Sen Krueger to Business Council: Don't Blame Taxpayers for Big Oil's Mess, Make Climate Polluters Pay

ALBANY, NY (03/15/2023) (readMedia)-- Last night on Capital Tonight, Business Council of New York Vice President Ken Pokalsky voiced his organization's opposition to the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2192 Krueger/A.3351 Dinowitz), included in the senate one-house budget:

"We don't support it," Pokalsky said. "And I'm surprised that it's in (the Senate's one-house budget). It's hard to imagine that New York state is going to pass a law that tells global oil companies they owe us $85 billion... If you look at this bill, it argues that this is all the fault of the companies that produce and distribute fossil fuels, with no recognition for the fact that we all benefit from available, affordable gas for our cars, natural gas for our homes, all types of fuels that power our economy."

In response, Senator Liz Krueger said:

"It's odd that the Business Council would rather protect the richest multinational companies in the world over everyday New Yorkers who are already forced to choose between eating and heating. It's been nearly fifty years since Big Oil first knew they were driving climate change, but instead of investing in clean energy they're still doubling down on dirty fossil fuels to reap maximum rewards: 2022 was their most profitable year in history. Big Oil made this mess, and they can afford to clean it up. The Senate was right to protect New York taxpayers and businesses by including the Climate Change Superfund in our one-house budget, and I urge the Assembly and Governor Hochul to follow our lead."

The legislation assesses the largest greenhouse gas emitters to pay $3 billion annually for the next 25 years (a total of $75 billion, not $85 billion as the Business Council suggests) to offset the expected tens of billions of dollars in expected climate damages that will have to be paid by state taxpayers and ratepayers. 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. 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 $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."

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 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."

Last year, a federal proposal to make polluters pay championed by U.S. Reps Bowman and Nadler (and U.S. Senator Van Hollen, MD) received support from over 40 members of the House of Representatives. But the proposal didn't make it through Congress, and NYS now has the opportunity to step in where the federal government has failed and be the first legislative body to enact such legislation. Three other states - Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont - are also considering similar legislation to make climate polluters pay.

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.