More Than 100 Gather In Mercer To Push For New Jersey Climate Superfund Act

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — More than 100 people from New Jersey — backed by dozens of environmental, labor, faith, and community organizations — rallied at the Statehouse Annex in Trenton, calling for urgent action on the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act (S3545/A4696).

The bill has already cleared the environmental committees in both legislative chambers, and advocates are now demanding swift passage by the full Assembly and Senate.

Modeled after laws passed in New York and Vermont, the Climate Superfund Act would require fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil, Shell and BP to pay for their share of the climate destruction they’ve caused in New Jersey. This includes damage from increasingly frequent billion-dollar storms, floods, and heat waves. Revenue from the bill would be used to fund climate-resilient infrastructure projects across the state.

"Climate Superfund is a win-win for consumers, affordability and the economy. A fraction of the largest responsible profiting polluters pay a fraction of the damage they've caused. It shifts the costs off the backs of taxpayers and ratepayers and the funds go directly into New Jersey's economy creating good jobs, reducing air pollution and making towns more resilient. #JerseyStrong,” Senator John McKeon (D-27), the bill’s prime sponsor, said in a statement.

Since 1980, New Jersey has experienced 75 climate-related disasters that each caused over $1 billion in damage, according to the National Centers For Environmental Information.

The Superfund legislation would create a dedicated state fund — supported by damages collected from the companies most responsible — to support everything from flood protections and resilient public housing to modernizing transit and the electric grid.

“For years, New Jersey families have been stuck footing the bill for climate disasters while Big Oil walks away with record profits,” Matt Smith, New Jersey State Director at Food & Water Watch, said.

“This legislation flips the script. If you fuel the crisis, you fund the recovery. State leaders must act now to make polluters pay and protect our communities.”

More than 30 municipalities, including Princeton, have passed resolutions in support of the bill, and over 100 organizations have signed on urging immediate action from the legislature and Governor Murphy.

"With the deliberate undermining of environmental protection at the federal level, it’s up to states to pass legislation and regulation to make polluters pay,” said Adam Liebtag, President, Communication Workers of America Local 1036. "The Climate Superfund Act is long overdue and will have a meaningful impact on our immediate climate resiliency needs and for future generations."

Senator Andrew Zwicker (NJ-16), a co-sponsor of the bill, said Central Jersey taxpayers and flood victims need a break.

“We're in an affordability crisis and climate change is a significant contributing factor. This bill ensures those that have profited the most from the emissions causing the damage pay more of their fair share and give a break to consumers and ratepayers,” Zwicker said.

"Every major US medical professional society has stated that climate change is a massive and unprecedented threat to all Americans. New Jersey was a leader in passing the Spill Act in 1976 to hold polluters responsible for toxic pollution sites - leading to the passage of the national Superfund program,” said Dan Quinlan, Co-Leader, Clinicians for Climate Action New Jersey. “A generation later, it’s time for New Jersey to hold climate polluters accountable."

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