Albany, NY — A bill signed Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul would require large fossil fuel companies to pay a fee to help New York fight the effects of climate change.
The new law would require companies responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions to pay state funds for infrastructure projects to repair or prevent future damage from climate change.
Lawmakers approved a bill earlier this year that would require large oil and gas companies to cover repair costs following extreme weather events and resiliency projects such as restoring coastal wetlands and upgrading roads, bridges and drainage systems.
“The Climate Change Superfund Act is now law. New York will hold the companies most responsible for the climate crisis accountable,” said the New York State Senator. bill.
“The planet’s largest climate polluters are uniquely responsible for creating the climate crisis and must pay their fair share to help ordinary New Yorkers deal with the consequences,” Krueger said.
From 2000 to 2018, those who emit the most greenhouse gases will be fined.
The law will not start punishing the company immediately. Instead, states should put in place rules for how to identify responsible parties, notify companies of fines, and create a system to determine which infrastructure projects the funds will be paid for. Legal issues are expected.
“This type of bill is nothing more than a punitive new fee on American energy, and we are evaluating our options moving forward,” the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbying group, said in a statement.
New York’s governor signed the bill into law several months after Vermont enacted a similar law.
