News

Sep 18, 2023

Why We Must Pass the Climate Change Superfund Act Before the End of Legislative Session

Flooding on Long Island (photo: Governor's Office) Climate change is eating Long

Flooding on Long Island (photo: Governor's Office)

Climate change is eating Long Island away, and is projected to raise our sea level to more than 50% higher than the global average. If those estimates are correct, that means large portions of Jones Beach will disappear by 2050, the north and south ends will become their own islands by 2080, and Fire Island will almost completely wash away by the end of the century.

Protecting Long Islanders’ homes from this kind of irreparable climate damage is possible – but climate change is already costing taxpayers an arm and a leg. It is a cost that we should not have to pay.

There's a solution to this problem making its way through the New York State Legislature right now - a plan that would take the burden off of taxpayers and put those who created this climate catastrophe on the hook instead. That bill is the Climate Change Superfund Act. The act makes the worst corporate climate polluters – Big Oil – pay. It should be on Albany's "must do" list as we head into the last days of the legislative session.

Just this year, New Yorkers statewide have been forced to pay around $800 million for projects related to climate damages and resiliency projects. It's only going to get worse.

The Long Island Regional Planning Council is projecting $75 to $100 billion out of taxpayers’ pockets for new roads and other infrastructure improvements, thanks to worsening storms and sea level rise. That's right – tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to elevate our streets (where they have been washed away from intense storms), build new bridges, and upgrade our septic systems and storm drains to protect them against future flooding.

Many of us who live on Long Island have already experienced this kind of flooding. We need this infrastructure to protect against tragedies like Hurricane Sandy, which took 13 lives and damaged or destroyed 100,000 homes. Suffolk County experienced seven natural disaster declarations in the last decade — the most of any county in the state. And while we have to suffer and pay for these consequences, Big Oil companies are getting richer.

The top Big Oil companies are on track for a second consecutive year of record profits. Across the globe, Big Oil companies are performing much better than expected this year, following last year's record-breaking profits totaling $376 billion. These companies want you to believe that they’re investing in clean and renewable energy sources. Don't buy the smoke and mirrors.

They fund climate science denial while pushing greenwashing advertising. Big Oil wants us to believe they have our wellbeing at heart, but their actions racked up a tab of $5.4 trillion in climate damages worldwide over just 26 years. Even worse, they knew that they were driving the climate catastrophe as early as the 1970s. And now, even after all of this has come to light, they evade any sort of real accountability.

We’re all impacted by climate change, but Black, Latino, Asian, and low-income communities bear the brunt of it. Natural disasters aren't just the weather themselves — they’re worsened by social, political, and economic stressors. Low-income communities experience greater challenges evacuating due to the cost of transportation and relocation. But when people stay, they experience increased health risks including contaminated water and interrupted access to medical care and food. On top of that, because of the increased risk of asthma, heart disease, and other chronic health problems that low-income and communities of color experience (also because of other environmental injustice), these communities are especially vulnerable to storm hazards.

And of course, after the flood, cleanup is expensive and leads to increased debt, partly because people in poverty are less likely to have flood insurance. According to the Urban Institute, after four years, a medium-sized disaster causes a 31-point decline in credit scores for people living in communities of color, whereas people living in white communities only experienced a 4-point decline.

On Long Island, we already know what it's like to pay more than our fair share. We pay through the nose in property taxes. And now we have to deal with the exponentially increasing risk of flood damage to our homes because of a mess we didn't make — on top of raised taxes for climate change infrastructure? It's criminal.

Experts have already proven that making polluters pay for their fare share of this mess won't result in those costs being passed onto consumers. We can't afford to pay for climate change, and we shouldn't have to. Let's make corporate climate polluters pay by passing the Climate Change Superfund Act.

***Assembly Member Michaelle Solages represents New York's 22nd District. On Twitter @SolagesNY.

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