New Jersey, home to many oil and gas producers, eyes fees to fight climate change

TRENTON, N.J. — It’s not an accident that “The Sopranos,” the quintessential show about New Jersey, opens with its main character driving past gasoline and oil storage tanks along the New Jersey Turnpike.

From the outskirts of New York to the Delaware River shoreline across from Philadelphia, New Jersey is home to numerous oil and natural gas facilities.

Those facilities would be charged fees to help the state fight the effects of climate change under a bill being considered in the state Legislature.

The measure, to be discussed Thursday in a state Senate committee, aims to create a Climate Superfund similar to the pot of money assembled by the federal government to clean up toxic waste by charging petroleum and chemical companies an extra tax to fund ongoing cleanups.

It’s a tactic being used or considered in numerous other states, including Vermont, which recently enacted such a law. New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and California are among states considering doing likewise.

“It’s more important than ever that Gov. Murphy and state legislators protect New Jersey taxpayers and the health of our communities by making polluters pay to repair, upgrade and harden our critical infrastructure from climate-driven damage,” said Matt Smith, New Jersey Director of the nonprofit Food & Water Watch.

New Jersey’s business lobby is already working against the bill. Ray Cantor, an official with the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the bill will accomplish nothing beyond raising the cost of gasoline for motorists, and gas and oil for home heating customers.

“There are many things wrong with the bill, beyond the fact that it seeks to impose a retroactive liability on companies that were providing a legal, necessary and vital product to the citizens of the state,” he said. “It’s unconstitutionally vague in assessments of costs, and will likely be preempted by federal law. It will do nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or impact climate change.”

His criticism echoed that voiced by the oil and gas industries when Vermont’s bill became law in May.

The New Jersey bill “would establish that certain fossil fuel companies are liable for certain damages caused to the state and its residents by the harmful effects of climate change.”

The burning of fossil fuels including oil, gas and coal is a major contributor to climate change.

The proposal would impose as yet unspecified charges on fossil fuel producers that would go to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which would distribute the money as grants to pay for programs to adapt to climate change and make the state more resilient to severe weather.

The state would take two years to assess damages to New Jersey that have resulted from greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1995, and would establish “that each responsible party is strictly liable” for those damages.

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