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22 States Sue New York Over E 02/07 06:37
Twenty-two states sued New York on Thursday, contending that a new law
forcing a small group of major energy producers to pay $75 billion into a fund
to cover climate change damage is unconstitutional.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Twenty-two states sued New York on Thursday, contending
that a new law forcing a small group of major energy producers to pay $75
billion into a fund to cover climate change damage is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed in Albany, lists state Attorney General Letitia James and
other officials as defendants.
According to a statement, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey led the
coalition of states against New York's Climate Change Superfund Act, which
requires payments for damage allegedly done from 2000 to 2018.
The law requires major fossil fuel companies to pay into the fund over the
next quarter-century based on their past gas emissions.
"This lawsuit is to ensure that these misguided policies, being forced from
one state onto the entire nation, will not lead America into the doldrums of an
energy crisis, allowing China, India and Russia to overtake our energy
independence," McCuskey said in a release.
"This law is unconstitutional, and I am proud to lead this coalition of
attorneys general and brave private energy companies and industry groups in our
fight to protect against this overreach," McCuskey added. "If we allow New York
to get away with this, it will only be a matter of time before other states
follow suit -- wrecking our nation's power grid."
"We look forward to defending this landmark legislation in court and
defeating Big Oil once again," Paul DeMichele, a spokesperson for Democratic
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's office, said in an email.
The lawsuit accuses New York state of trying to force energy producers and
consumers in other states "to subsidize certain New York-based 'infrastructure'
projects, such as a new sewer system in New York City."
It called the law "an ugly example of the chaos that can result when States
overreach."
According to the lawsuit, New York wants to blame the small group of energy
producers for global greenhouse gases that entered the atmosphere from many
sources.
"Yet coal, oil, and natural gas were helping New York during that time. They
helped keep the lights on in Albany, manufacture the steel that supported New
York City's iconic skyscrapers, and fuel the industry that keeps New York ports
humming," the lawsuit said.
Besides West Virginia, the states joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Arkansas,
Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
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