By Tom Gantert
A federal judge has struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, blocking the state from collecting $75 billion from fossil fuel companies to pay for projects addressing concerns the state attributed to climate change.
The Justice Department on Sept. 28 hailed the ruling as a “significant step in … protecting American energy from state overreach.” U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel issued a judgment against the law on Sept. 25 after stating two days earlier that it intruded on federal authority in multiple ways, including by regulating greenhouse gas emissions that cross state lines.
The law would have required large companies involved in fossil fuel extraction or crude oil refining to pay into a state fund over 25 years. Each company’s share would have been based on greenhouse gas emissions attributed to its products from 2000 through 2024. New York intended to use the money for infrastructure and other projects to help communities address issues the state blames on climate change.
Now, two federal judges have ruled against New York’s law to make large oil companies pay for damage it blames on climate change.
The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency sued to block the law. They argued that New York’s law ran afoul of the legal doctrine of preemption, which says that federal law takes precedence if there is a conflict with state law.
The federal government said the Clean Air Act gives the EPA authority to decide whether and how to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It said New York’s law would impose its own liability on fossil fuel producers based on emissions attributed to their products worldwide.
New York argued that its law did not regulate emissions. It said the payments would compensate the state for harm from past emissions and fund projects to protect New Yorkers from problems it attributed to climate change. Castel rejected the state’s argument, saying the charges effectively regulated interstate emissions.
