In an op-ed published Wednesday in NJ Spotlight, two prominent New Jersey business leaders made the case against the stalled Climate Superfund Act and warned of the higher energy prices and job losses that would occur if the bill were to be revived in 2026.
NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka and Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey President & CEO Christina Renna said that the proposal is an “unfair, misguided and likely unconstitutional cash grab that would damage business, consumers and workers.”
The bill, which would impose a retroactive $50 billion penalty on New Jersey petroleum companies for their relatively minimal role in global carbon emissions, died in the waning days of the 2024-2025 lame duck legislative session, but has been reintroduced in the current one.
No committee meetings have been scheduled on the reintroduced bill, but environmental groups are clamoring that lawmakers act on it in the 2026-2027 legislative session.
Siekerka and Renna said the bill should stay dead because socking energy companies with billions of dollars in unfounded assessments – not to mention the millions they will spend fighting the law in the courts – will lead to higher gasoline and energy prices.
“Let’s be very clear: Businesses don’t just swallow billions of dollars in unforeseen and unfair costs over which they have no control. Forcing them to do so would prove even riskier if companies know they potentially could face future retroactive penalties for delivering a state-permitted product,” Siekerka and Renna wrote.
To read the entire op-ed, go here.
