Top: Needed infrastructure to address climate impacts includes organics recycling facilities. Image based on “extreme flood” scenario of 3.66 inches per hour. Image courtesy NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice/p>

Funds will be used to increase New York State’s resiliency to the effects of climate change, including flooding (above). Photo courtesy NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice

In late December, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act, a new law that will require oil companies to pay $75 billion over the next 25 years to help support projects that increase the state’s resiliency to the effects of climate change, such as flooding and extreme heat. New York is the second state in the nation to set up this type of Superfund; Vermont passed a similar bill earlier in 2024. “With nearly every record rainfall, heatwave, and coastal storm, New Yorkers are increasingly burdened with billions of dollars in health, safety, and environmental consequences due to polluters that have historically harmed our environment,” Governor Hochul said in a statement. “Establishing the Climate Superfund is the latest example of my administration taking action to hold polluters responsible for the damage done to our environment and requiring major investments in infrastructure and other projects critical to protecting our communities and economy.” The new law establishes the Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program, which requires companies that have contributed significantly to the buildup of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to bear a share of the costs of needed infrastructure investments to adapt to climate change.