{"id":360429,"date":"2025-01-04T08:41:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T07:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360429"},"modified":"2025-01-04T08:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T07:41:06","slug":"new-yorks-anti-fossil-fuel-shakedown-could-spread-to-other-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360429","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s anti-fossil fuel shakedown could spread to other states"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Shape 3d of New York State map colored in blue and isolated on white background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Under the guise of climate <\/a>remediation, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul <\/a>(D) signed a bill into law Dec. 27 that will allow the state to fine oil and natural gas companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years for their alleged role in inflicting climate<\/a>-related damage on the state\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith nearly every record rainfall, heatwave, and coastal storm, New Yorkers are increasingly burdened with billions of dollars in health, safety, and environmental consequences due to polluters who have historically harmed our environment,\u201d Hochul said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis landmark legislation shifts the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil-fuel companies most responsible for the pollution,\u201d Hochul added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York\u2019s Climate Change Superfund Act is modeled after the \u201cpolluter pays\u201d principle contained in the original 1980 Superfund law, which said parties held responsible for contributing to toxic pollution sites would be liable for cleanup. But treating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the production and combustion of fossil fuels the same way as contamination from, say, a long-abandoned mine is comparing apples with oranges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CO2 \u2013 whether manmade or natural \u2013 is not a pollutant; indeed, today\u2019s rising atmospheric levels of CO2 are highly beneficial to life, both fauna and flora. One of the surest ways to lower agricultural productivity is to adopt climate policies that reduce atmospheric CO2. Furthermore, attributing weather events such as heavy rain, droughts, heatwaves, cold snaps, and coastal storms to use of fossil fuels is purely speculative. Nowhere in the New York statute is a cause-and-effect relationship established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hochul and her fellow Democrats in Albany are not interested in such matters; their agenda is extortion. Instead of paying to upgrade the state\u2019s roads and bridges \u2013 not to mention New York City\u2019s crumbling subway system \u2013 with higher taxes on already overtaxed New Yorkers, shaking down oil and gas companies looks like an easy way out. Under the new law, companies that emitted over 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide between 2000 and 2018 will be held to account. How much each company will have to cough up will be determined by state bureaucrats. As many as three dozen or more, led by ExxonMobil and Chevron, will have to pay up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vermont passed its own version of the climate Superfund law last summer, and similar legislation is under consideration in California, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Using state and local tort laws to replenish depleted government coffers in the name of remediating damage said to result from climate change may be a bridge too far legally. The effort suffered a setback in 2021, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a New York City lawsuit targeting fossil fuel producers. As recently noted<\/a> by the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, the court held that state tort law could not be used \u201cto hold multinational oil companies liable for the damages caused by global greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further clarity on applying state tort law to global greenhouse gas emissions may have to come from the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is considering whether to hear Sunoco LP v. City and County of Honolulu<\/em>. Sunoco, an oil company, was sued by the City and County of Honolulu for its alleged impact on the climate. In a petition<\/a> filed in May 2024 with the Supreme Court, attorneys for the company argued that the case against Sunoco was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hawaii Supreme Court held that the state law can impose liability for injuries allegedly caused by the effect of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate,\u201d the brief reads. \u201cThe Second Circuit, considering materially identical claims, rejected such a breathtaking, extraterritorial application of state law. Other courts, too, have declined to apply state law extraterritorially to regulate transboundary pollution. The question is whether the unique phenomenon of global climate change licenses states to ignore the structure of our constitutional system and extend state law beyond their borders is at the heart of the climate-change litigation currently ongoing nationwide. The Court\u2019s intervention is urgently needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decision from the Supreme Court on whether to hear the case is expected in early 2025. In the meantime, blue states \u2013 anticipating that the incoming Trump administration will roll back a slew of federal green energy policies \u2013 will attempt to build a firewall to preserve as much of their climate agenda as the courts allow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared in Human Events<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under the guise of\u00a0climate\u00a0remediation, New York Gov. Kathy\u00a0Hochul\u00a0(D) signed a bill into law Dec. 27 that will allow the state to fine oil and natural gas companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years for their alleged role in inflicting\u00a0climate-related damage on the state\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":360433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691829997,691832312,691819915,691832420,691832421,691819926],"class_list":{"0":"post-360429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","9":"tag-climate-change-superfund-act","10":"tag-green-energy-policies","11":"tag-new-york-gov-kathy-hochul","12":"tag-oil-and-natural-gas-companies","13":"tag-u-s-supreme-court","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0new_york__96175.jpg?fit=1284%2C761&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1vLn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":248745,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=248745","url_meta":{"origin":360429,"position":0},"title":"Unaffordable energy bills necessitate a climate and energy rethink","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/20\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Cold winter temperatures and high natural gas prices are generating utility bills that are too hot to handle for New Yorkers.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-811.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-811.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-811.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-811.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-811.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":440070,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440070","url_meta":{"origin":360429,"position":1},"title":"New Yorkers Face $6-a-Gallon Gas Nightmare Thanks to Albany\u2019s Climate Law","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/17\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"As of mid-April 2026, New York\u2019s average price for regular gasoline is around $4.10\u2013$4.18 per gallon, varying slightly by source (AAA, EIA, NYSERDA data) and higher in the NYC metro area. 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changes to the Climate Act to reduce the costly clean energy transition.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or Climate Act)\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or Climate Act)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-leadership-and-community-protection-act-clcpa-or-climate-act"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AQMEnx_hkh4WfG70op6cnHRa7RtyQtrxAnCI62SBeUlbcpS2ETpCuCsHnGFDsrz_QcEAaLgwx3X43GpkJ7PkzZdGYuZyaoBxx2uymbT17Xjx401dq2420qWtJtrEP2L0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AQMEnx_hkh4WfG70op6cnHRa7RtyQtrxAnCI62SBeUlbcpS2ETpCuCsHnGFDsrz_QcEAaLgwx3X43GpkJ7PkzZdGYuZyaoBxx2uymbT17Xjx401dq2420qWtJtrEP2L0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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