Lawmakers pulled the proposed Climate Superfund Act from their agenda during Tuesday evening’s Senate session because the controversial legislation had insufficient support for passage. The full Legislature is not expected to return to the Statehouse until the fall.
The bill, S-2338/A-3735, which sponsors recently renamed the “Make Polluters Pay to Make New Jersey More Affordable Act” in attempt to make it more palatable, would have retroactively penalized fossil fuel companies $50 billion for legally providing an essential product used by all New Jerseyans, including the supporters of the bill.
NJBIA, which led a coalition opposing the controversial legislation, had warned the bill was an attack on business, and if it passed, it would worsen New Jersey’s reputation as being hostile to business. Although the legislation recently cleared legislative committees, it was withdrawn from the Senate agenda on Tuesday and never listed on the full Assembly’s agenda at all.
“We thank the Senate and the Assembly, as well as leadership, for having the good sense to hold this bill,” NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka said. “We thank the members who put affordability first, as well as the thousands of New Jersey voices, including those from business and labor, that took the time to oppose this bill.
“Up until this point, it has been disappointing to see it make its way through the Legislature, given the enormous impact it would have on affordability and jobs in New Jersey,” Siekerka said. “In addition to the extra energy costs it would impose on New Jersey households, this bill sets a chilling precedent that any job creator in our state could be retroactively targeted for billions of dollars in penalties, even if it complied with the law, regulations and its permits.”
Siekerka said that given New Jersey’s long history as a coastal state prone to extreme weather and flooding, NJBIA agreed with the sponsors and supporters of the bill that conversations need to take place regarding future resiliency funding. However, the Climate Superfund bill was not the proper funding mechanism, she said.
“We hope to have those conversations with ALL sides represented – government, environmentalists, business, labor and industry – to see the best way to go about it,” she said. “But sadly, this bill instead is an attack, one to impose great damage to an industry that is essential to our economy, one that provides essential jobs to thousands of workers and one that provides a product that is essential to all of us.”
The bill “needs to go away permanently,” Siekerka said.
Climate Superfund bills pushed by environmental activists over the past several years have stalled throughout the country. Only two states (Vermont and New York) enacted Climate Superfund bills into law in 2024, but ongoing legal challenges will ultimately determine if those laws will ever be enforced.
To read Siekerka’s entire statement issued Tuesday night after the Senate adjourned for the summer, go here.
