A federal judge has struck down New York’s 2024 Climate Change Superfund law.
The law would have fined the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2018 — specifically, those responsible for more than 1 billion tons of global greenhouse gas emissions. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes said the legislation is beyond the limit of state law and is preempted by the federal Clean Air Act.
Dror Ladin, senior attorney for the environmental law organization EarthJustice, said the court got it wrong.
“The court basically felt that it was bound to follow this decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that addressed a very different issue,” Ladin explained. “It addressed a question of whether the city of New York could sue fossil fuel companies under what’s called a tort action for the harms their products were causing in New York (City).”
Ladin added the Second Circuit ruled such a lawsuit cannot be brought in courts since it asks a series of environmental questions judges are unable to rule on. Ladin noted it could impede New York state’s ability to pass laws that address the harms of out-of-state greenhouse gas emissions
While Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state will appeal the decision, it is one of many cases brought against New York’s law and a similar law in Vermont. Estimates show the state was set to collect $75 billion from fossil fuel companies over 25 years through the law, a conservative estimate. The collected money would be put into a special fund to pay for climate change resilience measures starting in 2028.
Jon Binder, executive director of the Model Climate Laws Initiative for the group Environmental Advocates New York, said the state could probably get more damages than it was expecting.
“It seems like almost every day there’s some new news story, even here in New York, about some extreme weather event, a flooding event; we’re all experiencing things like smoke from wildfires,” Binder pointed out. “All these things are examples of the types of damages that are not just some hypothetical thing in the future, they’re things we’re experiencing right now.”
Reports show state taxpayers were on the hook for more than $2 billion, or $300 per household, in climate costs during 2023. Other data show New York climate change infrastructure costs could reach $10 billion annually by 2050. If nothing is done, a major disaster could cost the state at least $55 billion in the next decade.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.