yellowhammernews.com · Sawyer Knowles · September 7, 2026
Steve Marshall helps sink New York's $75 billion climate 'penalty' on coal, oil and gas producers - Yellowhammer News
# Steve Marshall helps sink New York’s $75 billion climate ‘penalty’ on coal, oil and gas producers
Sawyer Knowles
September 7, 2026
(CSPAN/Screenshot, YHN)
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is touting a federal court victory blocking New York’s $75 billion climate law, which sought to make major fossil fuel producers pay for costs attributed to climate change.
Marshall joined a multistate coalition challenging New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, enacted in 2024 under Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The law would have required certain oil, coal and natural gas companies tied to greenhouse gas emissions to contribute a combined $75 billion over 25 years toward infrastructure and other projects intended to address climate-related damage.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes of the Northern District of New York ruled Monday that the state could not enforce the law.
Sannes found that the measure was preempted by the federal Clean Air Act and federal authority over foreign affairs, concluding that New York had attempted to regulate in areas where federal interests predominate.
Marshall praised the decision Friday, arguing the law threatened energy producers operating legally under existing federal regulations.
“This ruling puts a stop to New York’s attempt to penalize two decades of lawful energy production,” Marshall said.
He said the coalition challenged the law in part to protect energy workers and consumers in states such as Alabama from policies enacted elsewhere.
New York’s law applied to emissions associated with fossil fuels produced between 2000 and 2024, with financial responsibility assigned to companies based on their estimated share of emissions.
Supporters argued the policy would shift the costs of climate-related infrastructure damage away from taxpayers and onto major fossil fuel producers. Hochul’s administration has said it is reviewing its options following the ruling.
The decision could reach beyond New York. Vermont has enacted a similar climate Superfund law that is facing its own legal challenge, while lawmakers in several other states have considered comparable measures.
Marshall’s office said the Alabama-led coalition is also challenging Vermont’s law, making Monday’s ruling an important test of how far states can go in imposing climate-related costs on fossil fuel producers.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at sawyer@yellowhammernews.com.