NEW YORK, NY — With 13 days left for Governor Hochul to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act, 75 advocates gathered outside her Manhattan office today and demanded she make polluters pay! The Climate Change Superfund Act will make the wealthiest Big Oil companies pick up the cost for at least some of the climate-related damages they are responsible for, instead of sticking taxpayers with the growing tab. The legislation is currently in three-way negotiations between the Governor, Senate, and Assembly.

Watch the presser here.

Food & Water Watch Senior New York Organizer Eric Weltman said:

“Governor Hochul is running out of time to deliver a real dollars-and-cents win to New York families. Overhauling our homes and communities to prepare for a future of extreme weather and climate chaos is no small feat — Governor Hochul must sign the Climate Change Superfund Act to make sure Big Oil corporations foot the bill. With the stroke of her pen, Hochul can redirect billions of corporate profit dollars into public coffers. It’s time to make polluters pay in New York — Governor Hochul needs to make it happen.”

“It’s the moment of truth  – will New York hold Big Oil accountable, or will taxpayers continue to  foot the bill for their mess? It’s up to Governor Hochul to decide.  The clock is ticking, and New Yorkers have made their voices heard loud and clear. Governor Hochul must make corporate climate polluters pay,” said Blair Horner, Executive Director of NYPIRG.

“It is imperative that Governor Hochul signs the Climate Superfund Act before the end of the year. As extreme weather events keep devastating New York, this bill will allow the state to invest in life saving infrastructures and climate resilient projects. It’s time for the Governor to put New Yorkers first and hold big oil companies accountable for the mess they’ve created. The climate crisis costs cannot keep falling only on taxpayers,” said Lisa Salomon, Chapter Manager, Surfrider Foundation New York City.

Last week, more than 200 hundred advocates participated in a three-day Sit-in at the State Capitol. But Governor Hochul has not yet signed the legislation to hold Big Oil accountable for the destructive and expensive mess they’ve made – even though New Yorkers experienced a record number of extreme weather events this year that cost them approximately $1.5 billion to clean up. With the new Trump Administration likely placing at risk future federal funding for climate-related projects, the Climate Superfund is even more urgent. 

Temperatures in the Hudson River have risen two degrees fahrenheit in the past two decades, five times greater than the increase in ocean temperatures per decade. More than 230 brush fires spread throughout the city in November, causing smoke to spread throughout the five boroughs. New Yorkers sweltered through weeks of extreme heat this summer  – just by July 17 in NYC, New Yorkers had already experienced more 90+ degree days than the last two years combined. Flooding in NYC on August 6 flooded buildings, trapped people in their cars, and canceled flights. Torrential rain and flash flooding in New York City and Long Island from Tropical Storm Debby August 13, destroying homes, disrupting trains, and causing major, expensive damage all over Suffolk County. Just a few years ago, Hurricane Ida killed 13 New Yorkers. And before that, Hurricane Sandy decimated Manhattan’s seaport, with over six feet of submerging much of the port. New York City is especially vulnerable to climate change – nearly $200 billion worth of property – including housing, transportation, power generation, and waste management – is in the current floodplain, and this is expected to increase by about 40% by the 2050s. The $75 billion raised by the Climate Change Superfund Act could save NY taxpayers $825 billion down the road. 

New Yorkers—many of whom have been directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events caused by fossil fuel driven climate change—overwhelmingly support the Superfund Act. One poll found that 70% of New York voters support the legislation, including majorities across party lines. And 89% of New Yorkers say that they want fossil fuel companies to cover at least some of the cost for climate damages per a Data for Progress poll. 

Background

In early June of this year, the NYS Assembly passed the Climate Change Superfund Act 92-49. The Senate passed it 43-17 earlier, for the second time.  Now, six months later, all Governor Hochul needs to do is sign the bill to make it law.

The Climate Change Superfund Act is modeled on the existing State and Federal Superfund law (which requires polluters to fund toxic waste dump cleanups) by making Big Oil climate polluters financially responsible for the environmental damages that they have caused. The top Big Oil companies will be required to pay a combined $3 billion annually, every year for 25 years. 

These costs won’t fall back on consumers, according to Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and an analysis from the think tank Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law.According to experts, because Big Oil’s payments would reflect past contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, oil companies would have to treat their payments as one-time fixed costs. “Regardless of market structures, oil companies are unable to pass on increases in fixed costs to consumers due to economic incentives and competition.” Experts also argued that “beyond the design of the Act, oil companies would also be unable to retaliate against New York by raising retail gasoline prices in the state due to the interconnectedness of the national and global energy markets and existing U.S. antitrust laws.”

New York is facing staggering—and growing—climate costs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that it will cost $52 billion just to protect NY Harbor. On top of that, we’ll need $75-$100 billion to protect Long Island, and $55 billion for climate costs across the rest of the state. The state Comptroller has predicted that more than half of local governments’ costs will be attributable to the climate crisis. 

Big Oil is at fault for climate change, and it can certainly afford the costs. According to a study in One Earth, the world’s 21 top polluting companies are responsible for $5.4 trillion in climate damages over a period of 26 years. While these climate damage bills pile up for taxpayers, the industry responsible for this mess is raking in cash. From January 2021 through now, Big Oil has made $1 trillion in profits.

Those record profits allowed them to deliver unprecedented returns to shareholders while doing little to address the climate crisis they knew was coming, but did all they could to undermine climate action. Starting in the 1970s, scientists working for Exxon made “remarkably accurate projections of just how much burning fossil fuels would warm the planet.” Yet for years, “the oil giant publicly cast doubt on climate science, and cautioned against any drastic move away from burning fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.”               

The Climate Change Superfund Act isn’t just necessary—it’s popular. According to a poll from Data for Progress, a whopping 89% of New Yorkers support fossil fuel companies covering at least some of the cost for climate damages. 

The Climate Change Superfund Act is supported by a diverse coalition of interests, including local businesses and labor groups and unions. The bill is supported by members of New York’s Congressional Delegation, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander, 100 local elected officials from across the state, and over 400 community, environmental, religious, and youth groups.