By Lindsay Press
A consortium of business groups has filed a lawsuit against Governor Kathy Hochul over her climate law which they say unfairly punishes the gas, oil and coal industries, which means the costs will be passed on to the consumers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, the New York Business Council, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Mining Association have filed a lawsuit over the state’s Climate Superfund Act, which would force fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion for releasing carbon emissions. Also named in the lawsuit are Attorney General Letitia James and interim Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Sean Mahar.
On December 26, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the New York Climate Superfund Act that imposes strict fines on companies that impacted the environment in New York communities and banned hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Soon thereafter, the New York State Business Council expressed its disapproval of the Climate Superfund Act on its website. They believed it would “impose “punitive” assessments against businesses that produced fuels that were vital to the support of New York’s households, businesses, and overall economy for the past several decades.”
“New York enacted a plainly unconstitutional law imposing $75 billion in strict liability on a targeted group of energy companies for their lawful conduct,” said the lawsuit, which was obtained by Long Island Life & Politics. “New York seeks to reach back decades in time and impose significant monetary penalties on those producers …”
Marty Durbin, president of the U.S. Chamber’s Global Energy Institute, said in a statement, “This law is not only illegal and misguided, but it will likely increase the cost of energy, placing an unnecessary burden on New Yorkers and consumers nationwide, especially during a time of already high prices.”
In a copy of the lawsuit, the National Mining Association said, “The Act’s retroactive penalties result in a substantial economic impact on covered energy producers, significantly interfering with those producers’ investment-back expectations, and are the result of a targeted effort to unfairly place covered energy producers on the hook for global greenhouse gas emissions and their purported impact on New York.”
The lawsuit also contends that the state is overreaching, in that the scope of the environmental regulation should be left to the federal government.
In response to the lawsuit, Paul DeMichele, the Deputy Communications Director – Energy & Environment said in a statement, “Governor Hochul proudly signed the Climate Superfund Act because she believes corporate polluters should pay for the damage done to our environment — not everyday New Yorkers. We look forward to defending this landmark legislation in court and defeating Big Oil once again.”
— Additional reporting by Hank Russell