NY Renews Statement on Court Ruling to Block Climate Change Superfund Act
Advocates urge appeal to ensure corporate polluters pay to clean up their mess.
For Immediate Release: September 1, 2026
Contact: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429
Web: www.nyrenews.org | Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Facebook
New York — Communities across New York are responding with disappointment and outrage as a federal judge rules against the state’s Climate Change Superfund law.
Judge Brenda Sannes of the Northern District ruled against New York’s Climate Superfund, temporarily delaying it. Blocking this law will shift a staggering $75 billion in planned funding for climate resilience from major fossil fuel polluters to the shoulders of New York taxpayers. Right now, climate costs are already affecting families in New York not just through environmental disasters but also through rising insurance premiums, public health costs, utility bills, emergency expenditures, and deteriorating public infrastructure.
Stephan Edel, Executive Director of NY Renews, said, “This ruling delays implementation of a popular, common sense law. In doing so, it pushes the huge costs of climate delay from the world’s wealthiest corporations to households and municipalities across New York. Every dollar not recovered from responsible companies will come from our pockets here in New York. This is an incorrect ruling that must be appealed quickly, as delays do further harm, especially to people living in disadvantaged communities, who are already overburdened with toxic pollution and suffer from higher rates of asthma and other diseases exacerbated by pollution and extreme heat.”
New Yorkers know that climate-related costs cannot be sidestepped by any court ruling. Roads will still face the threat of washouts, drainage systems will need critical upgrades, and communities will continue to require protection from floods, extreme heat, storms, and rising seas. The fossil fuel industry is hoping to keep the burden of their pollution on the public. The federal government’s actions have already increased gas prices, and now they want us to shoulder the financial burden of cleaning up the environmental mess they've created. It simply isn’t right for New Yorkers to lose out on $75 billion in essential funding for climate action due to a district court's misreading of an outdated case.
In this critical moment, the most profitable industry in history has a responsibility to New Yorkers to address part of the damage they’ve caused. This is a matter of prioritizing lives over profits. The Guardian reported that the number of excess deaths from the heat waves in Europe so far this summer is over 35,000.
“Any delay to the Climate Change Superfund will have real and disastrous consequences for our health, our crumbling infrastructure, and our communities. New Yorkers are already paying the price of escalating utility bills and climate destruction, while the Trump administration bails out polluters again and again. This is a moment for New York to lead the way, stand with working families, and make greedy fossil fuel corporations pay for the harms they’ve caused, period,” said Jenille Scott, ALIGN Climate Director.
This litigation is appealable: a district-court ruling cannot decide for New Yorkers whether polluters or taxpayers pay for climate damage. Other courts may rule differently, other states and cases should keep moving, and Attorney General James should appeal ASAP. The Second Circuit deserves the opportunity to consider the actual statute, and New York must not accept the misreading of an old nuisance case.
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 climate, labor, youth, and community groups, and the force behind New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. We fight for clean energy, good jobs, and a healthier, more affordable New York.