Hochul signs law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for natural disaster cleanup

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday signed a law that will require companies responsible for large amounts of planet-warming pollution to contribute to climate damage repair efforts.

Under the new state law, companies responsible for the bulk of emissions from 2000 to 2018 will be on the hook for some $3 billion a year over the next 25 years. The law is modeled after the federal Superfund law, which sticks the bill for pollution cleanup with the companies responsible for the pollution.