Although downgraded before slamming into New York, Hurricane Debby caused significant damage. It also prompted a response from Senator Liz Krueger, who represents Roosevelt Island. She urges Governor Kathy Hochul to get moving on the Climate Change Superfund Act.
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
New York City – Senator Liz Krueger, sponsor of the Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129), released the following statement today regarding the record-breaking rainfall and destruction caused by Hurricane Debby this past weekend:
“Hurricane Debby tore through upstate New York this weekend – destroying homes and businesses, leaving thousands without power, and trapping commuters in their cars. It’s tragic, never mind the fact that storms like Debby are coming faster and fiercer year after year, and taxpayers are still stuck footing the bill for the damage even though Big Oil is responsible for climate change worsening storms.
But the Climate Change Superfund Act is sitting on Governor Hochul’s desk, and all she has to do is sign it to put Big Oil on the hook for their fair share of the costs. Not only will the Superfund Act cover repairs caused from storms like Debby, it will cover crucial projects to fix our infrastructure so that it’s more resilient. $1 spent now saves us $11 down the road: $75 billion from Big Oil will save taxpayers a whopping $825 billion. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Governor Hochul must sign the Climate Change Superfund Act now! And, next session, she must champion the NY HEAT Act, the single most important bill before the Legislature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down climate change.”
BACKGROUND:
In the final hours of the 2024 Legislative Session, the NYS Assembly passed the Climate Change Superfund Act 92-49. The Senate passed it 43-17, for the second time, earlier this session.
The Climate Change Superfund Act is modeled on the existing State and Federal Superfund law (which requires polluters to fund toxic waste cleanups) by making the largest multi-national oil, gas, and coal producers financially responsible for the environmental damages that they have caused. These costs wouldn’t fall back on consumers, according to an analysis from the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU.
According to a study in One Earth, the world’s 21 top polluting companies are responsible for $5.4 trillion in climate damages over a period of 26 years. While these climate damage bills pile up for taxpayers, individuals, and businesses, the industry responsible for this mess is raking in cash. In 2023, the hottest year on record, Big Oil earned a whopping $173 billion. 2022 was a record profit year for the industry, with the top companies’ combined profits reaching an astounding $376 billion. Those record profits allowed them to deliver unprecedented returns to shareholders while doing little to address the climate crisis they knew was coming, but did all they could to undermine climate action. Starting in the 1970s, scientists working for Exxon made “remarkably accurate projections of just how much burning fossil fuels would warm the planet.” Yet for years, “the oil giant publicly cast doubt on climate science, and cautioned against any drastic move away from burning fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.”
Big Oil is at fault for climate change, and it can certainly afford the costs — which are uniquely necessary and expensive — in New York. A report from Rebuild by Design, “Atlas of Disaster: New York State,” identifies the impacts of recent climate disasters across New York State at the county level, for the years 2011-2021. The data shows that every single county in New York has experienced a federal climate disaster between 2011-2021, with 16 having five or more disasters during that time. In that decade, more than 100 New Yorkers died as a result of climate-driven disasters. In 2022 that number grew when Winter Storm Elliot in Buffalo killed 47 people.
Furthermore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that it would cost $52 billion to protect NY Harbor alone. And while storms get worse, sea levels are rising and groundwater poses a higher risk of flooding – and we don’t even know how much yet. Clearly, New York is facing staggering – and growing – climate costs.
The Climate Change Superfund Act isn’t just necessary – it’s popular. According to a poll from Data for Progress, 89% of New Yorkers support fossil fuel companies covering at least some of the cost for climate damages. Over 400 community, environmental, labor, religious, and youth groups supported the legislation and it is backed by 100 local elected officials as well.
A Different Kind of Bet
For years, Roosevelt Island did not behave like a system constrained by limits. Internally, the budget was often treated less as a boundary and more as a reservoir to be used.
