New York is sued over $75 billion climate superfund
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state was sued on Thursday over a new law requiring fossil fuel companies to contribute $75 billion over 25 years into a state fund that will pay for damage caused by climate change, West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey said.
The law signed by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on December 26 creates a "superfund" to shift the cost to mitigate climate change to oil, gas and coal companies from taxpayers.
At a press conference, McCuskey, a Republican, called the law unconstitutional. A copy of the complaint was not immediately available.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
42 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Texas Lawmakers Warned of 'Credible Threat' After Minnesota Assassination
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Texas lawmakers and their staffers have received a warning from the state's Department of Public Safety (DPS) warning them of a "credible threat" to legislators planning to attend protests at the State Capitol. CBS Austin reporter Michael Adkison posted a copy of the notice issued Saturday in the wake of the assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa HOrtman and the attempted assassination of state Senator John Hoffman, both members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, in the early hours of Saturday morning local time. Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president last year, said the killing was politically motivated without elaborating. The assassination has added further tension to the nationwide "No Kings" protests, which were planned for Saturday. Organizers for the protests cancelled any such protests in Minnesota out of "an abundance of caution" and to follow guidance from state authorities as they carried out their manhunt for the suspect. However, the group has not moved to cancel protests in other states, telling Newsweek in an emailed statement: "We are in close contact with our hosts, attendees, and state and local officials and remain committed to ensuring all other events around the country proceed peacefully and safely." This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Down the homestretch, Cuomo's allies unleash millions to topple New York City mayoral rival
NEW YORK — With early voting underway in the New York City mayoral primary and polls showing a tightening race, Andrew Cuomo and his allies are beefing up their attacks on his top rival — most recently with a $5.4 million negative TV ad, according to a new campaign filing. And Saturday morning, Al Sharpton voiced support for the former governor and derided top rival Zohran Mamdani's decision to cross-endorse a white man but not a Black woman in the crowded race, which will be determined by ranked-choice voting. The latest developments underscore the heated fight to the finish between the oldest and youngest candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to oust Mayor Eric Adams. A pro-Cuomo super PAC — funded in part by donors to President Donald Trump and buoyed by $5 million from Mike Bloomberg this week — spent the seven-figure sum lambasting Mamdani, according to records the New York City Campaign Finance Board released Friday night. The new broadcast spot paints the 33-year-old democratic socialist as too radical and inexperienced to assume the complicated job of running the nation's largest city. 'I was quite open to what would be considered being a radical from a very young age,' Mamdani is shown saying in a 2020 interview, before a narrator suggests the mayoral hopeful wants to move homeless New Yorkers into the city's subway stations. 'That's cruel to the homeless and dangerous for us,' the narrator warns. In an interview with WNYC in May, Mamdani proposed using vacant retail space in subway stations as homeless outreach and service hubs. The persistence of homeless people with presumed mental illness sleeping on city subways has rattled commuters and spurred candidates to delineate plans to tackle the problem. 'It's about getting people out of the subway system, not bringing them into the subway system,' spokesperson Andrew Epstein said in response to the ad. 'To have medical professionals stationed around the system is going to make everyone's commute safer.' The narrator then says Mamdani promises to defund the police and notes the state legislator called for the NYPD to be dismantled in 2020. Mamdani pushed back against those claims in an interview Saturday. 'It's yet another example of lies that are funded by the Trump billionaires who are putting millions of dollars behind Andrew Cuomo's campaign,' he said. 'I've been clear time and time again, I am not defunding the police.' Mamdani did, in fact, tweet in favor of defunding police departments in 2020. Epstein also noted the ad shows several clips of Mamdani wearing a kurta, a common South Asian article of clothing, though the candidate usually dons a suit and tie on the campaign trail. 'There's nothing that should be scary about wearing a kurta,' Epstein said. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, has sported the garment in his own ads. Candidates are limited to spending around $8 million during the primary, but Cuomo is being boosted by the largest PAC ever to get involved in a New York City election. The anti-Mamdani ad came as Cuomo, Sharpton and other Black political leaders piled on Mamdani Saturday at Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem. Speaking to reporters, Cuomo criticized Mamdani's short legislative record. 'You want to drive a bus, you need to be trained to drive a bus. You want to operate a hot dog cart, you have to get a permit,' Cuomo said. 'Only mayor of New York, no experience necessary? … You can go from five employees and the next day we put you in the seat and you run 300,000? We've had inexperienced mayors before. They've failed.' Sharpton expressed support for the former governor while deriding Mamdani's decision to tell his supporters to rank candidate Brad Lander second, instead of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Lander and Mamdani cross endorsed Friday, in a nod to the relatively new ranked-choice voting system that allows New Yorkers to pick up to five candidates in order of preference. 'They say that Mamdani and Lander endorsed each other, so against the Black woman,' Sharpton said. 'Something about that politics ain't progressive to me.' A source with knowledge of discussion between the two camps said Mamdani had sought a cross endorsement with Adams over weeks of discussions. The state lawmaker also encouraged supporters to donate to her campaign ahead of a crucial fundraising deadline last month. No deal came of the talks. A person with knowledge of Adams' campaign strategy said the Council speaker has been courted by multiple candidates, but only recently began airing ads and is still finalizing her ranked-choice voting strategy. Meanwhile Mamdani dropped six figures on his own ad seeking to counter criticisms of his public safety platform. During his mayoral run, he has pledged to maintain NYPD's headcount. In the ad, Mamdani says he will create a Department of Community Safety that would take over responsibilities handled by officers, such as responding to mental health emergencies. The pro-Cuomo PAC has flooded the Democratic primary with $14.7 million, with no sign of abating. The super PAC, called Fix the City, reported raising $18.5 million in the latest filings with the Campaign Finance Board. 'Fix the City has and will continue to highlight why Andrew Cuomo is the mayor we need to ensure a safe and affordable city,' spokesperson Liz Benjamin said in a statement. 'We will also keep pointing out the records, positions, and deficiencies of other candidates who are intent on making the city less safe and less affordable.' Campaigns are prohibited from coordinating with the Super PACs supporting them. The city board fined Cuomo's campaign $756,994 for improperly coordinating with Fix the City over one of its broadcast ads. Jeff Coltin contributed reporting.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Democrats convince no one by flagging each and every slight as the ‘end of democracy'
God knows today's right indulges in plenty of absurdly overheated rhetoric, but can Democrats please quit proclaiming the end of democracy over every trivial affront? The latest onset of fascism came when Sen. Alex Padilla burst into Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem's LA presser Thursday and got tackled by Secret Service agents who didn't recognize the crazy shouting man, then pulled out of the room in handcuffs. Dems nationwide were shocked, shocked. Advertisement Here in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed the takedown of the California senator 'shocked the conscience'; mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo called it part of Team Trump's push to 'silence opposition and undermine our democracy'; AOC demanded a 'full investigation.' Puh-leaze. How do any of them want a Republican trying to hijack one of their events treated? Advertisement And if Noem was out to 'silence' Padilla, why meet with him for 15 minutes afterward? It's not because she feared finger-wagging from, say, Sen. Cory 'Spartacus' Booker. And all the hysteria ignores the simple fact that anyone who cares to can see for themselves on the video. Just as, yes, they can see ample images of the LA rioting that Democrats and their media enablers insist is 'mostly peaceful' — when they're not denying there's any violence at all. Far too many on the left are used to closed conversations where no one will challenge this nonsense. Advertisement It may work for winning cheers at a rally, getting clueless rich folks to cut you campaign checks or group-wallowing on BlueSky, but outside your bubble it just looks pathetic. And if telling a heckler 'not now' is fascist, then every teacher in America should be wearing jackboots.
