Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Support
Purpose: Supporting Polluters Pay to Make New Jersey More
Affordable Act
Sponsor: Council Member, Louise Scott-Rountree
Additional Information:
body
WHEREAS, the proposed “Polluters Pay to Make New Jersey More Affordable Act” (S2338/A3735), pending before the New Jersey Legislature would impose liability on large fossil fuel companies for certain climate change related damages they caused instead of imposing all those costs on New Jersey taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey has experienced deaths and billions of dollars in losses from storms linked to climate change like Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ida in 2021; and
WHEREAS, extreme climate events cost billions of dollars in the United States each year, excluding costs related to loss of life, healthcare, and ecosystem damage; and
WHEREAS, the effects of climate change on New Jersey municipalities include but are not limited to increases in the costs of property insurance, public healthcare costs, and critical infrastructure repair; and
WHEREAS, major fossil fuel companies knew or should have known of the direct link between fossil fuels and global warming; and
WHEREAS, the Polluters Pay to Make New Jersey More Affordable Act seeks to hold “responsible parties,” which is defined as fossil fuel extractors that conduct business in New Jersey and were responsible more than one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since 1995, liable for the cost of climate change adaptation and resilience projects instead of placing the burden on New Jersey taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, the State Treasurer will be authorized under this Act to determine the cost impacts of these greenhouse gas emissions on the State, including effects on public health, natural resources, biodiversity, agricultu...
Click here for full text