Gov. Kathy Hochul approved a controversial law that will force oil, natural-gas and coal companies to fork over a staggering $75 billion to the state for carbon emissions and allegedly contributing to climate change.
But critics claim the law is unworkable, likely to be challenged in court and will only end up costing customers more.
“What would you have them do? Not sell fuel in New York State,” said Ken Pokalsky, vice president of the New York State Business Council, which opposed the measure.
The New York Climate Superfund is modeled after a federal law that holds polluters responsible for abandoned toxic-waste sites, advocates said.
Money extracted from the petro firms over a 24-year-period would go toward resiliency projects, such as coastal protection and flood mitigation.
“This bill would allow the state to recoup $75 billion from major polluters,” Hochul said Thursday in her bill approval message.
She said the energy companies are responsible for emitting 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into New York’s atmosphere.
“For too long New Yorkers have borne the costs of the climate crisis, which is impacting every part of the state,” Hochul said, citing extreme storms.
The petro companies should foot the bill, the governor said.
An analysis conducted for bill sponsors state Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) — and obtained by The Post in August — showed foreign-owned and American companies together would pay about $3 billion a year over two-and-a-half decades.
The oil giant Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia could be slapped with the largest annual assessment of any company — $640 million a year — for emitting 31,269 million tons of greenhouse gases from 2000 to 2020.
Aramco — formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. — is owned by the Saudi Royal family.
The state-owned Mexican oil firm Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, emitted 9,512 tons of CO2 and could face an $193 million assessment for generating 9,512 million tons of greenhouse gases.
Russia’s Lukoil could be assessed with a $100 million yearly fee for spewing 4,912 millions of CO2.
The 38 companies identified as carbon polluters include American petro giants such as Exxon and Chevron as well as Shell and BP in the UK, Total Energies IES in France, Petrobras in Brazil, BHP in Australia, Glencore in Switzerland, Equinor in Norway and ENI in Italy.
Reps for the petro industry said the new law is a declaration of war against firms that provide energy and power to New York.
More than three dozen energy firms and business advocates sent a letter to Hochul on Dec. 5, urging her to veto the bill.
“This legislation is bad public policy that raises significant implementation questions and constitutional concerns. Moreover, its $75 billion price tag will result in unintended consequences and increased costs for households and businesses,” the letter, co-signed by the Business Council, the American Petroleum Institute Northeast Region and National Fuel Gas Company, among others.
It’s a double whammy for businesses and motorists who have to pay the new minimum $9 congestion toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, the advocates wrote.
“We also note this measure would come on the heels of the reinstatement of congestion pricing in New York City, and in advance of the Environmental Department’s pending `cap and invest’ rule, which combined will also impose billions of dollars in new assessments on fossil fuel usage, impacting a wide range of consumers,” the opponents of the bill said.
A former state energy utility regulator questioned whether the law will withstand a legal challenge.
“The companies will likely get a friendly ear in federal court,” said ex-state Public Service Commission chairman John Howard.
He also wondered how New York would collect funds from foreign-based firms, such as Saudi Aramco or Russia’s Lukoil.
The new law was championed by climate change activists, including the Sierra Club and Environmental Advocates NY.
