New York sued over climate superfund

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♻️ This week’s sustainability news

22 states sue New York over their climate superfund

What’s happening: The states argue that a new law requiring big energy companies to pay $75 billion for climate change damage is unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed in Albany, names state Attorney General Letitia James and other officials as defendants. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey led the group of states against New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act. This law demands that major fossil fuel companies pay into a fund over the next 25 years for damage caused by their gas emissions from 2000 to 2018.

Why it’s happening: The lawsuit claims that New York is trying to make energy producers and consumers in other states pay for projects in New York, like a new sewer system in New York City. It describes the law as a bad example of what can happen when states overreach, arguing that the Clean Air Act, which allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control air quality and safeguard public health, gives the main responsibility for setting emissions standards between states to the federal government, not individual states. The lawsuit also says that New York is unfairly blaming a small group of energy producers for greenhouse gases that come from many different sources. West Virginia, a leading coal producer, is joined in the lawsuit with 21 other states including big oil, gas, or coal producers like Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. The West Virginia Coal Association and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Why it’s important: The Climate Change Superfund Act makes companies that emitted the most greenhouse gases pay into a state fund. Money is expected to be collected from companies in 2028. The fund will be used for projects to fix or prevent damage from extreme weather events, which are predicted to cost New York over half a trillion dollars by 2050. Big oil and gas companies will help pay for repairs after the severe weather events and for mitigation projects like restoring coastal wetlands and improving roads, bridges, and water systems. The law is based on the federal Superfund law of 1980, which makes companies pay to clean up toxic waste from events like chemical spills and has been upheld in many court cases. Vermont was the first state in the US to pass a similar law, requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change damage after experiencing severe flooding and other extreme weather, but has not been included in the new lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed after President Trump has tried to reduce renewable energy projects and support fossil fuel production instead. He also wants to remove tax credits for electric vehicles and is working on leaving the Paris Climate Agreement, which is a global effort to combat climate change. The group against New York's law has support from Lee Zeldin, the new head of the EPA, according to Mr. McCuskey. Zeldin believes that fossil fuels are the present and future of the country's energy policy. The EPA, which is thinking about reducing its staff, did not comment.

Round-up of major updates on Trump climate actions

What’s happening: 

• Funding for a $5 billion program to build a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations has been frozen.

• More than 1,000 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency were notified last week that they may be subject to immediate firing.

• The Trump administration is looking into ways to cancel loans from a $400 billion program that funds clean-energy technology, as they think about overhauling the program.

• The American Climate Corps has been shutdown with their website now offline.

• Funding for some important Environmental Protection Agency programs was still delayed despite an internal order for staff to follow a court decision to release the money after an intervention from lawmakers worried about projects in their states and districts.

• National monuments, migratory birds, and endangered species are at risk because Doug Burgum, on his first day as head of the Department of the Interior, issued a seven-page order that reduces their protections to promote fossil fuel development.

• The Army Corps of Engineers announced that it has stopped giving permits for more than 100 renewable energy projects nationwide.

• The Trump administration's chaos has nearly stopped environmental approvals for solar and wind projects in important government offices, including the approvals needed for projects on private lands.

• Trump’s climate spending freeze is already causing serious economic harm, despite federal courts having ordered funding to resume, as businesses and community groups are struggling to stay afloat because they don’t know when they’ll see their funding arrive.

• New Jersey's utility regulator said it would end its fourth round of offshore wind project requests without choosing a winner, with the decision coming after a memo from President Donald Trump that paused new and renewed offshore wind leases and permits, stopping all but one wind project in New Jersey.

😇 People doing great things

Saving climate data from the Trump administration

Understanding the elimination of information: US federal agencies are being instructed to change or remove government websites and restrict access to important climate change and health information. The Trump administration has also been quickly deleting climate-related content and scientific data from these sites. For instance, the White House climate page is gone, and the US Department of Agriculture was told to remove climate change information from its websites. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also took down data on topics like gender, vaccines, and climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency has removed much of its climate change information from its homepage. In response, community groups and universities are working to save this disappearing data and create tools to track these changes. At the end of each presidential term, a group of nonprofits and universities, led by the Internet Archive, saves millions of government web pages for historical and research purposes. This helps people access information that is no longer available on government sites. The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine allows users to view these archived pages. The removal of data by the Trump administration has led researchers to focus on archiving similar data. Some groups have developed tools to monitor regulatory changes made by the administration. For example, Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law has launched online tools like the Climate Backtracker to document actions that weaken or remove federal climate protections.

⭐️ Weekly inspiration

Global investment in the energy transition surpasses $2T

The highest-ever annual amount: An unprecedented amount of money is flowing to clean energy, EV, and grid projects around the world with nearly $2.1 trillion invested in the global energy transition in 2024, with last year’s total energy-transition investment 11% higher than in 2023 and more than double what was spent in 2020.

Development of the UK’s biggest oilfield blocked by court

Had been given the go-ahead by the previous government in 2023: The proposed Rosebank development, a giant oilfield off the coast of Shetland, and a smaller gas field called Jackdaw were ruled unlawful by the court in Edinburgh because they had not taken into account the carbon emissions created by burning any oil and gas produced.

Solar to help bring electricity to 300 million in Africa

$35 billion in funding pledged: The World Bank, African Development Bank, and other organisations are helping to bring electricity to Africa, where over 500 million people still lack it, with about half of the money to be used for building solar ‘mini grids’ for local communities via loans with lower interest rates than usual.

US solar manufacturing now meets domestic demand

Previously relied on imports from Chinese-owned companies: A report released from the Solar Energy Industries Association revealed solar module manufacturing capacity has expanded sevenfold to 50 gigawatts since 2020, reducing reliance on foreign imports and reinforcing America’s role as a leader in renewable energy.

Geneva’s homes to be heated by energy from data centre

100% of electricity has been recovered since November 2024: The centre is currently operating at 25 per cent of its potential capacity and aims to reach full capacity by 2028, with the recycled power to fuel the centralised heating network in the Canton of Geneva and benefit around 6,000 households.

India has doubled its tiger population over 12 years

Increased from an estimated 1,706 tigers in 2010 to around 3,682 in 2022: A study has determined this milestone was achieved by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing communities’ living standards near tiger areas.

New Zealand mountain granted same legal rights as a person

Taranaki Mounga, formerly named Mount Egmon by Europeans: One of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world and the second-highest mountain on New Zealand’s North Island has been granted legal personhood, becoming the country’s third natural feature to gain the same rights, duties and protections as individuals.

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