WSJ: New York Will Now Tax America for Climate Change: Its new extraterritorial levy will hit workers across the U.S. for fossil-fuel production

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/kathy-hochul-new-york-climate-superfund-taxes-10b132bb

By  The WSJ Editorial Board

Excerpt: One reason so many businesses and people are leaving New York is its tax-and-spending ratchet. And now Democrats in Albany are spreading the high costs of their progressive government to other states under the guise of climate remediation.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed legislation that will require fossil-fuel producers to pay $75 billion to supposedly help the state adapt to climate change. “This landmark legislation shifts the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution,” Ms. Hochul’s office declared.

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It’s impossible to determine a company’s contribution to climate change since the effects of CO2 emissions on temperature and natural disasters are mediated by myriad variables. Most fossil-fuel emissions stem from their combustion rather than production, so the state is punishing energy consumption, which is a necessity of modern life.

No matter. The state plans to dun fossil-fuel producers a combined $3 billion annually over the next 25 years for their to-be-determined climate contribution. Since foreign-owned producers like Saudi Arabia’s Aramco will likely claim sovereign immunity, U.S. companies—that is, their workers, customers and to some extent investors—will foot most of the $75 billion bill.

The law says this money could pay for “upgrades to roads, bridges, subways and transit systems,” “preventive health care programs,” “upgrading parts of the electrical grid” and “weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades” in buildings. Project contractors will have to pay inflated union prevailing wages.

Upgrading New York City’s sewer system to “deal with regularly-occurring large rain events is estimated to cost around $100 billion,” the law notes. But climate change is merely an excuse to get others to pay for upgrading infrastructure that New York politicians have failed to maintain because they divert so much money to welfare payments and fat public-worker pay and benefits. Ms. Hochul is grasping for revenue now because GOP control of Washington will likely mean less federal largesse for states.