NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Urges NYS Legislature to Make Corporate Climate Polluters Pay

NEW YORK, NY (05/19/2023) (readMedia)-- This morning, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to Governor Hochul, Assembly Speaker Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins voicing his strong support for the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2192-A Krueger/A.3351-A Dinowitz). The first-in-the-nation legislation will put Big Oil, who is still driving the climate crisis, on the financial hook for climate damages and resiliency. Currently, taxpayers are footing the bill for this mess, and New York City residents are bearing the brunt of it.

Lander writes, "[Climate] costs are particularly high in New York City. According to a recent study from Moody's Analytics, "New York City, in particular, faces the possibility of significant losses from rising sea-level rise given that Manhattan is surrounded by water and frequent flooding could prove crippling to an economy where much activity - and the ability to travel – is tied to low-lying land or subway tunnels." Another recent study from First Street Foundation found that New York City faces the greatest rise in risk of catastrophic hurricane damage over the next 30 years, more than any other city in the country. Average annual losses from hurricanes alone will skyrocket from around $2.1 million this year to $8 million every year in three decades. That's on top of the $52 billion the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to protect New York Harbor alone, and another $55 billion experts are predicting will be necessary to protect the rest of the state over the next decade. That's more than $100 billion in spending for climate change, out of taxpayers' pockets."

Read the full letter attached and pasted below.

So far this year, Governor Hochul has announced an estimated $800 million plus in taxpayer spending statewide for projects related to costs from climate-related damages and resiliency projects. But New Yorkers' climate change bill doesn't stop with this year's nearly $1 billion bill. The Long Island Regional Planning Council is projecting $75 to $100 billion in taxpayer funds for new roads and other infrastructure improvements, thanks to worsening storms and sea level rise. And a new study from NYS Comptroller DiNapoli found that over a ten-year period (the last five and next five years), 55% of New York localities' municipal spending outside of NYC was or will be related to climate change. Separately, the State Comptroller's office looked at New York City's FY 2023 budget and found that the City plans to spend $829 million on projects fully intended for climate change adaptation and resilience just this year. The City also plans to spend an additional $1.3 billion on projects that are partially for these purposes.

While the bills pile up for taxpayers, the industry responsible for this mess is raking it in – the top Big Oil companies in the U.S. are on track for a second consecutive year of record profits, and the industry globally is performing much better than expected. 2022 was a record profit year for the industry, with the top companies' combined profits reaching an astounding $376 billion. 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."

Letter

May 9, 2023

Dear Governor Hochul, Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Heastie,

As Comptroller of the City of New York, I've made divesting our pension funds from fossil fuels a top priority. The climate crisis poses catastrophic long-term risks to New York City, and we can't keep supporting the oil and gas corporations driving this crisis. But just divesting from these companies isn't enough. As climate change gets worse, it's getting more expensive - and right now, New York taxpayers are stuck paying the bill for the mess that Big Oil is still making. That's why I'm urging you to support the Climate Change Superfund Act.

The Climate Change Superfund Act assesses the largest greenhouse gas emitters to pay $3 billion annually for the next 25 years to offset the costs in expected climate damages across the state. The funds would allow New Yorkers to invest in massive and life-saving infrastructure improvements, upgrade stormwater drainage and sewage treatment systems, prepare the power grid for severe weather, create systems to protect people from extreme heat, and respond to environmental and public health threats.

And these costs are particularly high in New York City. According to a recent study from Moody's Analytics, "New York City, in particular, faces the possibility of significant losses from rising sea-level rise given that Manhattan is surrounded by water and frequent flooding could prove crippling to an economy where much activity - and the ability to travel – is tied to low-lying land or subway tunnels." Another recent study from First Street Foundation found that New York City faces the greatest rise in risk of catastrophic hurricane damage over the next 30 years, more than any other city in the country. Average annual losses from hurricanes alone will skyrocket from around $2.1 million this year to $8 million every year in three decades. That's on top of the $52 billion the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to protect New York Harbor alone, and another $55 billion experts are predicting will be necessary to protect the rest of the state over the next decade. That's more than $100 billion in spending for climate change, out of taxpayers' pockets.

These costs are a growing and significant burden on taxpayers, but oil companies can afford it. Aramco, the last of the major oil companies to release their 2022 profits, just announced a whopping $161 billion for 2022 – a 50% increase over 2021– bringing the top oil companies' combined 2022 profits to an astounding $376 billion. On top of that, scientists for Big Oil knew that their actions would cause climate change as early as the 1970s, but did all they could to undermine climate action. These companies can afford to pay into the superfund, and according to an analysis from the think tank Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law, they won't be able to push those costs onto consumers. This isn't a new or radical idea. It's modeled on the existing toxics superfund law (which deals with land and drinking water contamination) that makes polluters financially responsible for the environmental damages that they have caused.

89% of New Yorkers support making climate polluters pay for at least some share of climate damages. I urge you to stand with them and every New York taxpayer - from hardworking families to small businesses - by making New York the first state in the country to hold Big Oil accountable and make climate polluters pay.

Sincerely,

Brad Lander

New York City Comptroller

Background

The Climate Change Superfund Act is first-in-the-nation legislation to put Big Oil, who is still driving the climate crisis, on the hook for climate damages and resiliency. Currently, taxpayers are footing the bill for this mess. The legislation is modeled on the existing toxics superfund law (which deals with land and drinking water contamination) that makes corporate climate polluters financially responsible for the environmental damages that they have caused. These costs wouldn't fall back on consumers, according to an analysis from the think tank Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law.

Big Oil is at fault for climate change, and it can certainly afford the costs - which are uniquely necessary - and expensive - in New York. 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, for the years 2011-2021. The data shows that every single county in New York has experienced a federal climate disaster between 2011-2021, with 16 having five or more disasters during that time. In that decade, more than 100 New Yorkers died as a result of climate-driven disasters. In 2022 that number grew exponentially when Winter Storm Elliot in Buffalo killed 39 people.

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. Furthermore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that it would cost $52 billion to protect NY 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. Clearly, New York is facing staggering – and growing – climate costs.

The Climate Change Superfund Act isn't just necessary – it's 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. 200+ groups including key labor unions such as DC37 sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie urging them to include the bill in the one house budgets. In their letter, the groups write that the fossil fuel industry should be subject to the state's climate costs since their "decisions led to global warming; justice requires that they-not New York's other taxpayers-be financially responsible for the tragically enormous climate crisis impacts that they created."

The Act was included in the Senate One-House budget bill and has already passed the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins indicated support for making polluters pay earlier last week, saying on the Senate Floor:

"We will never burden everyday New Yorkers in our climate fight, or ask them to give up more than our greatest polluters."