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The new law requires companies responsible for substantial
greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state fund for
infrastructure projects meant to repair or avoid future damage
from climate change.
Lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year to force big oil
and gas companies to contribute to the cost of repairs after
extreme weather events and resiliency projects such as coastal
wetland restoration and upgrades to roads, bridges and water
drainage systems.
“The Climate Change Superfund Act is now law, and 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," said state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat who
sponsored the bill.
“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,” Krueger said.
The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases between 2000 and 2018
would be subjected to the fines.
The law won't start penalizing companies immediately. Instead,
the state must come up with rules on how to identify responsible
parties, notify companies of the fines and create a system to
determine which infrastructure projects will be paid for by the
fund. Legal challenges are expected.
“This type of legislation represents 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 measure months after Vermont put
a similar law in place.
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