NYC & Long Island Among Top 4 Areas in U.S. to Suffer Climate Change. Polluters – Not Taxpayers – Must Pay!

ALBANY, NY (02/28/2023) (readMedia)-- According to a new 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. In response, Blair Horner, Executive Director of NYPIRG, issued the following statement:

"Climate change is already costing New Yorkers millions, and extreme and deadly weather is only getting worse. While we're forced to live with the devastating environmental consequences of Big Oil companies who knew exactly what they were doing, we're forced to pay for it too. We need the Climate Change Superfund Act to protect taxpayers and put Big Oil on the hook for the mess they made. Albany leadership must lead the nation and make polluters pay."

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. More than 100 New Yorkers died as a result of climate-driven disasters. 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.

Background

The Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129 Krueger/A3351 Dinowitz) requires companies most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to pay a total of $75 billion over twenty-five years ($3 billion annually) for the environmental damage they have done. The funds 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. The legislation is 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. These costs wouldn't fall back on consumers, according to an analysis from the think tank Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law.

2022 was a record profit year for big oil, with the top companies' combined profits reaching an astounding $215 billion. 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."

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. Earlier this month, 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."