Activists staged a three day sit-in at the capitol in Albany, to pressure Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act into law. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act on Thursday, a bill sponsored by Bronx Assembly Member Jeffery Dinowitz (AD-81) that requires fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of the harmful impacts of climate change. The law will collect $75 billion over the next 25 years to fund critical infrastructure and climate resiliency projects like coastal wetlands restoration, stormwater system upgrades and energy efficient public buildings. “We refuse to let the entire burden of climate change fall on the backs of our taxpayers while Big Oil reaps record profits at the expense of our future,” Assembly Member Dinowitz said in a statement. “The Climate Change Superfund Act is a groundbreaking victory for accountability, fairness, and environmental justice.” The financial burden on New Yorkers stemming from climate change is significant. For instance, an analysis by the nonprofit New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPRIG), which supports the superfund act, found that the Empire State shelled out $2.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to fund climate-related repairs, resilience, and community protection projects in 2023, costing each household in New York City over $800 in taxes that year. Lawmakers designed the Climate Change Superfund Act to shift some of that burden onto corporations pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The law will analyze greenhouse gases emitted between 2000 – 2018 and assign fines proportionally to fossil fuel companies that contributed the most pollution. Lawmakers chose that window because by the year 2000, the impacts of climate change were so scientifically credible that, “no reasonable corporate actor could have failed to anticipate regulatory action to address its impacts,” according to the legislation. A minimum of 35% […]