New York is waiting to see the outcome of a separate court decision to find out the fate of its Climate Change Superfund law. Monday, a federal judge in the Northern District of New York struck down the measure, saying it was an overreach of state authority on an issue that should be addressed by Washington.
The law called for New York to collect up to $75 Billion from companies that caused climate change impacts over a 25-year period by extracting or burning fossil fuels that contributed more than a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
EarthJustice Senior Attorney Dror Ladin expressed disappointment in the decision, noting that the measure is similar to laws already in place, “in other arenas like toxic waste, we have things like the Superfund law that makes sure that communities and taxpayers aren't stuck holding the bag when someone else made all the money off of the pollution.”
He noted there are other cases, including one in the Southern District of New York, challenging the same law. That case could come to a different decision, “there's definitely a lot of unknowns about the next step, but this is far from over, I think, in the sense that this is just one district court making one decision.”
Ladin said the court decision and the law itself raises the issue of responsibility.
“I would say that the basic question is, as a society, who do we expect to pay for the harms of climate change? Because we can't pretend that there are no harms. We know that there are harms. We know storms are getting worse. We know flooding is getting worse. We know extreme weather is getting worse. And it costs a lot of money to deal with that and to adapt to it.,” said Ladin.
The impacts of climate change are inevitable, he contended, and residents could have influence, “then this is either a question for a state government if the courts change their mind, on appeal, or it's a question for the federal government and people should make sure that they make their voices heard.”
