Only in Albany would leaders propose penalizing oil and gas companies at the very moment we depend on these products to heat our homes and fuel our snowplows during the harsh winter months. Yet, that's exactly what Gov. Kathy Hochul did when she signed the Climate Change Superfund Act. Then, even as she championed an affordability agenda in her State of the State address, she doubled down on her support for the bill — a policy that will inevitably increase costs for every family in the state.

The bill, which imposes a hefty $75 billion in surcharges on a handful of fossil fuel producers, aims to hold energy companies fully responsible for global climate change. The premise ignores the reality that the primary source of emissions is the consumption of these fuels, not their production. By targeting American energy producers while lacking a mechanism to address major global emitters like China’s state-run coal operations—which alone account for nearly a quarter of the world's emissions—this policy will likely be ineffective in significantly reducing environmental impact.........

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