"The court said the measure, which required energy companies to pay $75 billion to the state, conflicted with federal law."
"A federal judge struck down New York State’s new climate “superfund” law on Monday, ruling that it conflicted with federal law.
The New York law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2024, required large fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion over 25 years for projects to bolster the state’s ability to withstand the extreme weather linked to global warming.
The law was modeled on the federal Superfund program to clean up industrial waste, and inspired several other states to consider similar climate legislation. But Republican-led states, the Trump administration and business groups challenged New York’s law as well as a similar one in Vermont.
Judge Brenda K. Sannes, an Obama appointee and chief judge for the Northern District of New York, ruled that New York’s “unusual and sweeping statute” was unenforceable. She wrote in the 63-page decision that its ambitions surpassed the limits of state law."
Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times September 1, 2026.
