MAKE POLLUTERS, NOT NY TAXPAYERS, PAY! PUT THE CLIMATE CHANGE SUPERFUND ACT IN THE FINAL BUDGET

ALBANY, NY (03/17/2023) (readMedia)-- It's undeniable: climate change is hitting New York hard. Previously once-in-a-generation weather events are becoming more frequent and deadly. 2022's Winter Storm Elliot in Buffalo killed 39 people. The year before, Hurricane Ida killed 16 New Yorkers - many drowned in their own homes. In New York City, 370 residents die every year from heat-related deaths.

While New Yorkers suffer these tragedies, it's costing us financially too. In just the first two months of 2023, Governor Hochul announced nearly $750 million in taxpayer funding for storm repairs and climate-related infrastructure upgrades.

Experts estimate it could cost $100 billion in the next decade alone to make the necessary 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 more. Currently, these costs will fall on taxpayers, even though Big Oil - coming off of its most profitable year ever - is the clear culprit.

The Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129 Krueger/A3351 Dinowitz) will put Big Oil on the hook to clean up the mess they knowingly made. It requires the companies most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to pay $3 billion annually over 25 years ($75 billion total) for the environmental damage they have done. The legislation is modeled on the existing toxics superfund law (which deals with land and drinking water contamination) that makes polluters financially responsible for their environmental damages.

The Senate included a version of the Climate Change Superfund Act in its one-house budget. We urge your editorial page to call upon Governor Hochul and the Assembly to include it in the final state budget. Now is the time to call for action as budget negotiations start and the final budget is due April 1.

According to a study from Moody's Analytics, New York City and Long Island are among the top four major American population centers for exposure to physical and economic risks of climate change. New York City in particular faces "significant losses" attributed to sea-level rise, which could prove "crippling" to the economy. And Long Island is uniquely at risk to warming temperatures related to heat, sea level rise, and water stress, which could result in drought.

But it's not just New York City and Long Island. A new report from Rebuild by Design, "Atlas of Disaster: New York State,'' identifies the impacts of recent climate disasters across New York State at the county level, from 2011-2021. The data shows that every single county in New York experienced a federal climate disaster between 2011-2021, with 16 having five or more disasters during that time. During this decade, more than 100 New Yorkers died as a result of climate-driven disasters. It's only going to get worse.

More important highlights from this report:

• Suffolk, Herkimer, and Delaware counties each experienced seven disasters each from 2011-2021 - the most of any county
• Greene County received the highest per capita post-disaster resistance in the entire country
• There are 868 superfund sites in NYS. During a flood event, these sites pose an additional risk to nearby communities as toxins are released into the water

In a separate report, Rebuild by Design estimated that the climate costs to New York could be $55 billion by the end of this decade. On top of that, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that it would cost $52 billion to protect New York Harbor alone. And while storms get worse, sea levels are rising and groundwater poses a higher risk of flooding - and we don't even know how much yet. New York is facing staggering – and growing – climate costs.

Big Oil Caused The Climate Disaster, and Can Afford to Clean It Up

2022 was a record profit year for big oil, with the top companies' combined profits reaching an astounding $215 billion. In order to make these massive profits, big oil companies blamed the war in Ukraine, and used the human rights crisis in order to price-gouge consumers and deliver unprecedented returns to shareholders. Meanwhile, they continued greenwashing, misleading Americans into thinking they were doing enough to address the climate crisis they knew they were creating as early as the 1970s.

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." Instead of investing in solutions to the crisis they created, Big Oil funded climate denial.

You make the mess, you clean it up. And after its most profitable year ever, Big Oil can certainly afford to clean this mess up.

Why Costs Won't Fall Back on Consumers

Forcing oil companies to cover New York's climate costs will not raise the price of gas or home heating. According to an analysis from the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law, because companies' payments would be based on historical contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, oil companies would have to treat these 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."

Not only will the Climate Change Superfund Act not result in raised gas prices, it could also temper future energy cost impacts in NYS. Infrastructure projects paid for by the superfund will likely lower energy companies' future expected costs in New York, such as for the distribution of petroleum and for the production and distribution of future oil substitutes. Adapting to climate change will save all of us money.

Making Polluters Pay Is Overwhelmingly Popular

According to a poll from Data for Progress, 89% of New Yorkers support fossil fuel companies covering at least some of the cost for climate damages.

And more than 200 groups have taken action to support the Climate Change Superfund Act, including labor unions DC 37 and UAW Region 9A, faith groups, environmental justice organizations, NY Renews, and more. The bill has also enjoyed support from members of the New York congressional delegation including Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Rep. Daniel Goldman, and Rep. Ritchie Torres.

NYPIRG urges your editorial page to weigh in and call on Governor Hochul and the Assembly to include the Climate Change Superfund Act in the final state budget.