CLIMATE SUPERFUND SUIT — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: A New York law that aims to collect billions of dollars from oil and gas companies is facing its first legal challenge. A group of 22 Republican attorneys general, three fossil fuel industry groups and a coal mining company sued New York in federal court Thursday, arguing that the “Climate Change Superfund” measure signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December is unconstitutional. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey framed the law as an attack on the coal, oil and gas industries in his state and throughout the rest of the country. McCuskey warned that other liberal states would follow suit if New York — which passed its law after Vermont approved a similar measure — succeeds. “New York is picking and choosing how to make electricity, and they're picking their states’ industries above the others — and that makes this unconstitutional,” McCuskey said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “It’s a slippery slope. If we don't stop NewYork today, we're going to be having this exact same question from Illinois. We're going to have this exact same question from California.” The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, argues the law is preempted by the federal Clean Air Act; that it violates the commerce, due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution; and amounts to an excessive fine, among other issues. The Climate Superfund program would charge large oil and gas companies $75 billion over a quarter century based on their historic sales of fossil fuels from 2000 to 2024. Hochul has touted her backing of the bill as evidence she’s committed to ensuring “polluters pay” for the costs of climate change. "Governor Hochul proudly signed the Climate Superfund Act because she believes corporate polluters should pay for the wreckage caused by the climate crisis — not everyday New Yorkers," said Hochul spokesperson Paul DeMichele. "We look forward to defending this landmark legislation in court and defeating Big Oil once again." Opponents have argued the law unfairly penalizes companies that were providing needed energy sources to consumers and warned it would raise costs. MIND THE GAP — The MTA needs tens of billions of dollars from Albany for its five-year capital plan, but the agency’s CEO told lawmakers not to call that a gap. “It’s a little bit of a mystery to me that every time that the MTA capital program comes up, we treat it like, oh my god, they need a bailout,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber told Assembly and Senate lawmakers during a joint budget hearing Thursday. “This is no different than Medicaid, education and everything else that happens in this state.” The exchange was one of several in which Lieber pushed back on longstanding criticisms of the agency, which he calls the “not-so-Golden Oldies.” Whatever it’s called, Assemblymember Ed Braunstein, a Queens Democrat, pressed Lieber on whether Hochul had figured out where to come up with the money for the MTA’s $68 billion, five-year infrastructure plan. MTA officials have a pretty good idea where they can get about half of that money, but the agency needs lawmakers in Albany to help come up with the rest — the don’t-call-it-a-gap part of the plan. — Ry Rivard FEDERAL FUNDING UNCERTAINTY — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: The fate of more than a billion dollars in federal funding that New York officials expected to support progress on their climate goals has been thrown into question. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to freeze funding for environmental programs continues to impact New York’s clean energy initiatives — despite a court order directing disbursement of the money. Some nonprofits are in limbo, while others are moving forward with their federally funded projects, albeit tentatively. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has millions on the line, including a $250 million solar grant, more than $300 million for home energy efficiency rebate programs and more than $175 million for electric charging infrastructure. New York City and school districts across the state were also expecting more than $230 million in federal electric bus funding that POLITICO reported is still on hold. NJ CLIMATE SUIT TOSSED — Mercer County Superior Court Judge Doug Hurd tossed New Jersey’s lawsuit against oil companies alleging they deceived the public about climate change and should pay up. The decision, citing both state and federal reasons the lawsuit’s claims don’t work, is the latest setback for blue states and cities that have sued oil companies over climate change. The case was filed in fall 2022 by the Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Consumer Affairs. Judges have dismissed similar lawsuits in the past month from NewYork City and Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland. A few lawsuits are proceeding in Delaware and Hawaii. New Jersey is planning an appeal. In its suit, New Jersey rehashed evidence that fossil fuel companies obfuscated the role of their products in a changing climate. The lawsuit also alleged that the state suffers unique damages and relies upon research showing how “climate crisis-caused environmental changes” contributed to the destruction brought by recent hurricanes and tropical storms and continues to imperil New Jersey’s people and their property. — Ry Rivard HOUSING EMERGES AS ISSUE IN GOP FIELD — The New Jersey Sierra Club responded Wednesday to being name-checked in the previous night’s Republican gubernatorial debate. At the debate, Jack Ciattarelli, a former state Assemblymember, called out the environmental group for allowing development to take “‘garden’ out of the Garden State.” “Where is the Sierra Club while all this overdevelopment is happening in our suburbs?” he said. The Sierra Club fired back with a press release saying, “We’re right here, Jack.” The group’s conservation coordinator, Taylor McFarland, said “choosing smart growth over sprawl is one of the most powerful decisions” officials can make. – Ry Rivard EJ OFFICE DECISION LOOMS — POLITICO’s Annie Snider: Staff in EPA’s environmental justice office were informed Wednesday that the Trump administration will soon decide the fate of their office in light of the president’s order to halt work on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, according to two of the office’s staffers. The staffers — granted anonymity due to fear of reprisals — said the news was delivered by Theresa Segovia, the career official who is overseeing the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in an acting capacity. GAS BATTLE RESUMES — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: Environmental groups are pressuring lawmakers to pass a landmark measure designed to remove parts of the state’s sprawling — and aging — gas system. Backers of the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition, or NY HEAT, bill rallied and met with lawmakers Tuesday in Albany. The measure would lay the groundwork for utility regulators to limit the expansion of the gas system and eventually decommission parts of it. Environmental advocates hope this year’s version of the NY HEAT bill, re-introduced last week by Sen. Liz Krueger, addresses concerns raised by Assembly Democrats about potential impacts on homeowners relying on gas for heating and cooking. WIND WOES — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard and Marie J. French: NewJersey will not provide financial backing to new offshore wind projects, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration announced last week. The decision blows a hole in his environmental agenda and legacy and effectively dooms Atlantic Shores, a project off the coast of Atlantic City that has been the focus of opposition from President Donald Trump and Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.). Blue states spent the last four years one-upping each other with bigger and bigger plans to build offshore wind farms that could power the nation into the future. Just three weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency, the question is: What offshore industry? Murphy spent years trying to make his state a hub of an industry that would bring factories and jobs up and down the Eastern Seaboard. But the term-limited Democrat announced that his state would stop approving new offshore wind projects, a near-terminal setback for projects Trump and other Republicans have long maligned. The announcement effectively ends much of Murphy’s seven-year agenda to spur a clean energy and green economy revolution in the Garden State and echoes setbacks in New York and California. It also stymies the aspirations former President Joe Biden had planned for a green future that is more reliant on wind than fossil fuels while handing a victory to Trump, who favors coal, oil and natural gas. CLIMATE INJUSTICE: Environmental justice advocates are looking for leadership. They aren’t seeing it from Gov. Kathy Hochul. The frustration of some climate constituencies with Hochul has approached a boiling point after the governor’s abrupt indefinite delay of her own landmark climate funding policy — “cap and invest" — last month. Three key leaders of the climate justice movement, who played a major role in advocating for New York’s landmark climate law, resigned from a state panel and slammed the governor. Climate conscious donors are looking for other options, too. Others continue to “push” the governor — and one pointed to the leverage of the upcoming primary as a pivotal opportunity. “I think she’s going to have a tough time getting reelected and certainly with this kind of record on climate and environment, I don’t see a lot of strong support for her in a reelection campaign if this continues,” said WE ACT for Environmental Justice executive director Peggy Shepherd. — Marie J. French | 
