New York State lawmakers are keenly aware of global climate change. They’re working toward making a statewide switch to green energy and protecting New York’s infrastructure from climate-related damage already occurring on a regular basis.Gov. Kathy Hochul just signed a key piece of legislation toward that effort: The Climate Change Superfund Act. Passed by the legislature in June, this bill charges the entities largely responsible for greenhouse gas-related global warming – oil and gas producers – with the task of helping to pay the costs of climate disruption.It establishes a Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program that would raise $75 billion through a $3 billion annual assessment over a 25-year period on the 35 largest greenhouse gas emitters. Assessments are scheduled to start in 2028, following preparatory work by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
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New York’s initial transition to green energy isn’t an inexpensive proposition. While consumers are being offered a diverse range of incentives to wean themselves off fossil fuel-powered systems, there are substantial costs that go along with decarbonization at every level. The sponsors of the Superfund Act, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Sen. Liz Krueger, think that the entities largely responsible for greenhouse gas-related global warming – oil and gas producers – should help pay those costs.This could include paying for infrastructure upgrades to protect against rising sea levels, upgrade stormwater drainage and sewage treatment systems, prepare the power grid for severe weather, create systems to protect people from extreme heat and other climate resilience projects throughout the state.Leading economists note that the legislation targets past emissions, which, along with the global nature of the oil market, should prevent it from affecting prices. There’s nothing new about this concept. The original federal Superfund program was established in 1980 – shortly after a state of emergency was declared at Love Canal in 1976 – to force parties responsible for environmental contamination of the land and drinking water to either perform cleanups or reimburse the U.S. government for Environmental Protection Agency-led cleanup work.It was easy then to trace toxic waste back to the chemical companies that dumped it. It’s equally logical now to trace greenhouse gas emissions back to fossil fuel companies. By every known official measure, burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation is the largest source of these pollutants.And there’s evidence that this damage was inflicted knowingly for decades. Both University of Miami and Harvard researchers report t