The New Jersey Business Coalition, with more than 100 signatories, have urged lawmakers to oppose the Climate Superfund Act, a bill that seeks to retroactively penalize New Jersey companies tens of billions of dollars for legally providing fossil fuels that are essential to residents' survival and prosperity.
Bill S-3545 (Smith, D-17; McKeon, D-27) is slated for a vote in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
If passed, it would set a precedent that any New Jersey company could still be retroactively targeted for billions of dollars in penalties, even if it complied with the law.
The NJBC letter can be found here.
“Given the costs being imposed on consumers during an affordability crisis, the harmful impact of this legislation on two major job creators in this state, the unfairness of retroactive liability, and the negative message it sends to the business community, we ask that you not support this legislation,” the coalition wrote.
“We welcome an opportunity to discuss this with you in greater detail.”
According to an analysis by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the bill is predicted to cost New Jersey households an additional $1,000 per year in added fuel costs over the next nine years when applying a $40 billion figure offered by one of the sponsors.
“Advocates have made the fanciful claim that the costs imposed on fossil fuel companies will not be passed on to consumers,” the coalition wrote. “This claim is patently false.”
The coalition noted that the bill would jeopardize New Jersey’s two remaining refineries, the Phillips 66 plant in Linden and the Paulsboro Refining Company in Paulsboro.
“These two New Jersey refineries alone, contribute $8.4 billion to the national economy, pay $1.4 billion in state and local taxes, pay $4 billion in labor income, and support 35,700 jobs in the state," the coalition said.
“Passage of this bill would put those jobs in jeopardy and harm the state and regional economy. Predicting that this bill would harm our two remaining refineries is not fear mongering. The East Coast used to be the home to about 14 refineries – we now have four left, with two in New Jersey. The threat to these refineries from this bill is real.”
The groups also contended that the bill sends the wrong message to the business community, while simultaneously doing nothing to address climate change.
“It tells businesses that if you provide a legal, essential product, you could be open to enormous penalties,” the coalition said.
“This legislation is also clearly unconstitutional as many courts in other states have found that the issues of how to address climate change need to be addressed at the national and international levels, not by an individual state. New Jersey contributes just 1.7% of the United States’ GHG emissions and only 0.3% of worldwide emissions. Yet, this bill seeks to hold companies that do business in New Jersey liable for a company’s worldwide activities.
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is also urging residents to tell their legislators to oppose the Climate Superfund Act at njbia.org/letspowerprogress.
