According to reporting by the EPOCH Times, not one but two Federal judges have told New York to F-off. Okay, editorial license. They informed the state that its Climate Superfund law was unlawful for all sorts of reasons, much like Vermont’s, which I wrote about here. I gave all sorts of fun lefty-triggering examples, but at its root (and branch), these laws have nothing to do with climate reparations.
Blue states bleed money, and they have to keep coming up with ways to plug ballooning budget holes with other people’s money. In this case, much like tobacco, MTBE, PFAS, or even social media, something they needed, used, licensed, permitted, extracted revenue from the sale or use of, and loved for it, became an opportunity for jackpot justice.
And if the company is big enough, what’s the harm in making everyone else pay more so you can collect a payout to paper over how badly you manage everything?
Vermont tried it because California and New York tried it, and so far the blue states have failed to rob energy companies for emissions “harms.”
[U.S. District Judge P. Kevin] Castel found that the law reached beyond New York’s authority even though the state planned to spend the money on local projects.
Castel also said the law infringed on foreign affairs by seeking payments from fossil fuel companies for activity outside the United States. Citing an earlier appeals court ruling, he said holding oil companies accountable for what they did outside U.S. territory would bypass diplomatic channels and “needlessly complicate the nation’s foreign policy.”
Two federal judges have now ruled on New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act because different plaintiffs brought separate lawsuits. There were 22 states and business groups that challenged the law in the Northern District of New York, where U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes blocked it on Aug. 31.
And I’m not saying there isn’t potential here. Blue cities and states have done significant, long-term harm to their taxpayers, calculable over decades, including the certification, permitting, regulation, and taxation … of fossil fuels. Clearly, the cities and states have profited from these emissions, which they claim are harmful, and any contracts, arrangements, or other details would not, in fact, cross state lines.
If emissions are such a travesty, perhaps harmed citizens should sue their states for climate reparations.
Vermont, for example, has two biomass plants that are the biggest emitters of CO2/pollution/emissions in the state, but in its emissions inventory, the state doesn’t count them. Worst polluters, but politically invisible, because Democratic leaders chose to ignore them.
Sounds like a class action lawsuit to me.
If you live in a blue city or state, you might have something like this on tap yourself, and there’s never any shortage of lawyers willing to take on the system.
Fire up that AI. Take some notes. Make some phone calls. Those blue crooks looking to rob someone else will be coming for you soon enough to fill their budget holes. If you won’t vote them out, sue them out.
