A group of Republican attorneys general have brought a lawsuit against New York state over its 2024 Climate Change Superfund Act, claiming it is unconstitutional.
Under the law, signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December, the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the United States from 2000 to 2024 are required to pay the state a total of $3 billion per year for 25 years, reported The New York Times. New York lawmakers say the law’s reach extends to companies all over the world.
The 22 red states suing New York, led by West Virginia, say the law exceeds the state’s constitutional authority.
Twenty-two states, led by West Virginia, are suing to block a recently approved New York law that requires fossil fuel companies to pay billions of dollars a year for contributing to climate change.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 6, 2025 at 9:15 PM
“This law is unconstitutional, and I am proud to lead this coalition of attorneys general and brave private energy companies and industry groups in our fight to protect against this overreach. If we allow New York to get away with this, it will only be a matter of time before other states follow suit – wrecking our nation’s power grid,” said West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey in a written statement, as The Hill reported.
Hochul said fossil fuel companies’ actions harm New York residents.
“With 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 that have historically harmed our environment,” Hochul said upon signing the law.
Funds from the measure will help repair and upgrade infrastructure that is threatened or has been damaged by extreme weather, reported The New York Times. Some projects could include stormwater drainage system improvements, restoration of coastal wetlands and energy-efficient cooling system installations in buildings.
The law is set to start collecting funds from fossil fuel companies in 2028.
The lawsuit says the Clean Air Act gives the federal government “the chief role in determining interstate emissions standards,” rather than individual states.
However, the Superfund Act is seeking compensation for past emissions, not trying to determine pollution standards, said Columbia University Environmental Law Professor Michael B. Gerrard.
The climate change act targets oil and gas majors that have produced over one billion tons of emissions worldwide over the course of the past 24 years.
The Climate Change Superfund Act was modeled after the 1980 federal Superfund law, which required that companies pay for toxic waste cleanup caused by incidents such as chemical spills.
Gerrard pointed out that the original law “withstood many challenges in the courts.”
Lead sponsor of the Superfund Act, New York State Senator Liz Krueger, said the purpose of the law is to hold polluters accountable for their part in the state’s extreme weather disasters — predicted to cost more than 500 billion dollars by mid-century.
Lee Zeldin, who now heads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is an ally of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA). RAGA is funded by big players in the energy industry such as the Conford Fund.
McCuskey said Zeldin “looks at energy policy in a way that says that fossil generation of electricity is the current and future of this country.”
In addition to West Virginia, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include 21 other states, the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, the West Virginia Coal Association, Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc. and America’s coal associations.
“Pretending that coal and gas are the only way to meet growing energy demands is like insisting landlines are the future of communication,” said Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates NY, as The New York Times reported.
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