on the hook for covering those costs.

"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," state Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, the bill's primary sponsor, said in a statement. "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."

However, business and industry groups say the new law unfairly targets large producers of fossil fuels and will do little to blunt the impact of climate change while passing on the costs to energy consumers.

A coalition of industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and New York Business Council, wrote to Hochul earlier this month, urging her to veto the proposal.

"The bill does not address the direct cause of carbon emissions: consumption," the groups wrote. "By targeting and imposing strict liability only on the extraction and refinement of fossil fuels, the bill disregards the fact that most greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the actual use of fossil fuels and not by their refinement or extraction."

New York is the second state in the country to approve a law requiring oil and gas companies to pony up money for climate change. In July, Vermont became the first state after Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the Democratic-led bill to become law without his signature, citing concerns about the costs and impact of taking on the fossil fuel industry with limited state resources allocated.

Similar proposals have been introduced in California, Massachusetts and Maryland, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes over the White House in January, has pledged to focus on developing the nation's fossil fuel industry, rolling back environmental regulations and reducing tailpipe pollution as part of his energy independence agenda.