By Maria Echevarria (she/her) Youth v. Oil Intern
On August 31st, Chief Judge Brenda Sannes, a New York federal judge, ruled against New York State’s Climate Superfund law, favoring the Trump administration, Republican states, and Big Oil.
Judge Sannes struck down the Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund, signed into law in 2024, which would require large oil and gas corporations to contribute $3 billion annually to the state’s Superfund beginning in 2028. Sannes argued that a controversial 2021 decision in City of New York v. Chevron, in which the city’s lawsuit against Big Oil was dismissed, is relevant to the State’s Climate Superfund. Organizations nationwide, legal experts, and legislators of New York find the ruling highly controversial and easily appealable. They are urging New York’s Attorney General Letitia James to appeal the decision immediately, and have confidence she will do so.
Despite the perception that the decision may be a drawback in our fight for Make Polluters Pay, the New York decision has no effect whatsoever on the legality of the climate superfund in California or in any other state. The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund would direct the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to complete a climate costs study on total fossil fuel emissions by the largest oil corporations, assess the costs, and fund the protection and future of Californians. Most notably, the Superfund would ensure working families aren’t paying for the damages of some of the most profitable corporations on earth.
Right after the ruling, West Virginia’s Attorney General responded “victoriously” on behalf of other Republican Attorney Generals, the Trump Administration, and Big Oil backers. This response, along with the decision as a whole, proves to the people that Big Oil is capable of going to great lengths just to avoid being held accountable. Similarly, here in California, the $26 million spent by Big Oil lobbying in the first 9 months of 2025 against bills like the Climate Superfund shows their desperation to not pay for the damages they are responsible for inflicting on our state.
One district judge applying a criticized precedent should not and will not decide for the entire country whether polluters or taxpayers pay for climate damage. In California, Vermont, and other states, we will continue to move forward to ensure that the fight to make polluters pay and to hold big corporations accountable is successful.