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2024-12-27 17:10:34 UTC
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PermalinkGov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Thursday signed a law that requires companies
that are big fossil fuel polluters to help pay to repair damage caused by
extreme weather, which is becoming more common because of greenhouse gas
emissions.
The legislation, called the Climate Change Superfund Act, mandates that the
companies responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions buildup between 2000
and 2024 pay about $3 billion each year for 25 years.
New York’s new law focuses on pollution produced by the combustion of fossil
fuels, which results in the warming of the atmosphere, causing extreme
weather, like floods and storms, to be more frequent, experts say.
The idea is to take some of the burden off taxpayers, who now are on the hook
for financing much of the cleanup and mitigation efforts after weather
disasters. The law takes particular aim at the oil and gas companies that
produced more than one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions globally over
the last 24 years.
The money raised by New York State will go into a fund for restoring and
protecting coastal wetlands; upgrading roads and bridges; improving storm
water drainage systems; elevating and retrofitting structures; and investing
in recovery efforts from natural disasters, as well as health programs that
treat illnesses or injuries related to climate change.