Federal judge strikes down New York's climate superfund law
A federal judge in Syracuse has struck down New York's Climate Change Superfund Act, ruling that the state law seeking $75 billion from fossil fuel companies is pre-empted by the federal Clean Air Act.
Chief S. District Judge Brenda Sannes issued the ruling Monday in a 63-page opinion, according to com. Sannes wrote that the Climate Act is "simply beyond the limits of state law," adding that it operates in an area "in which the federal interest is so dominant" that it cannot be enforced.
The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December 2024, sought to require companies that extracted or refined fossil fuels and contributed to more than 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2024 to pay $75 billion over 25 years into a fund for climate resiliency projects. Local governments could request money for flood barriers, drainage upgrades, and other infrastructure to protect against extreme weather, as reported by com.
Sannes, an appointee of President Barack Obama, sided with 22 Republican state attorneys general and industry groups including the S. Chamber of Commerce, according to the Jerusalem Post. The judge said the Clean Air Act, which gives the federal Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions, does not authorize states to adopt emissions compensation schemes like New York's.
Enforcing the law, Sannes wrote, risked upsetting the balance between preventing global warming, "a project that necessarily requires national standards and global participation," and promoting economic growth, energy production, foreign policy interests, and national security. She concluded that the law "conflicts with the overriding need for a uniform rule of decision on matters influencing national energy and environmental policy, and basic interests of federalism."
Background and opposition
The lawsuit was brought by business groups including the S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of Republican-led states in the S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, com reported. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, a Republican who led the states' opposition, hailed the decision, calling the law "a money grab by the elites in New York," according to the Jerusalem Post.
The Republican attorneys general had filed their lawsuit in February 2025, describing the law as a politically motivated "overreach," the Jerusalem Post reported. The S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump filed a similar lawsuit and supported the attorneys general.
Steven Lehotsky, a lawyer for the Chamber of Commerce, had argued that the superfund law was essentially a lawsuit "disguised as a statute," according to com.
State response and context
Gov. Hochul's spokesperson Ken Lovett said the office is reviewing the decision, adding, "Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for damages caused by polluters," as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
The program was modeled on the federal Superfund program created in the 1980s, which has roots in the Love Canal crisis in Western New York, com reported. It sought to apply the same premise — making polluters pay to clean up a mess created by their products — to climate change.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation was due to issue regulations by next June to make the program operational, according to com. The law applied to companies responsible for at least 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and required them to contribute $3 billion annually starting in 2028, based on emissions between 2000 and 2024, the Jerusalem Post reported.
New York was the second state to create an industry-financed climate superfund; Vermont was the first, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Sabita Krishnan, a lawyer for the state, had argued that the law was a permissible use of state power to tax companies and protect residents, com reported.
The ruling blocks enforcement of the law pending any appeal, marking a significant setback for the state's effort to shift climate adaptation costs to fossil fuel companies.