New York Governor Kathy Hochul Signing landmark climate legislation The law took effect last week, illustrating how states can continue to hold polluters accountable even as President-elect Donald Trump rolls back environmental protections.
New York Climate Change Superfund Act It will require the largest multinational oil and gas companies to contribute to a fund that will be used for infrastructure projects aimed at protecting New Yorkers from increasingly severe climate disasters such as storms and sea level rise.
“New York has fired a shot that will be heard around the world.”
Trump will soon return to office and is expected to dismantle current climate policies and abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), having publicly dismantled it. neglected Clean energy and federal environmental regulations are on the campaign trail. So, for at least the next four years, Americans will have to rely on local and state-level efforts like this to deal with the fossil fuel pollution that causes climate change.
“New York has fired a shot that will be heard around the world: the companies most responsible for the climate crisis will be held accountable,” State Senator Liz Krueger said in a speech. statement After Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act into law.
Kroger’s office expects the law to generate $75 billion over the next 25 years. But in the near future, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will first have to propose guidelines for how the fund will operate. This includes rules on who must pay into the fund, how the state raises money, and what types of infrastructure projects the fund will support. the law It would apply to fossil fuel companies historically responsible for more than a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. At least 35% of the fund’s benefits are supposed to reach “disadvantaged” communities.
The plan was then loosely designed state and Federalism Laws have been in place for decades to hold companies responsible Toxic waste sites They leave behind. But instead of directing money to clean up hazardous materials at old industrial sites, New York’s new law would fund resiliency projects like upgrading stormwater drainage systems.
“New York taxpayers have been bearing 100 percent of the financial burden due to climate costs. Now Big Oil will pay for much of the damage they helped cause,” Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), said in a statement. . press release.
The Climate Change Superfund Act is supposed to reduce New Yorkers’ future tax burden by $3 billion each year, according to NYPIRG. Extreme weather events made worse by climate change are expected to cost half a trillion dollars in New York’s preparation and recovery efforts by 2050, Kroger’s office says.
Joe Biden selected A goal To reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 compared to pollution levels in 2005 as part of the country’s commitment to the Paris climate agreement. He also signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, a massive spending package that was set aside $369 billion For climate action and clean energy technologies.
Trump, on the other hand, says he will Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement again (Which he did briefly during his first term before Biden recommitted the United States to the agreement.) The president-elect also said he would do so – Cancel any unspent funds From the law to reduce inflation. HaMore than 100 environmental regulations have been reinstated When he was president last time, he says his choice of EPA this time will ensure “Fast editorial decisions“At the agency again.
However, state laws could make up for some of the progress lost in fighting climate change. New York’s Climate Superfund law must continue Legal challengesnaturally. But this isn’t the first time the state has put forward ambitious environmental plans while facing hostility toward climate action from Trump. In 2019, New York State Passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Which put the state on A road To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 Progress was slow since then.
New York’s latest response to looming environmental deregulation is just one part of a larger trend that has characterized Trump’s first presidency, and is expected to be part of the second. Earlier this year, Vermont passed Its Climate Superfund Act. Similar legislation has also been introduced in ca, Maryland, Massachusetts, New JerseyAnd in Congress, According to the non-profit Food and Water Organization.
