{"id":1732,"date":"2026-09-01T17:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1732"},"modified":"2026-09-01T17:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:09:01","slug":"judge-strikes-down-new-york-law-requiring-polluters-to-pay-for-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1732","title":{"rendered":"Judge Strikes Down New York Law Requiring Polluters to Pay for Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, <\/span><\/i>support us with a donation<\/span><\/i> of any size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Trump Confidante Laura Loomer Goes on Racist, Islamophobic Tirade Over Weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Climate advocates on Monday called on New York Attorney General Letitia James to appeal a ruling by a federal judge that found the state\u2019s superfund law, aimed at holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the weather disasters they cause, was unenforceable \u2014 \u201ca bad decision,\u201d as campaigner Jamie Henn said, \u201cbased off a controversial ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henn, co-founder of 350.org and director of Fossil Free Media, said that \u201ca cabal of Big Oil lawyers, Republican attorneys general, and Trump administration stooges just convinced a federal judge to strike down\u201d the law, which was signed in 2024 by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and would require oil and gas companies in New York to contribute about $3 billion annually \u2014 $75 billion total \u2014 to a superfund starting in 2028.<\/p>\n

That sum would be divided among the companies according to their greenhouse gas emissions, which cause planetary heating and the hurricanes, flooding, and other extreme weather disasters that are associated with it.<\/p>\n

Companies that have been found responsible for at least 1 billion tons of fossil fuel emissions between 2000-18 would be required to contribute to the fund, which would be used to rebuild infrastructure and help communities adapt to more frequent extreme weather events.<\/p>\n

Chief Judge Brenda Sannes of the US District Court for the Northern District of New York ruled that a federal appeals court\u2019s earlier decision in City of New York v. Chevron Corp.<\/em>, in which the city\u2019s lawsuit against oil companies for climate damages was thrown out, was relevant to the Climate Change Superfund Act.<\/p>\n

Sannes, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, also said in her ruling that the state law is not authorized by the Clean Air Act and is preempted by federal law.<\/p>\n

Henn said that after 22 Republican states joined industry groups and the US Chamber of Commerce in suing over the law, the judge \u201cfell for Big Oil\u2019s argument that because of a precedent set by a controversial ruling involving the City of New York, the superfund program was preempted by the Clean Air Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s bogus,\u201d said Henn. \u201cThe superfund program does nothing to regulate future emissions, it\u2019s just asking polluters to pay for a small share of the damages caused by their past pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Texas Swing County Could Shut Down 92 Polling Places Before Midterm Election<\/a><\/p>\n

A judge in Vermont is expected to rule soon on the state\u2019s superfund law, which was the first in the nation. Sixteen states in all have proposed similar laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is far from the last word on the legality of climate superfund bills,\u201d said Henn.<\/p>\n

Maya Golden-Krasner, deputy director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity, urged other states to \u201cmove forward with fair legislation that makes polluters pay for their damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Trump administration gutting climate protections,\u201d she said, the campaign for superfund laws in states including California \u201cis gaining momentum every day\u201d despite the legal setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf allowed to stand, this wrongheaded ruling would shift $75 billion in planned climate-resilience funding from major fossil fuel polluters onto New York taxpayers,\u201d said Golden-Krasner.<\/p>\n

Henn also said that the push to hold fossil fuel giants accountable for the damages their emissions cause \u201cisn\u2019t going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEighty percent of voters think the fossil fuel industry should pay their fair share of climate damages,\u201d said Henn. \u201cAs disasters increase (and oil profits keep skyrocketing), the call to make polluters pay will only grow louder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Alabama Utility Partners With Flock to Sell More Surveillance to Cities<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The landmark law would require oil and gas companies in the state to pay $75 billion toward a climate superfund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nJudge Strikes Down New York Law Requiring Polluters to Pay for Climate Change - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judge Strikes Down New York Law Requiring Polluters to Pay for Climate Change - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The landmark law would require oil and gas companies in the state to pay $75 billion toward a climate superfund.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-01T17:09:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Judge Strikes Down New York Law Requiring Polluters to Pay for Climate Change\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-01T17:09:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/3137ec12ec4472f6f0b4f81f6c5d6fda.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1732\",\"name\":\"Judge Strikes Down New York Law Requiring Polluters to Pay for Climate Change - 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