West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey announced Thursday that he will lead a coalition of states in a lawsuit challenging New York’s Climate Change Superfund Law, a landmark measure spearheaded by Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.
The law, set to take effect in 2028, would require the nation’s largest fossil fuel companies to collectively pay $75 billion over 25 years to help offset climate-related damage in New York. At least 35% of the funds must be allocated to climate change solutions and resiliency projects in communities disproportionately affected by environmental hazards—including the Bronx. In neighborhoods like Mott Haven and Port Morris, children are more than three times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma attacks compared to other parts of the city, according to city data.
During a press conference announcing the lawsuit, McCuskey took aim at New York lawmakers, arguing that the law unfairly penalizes energy companies and could set a dangerous precedent for other states. The lawsuit, backed by multiple attorneys general, seeks to block the measure before it takes effect.
“There is an incredible lack of gratefulness and respect for the hardworking men and women of the steel industry and the gas industry and the coal industry who mined every ounce of coal that built every skyscraper in New York City,” McCuskey said.
The lawsuit claims that the Climate Change Superfund Law cannot be enforced because it takes regulatory powers away from the federal government, citing the Clean Air Act of 1970, which granted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to regulate hazardous emissions.
But Dinowitz already faced the question of state vs. federal regulatory powers in a June 2024 State Assembly meeting when State Assembly Member Mathew Simpson, a Republican representing a district upstate, grilled the Bronx official on state regulatory powers.
“We’re not talking about who regulates it [emissions] here,” Dinowitz said to Simpson in the June meeting. “That’s not what the bill does. What the bill does is it indicates a quantifiable way to determine how much of the blame each of these companies is responsible for and therefore should pay in.”
West Virginia, a top producer of coal and natural gas for the nation, was joined by 21 other states attorneys generals – all from states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Signing onto the lawsuit are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Several fossil fuel associations also signed on.
Dinowitz released a statement Thursday following the announcement calling out fossil fuel extractors and accusing them of avoiding accountability.
“Big Oil & Gas would rather spend millions on lawsuits than take responsibility for the damage they’ve caused,” Dinowitz said in the statement. “But no legal challenge can change the facts: fossil fuel companies knew for decades that their products were driving climate change, yet they misled the public and did everything possible to block climate action.”
He reassured New Yorkers that the law is solid, and that New York Attorney General Letitia James would defend the Climate Change Superfund Law against “corporate attacks.”
“New York families should not bear the costs of climate change while Big Oil gets a free pass,” he said in the statement. “We are standing firm in ensuring that those responsible for this crisis are held accountable.”
