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ALBANY, NY — The New York State Assembly joined the New York State Senate in passing the Climate Change Superfund legislation, the Climate Change Superfund Act (A.3351-B), ensuring that Big Oil contributes to the mounting costs of climate catastrophe. This landmark legislation requires the biggest emitters of greenhouse gas to collectively pay $3 billion annually over twenty-five years to share in the infrastructure investments needed to adapt to the impacts of climate change in New York State. This aligns with New York's ambitious climate goals, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 2050. The legislation now heads to Governor Hochul's desk for her signature.
"There is no longer any doubt that fossil fuels are by far the largest contributors to global climate change and that the Big Oil companies are most responsible for the climate disaster we face," Assemblyman Dinowitz said. "We all learned as kids you make a mess, you clean it up. Requiring the biggest polluters to pay $75 billion over twenty-five years will ensure that the taxpayers of New York State don't shoulder the entire burden for climate change adaptive infrastructure projects, non-negotiable expenses."
Future costs are staggering, ranging into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Estimates include $100 billion for upgrading New York City's sewer system, $75-$100 billion to protect Long Island, and $52 billion to protect NY Harbor alone. New Yorkers are already paying a tremendous amount in adaptation costs. In 2023, Governor Hochul announced $2.7 billion in spending to address climate impacts. The State Comptroller also found that over a ten-year period, which included the last five and the next five years, 55% of New York localities' municipal spending outside of NYC was or will be related to climate change. These costs are likely only going to go up.
"While $75 billion may seem like a lot to the biggest oil companies, it's a drop in the bucket," Assemblyman Dinowitz continued. "Saudi Aramco made $121.3 billion in profits last year, while ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron made almost $86 billion combined in 2023. These companies and the other top polluters have the resources to pay what their proportional responsibility is to our climate crisis. I want to thank State Senator Liz Krueger for partnering with me on this vital legislation."
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