The federal judge stopped New York from implementing the $75 billion Climate Superfund Act

Federal Justice Brenda Sanes ruled that the State of New York was unable to enforce the 2024 state law, which sought to charge about $75 billion for carbon emission companies that caused climate damage between 2000 and 2018. Sanes supported 22 Republican State Attorneys General and industry groups such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, considering that state measures had been superseded by federal law. She noted that the Clean Air Act did not authorize states to adopt emission compensation programmes. The bill requires about 30 fossil fuel companies to pay $3 billion per year for 25 years, totalling $75 billion, for infrastructure, including coastal wetlands, and for extreme weather. Sanés indicated that the implementation of the Act could undermine the balance between environmental protection and economic growth. In 2025, the Union of State Attorneys General, led by the Attorney-General of West Virginia, John McKeski, filed a lawsuit alleging that the law was politically motivated “exceeding power” and punishing traditional energy companies. “We challenge this law because it is the enrichment of the New York elite.”