If Hochul Cares For Working Parents, She’ll Sign Climate Superfund Act

OPED By:  Eliza Clark, Liat Olenick and Abby Loomis.

• Published December 16, 2024

“Right now, working families like us are footing the bill for the billions in damages caused by these climate disasters, while the fossil fuel companies sowing climate misinformation and poisoning the planet make record profits.”

As parents of young children, we teach our kids that they need to clean up the messes they make. But Gov. Kathy Hochul is dragging her feet on signing a crucial climate bill that would compel corporate polluters to do just that: The Climate Change Superfund Act.

The Climate Change Superfund Act, which passed on the last day of the 2024 legislative session, would hold polluters financially accountable for fueling climate disasters like the storms, wildfires, and drought our state experienced over the past year.

Right now, working families like us are footing the bill for the billions in damages caused by these climate disasters, while the fossil fuel companies sowing climate misinformation and poisoning the planet make record profits. This is profoundly unfair and we’ve had enough.

That’s why we joined Climate Families NYC in disrupting the Albany Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony last weekend to demand Gov. Hochul sign the Superfund Act. 

We traveled with snacks, car seats, and giant holiday-themed light-up props to make sure our message to Hochul was heard loud and clear. Our day included a Superfund Act version of “Jingle Bells,” a giant tree and fire props, a cardboard Kathy Hochul complete with a sack of coal and Grinch hat, flipping on illuminated signs demanding the Superfund Act NOW and a powerful—and festive—disruption of a state ceremony attended by several elected leaders and state officials, including Lieutenant Gov. Antonio Delgado. 

We are not alone in asking the governor to pick up her pen and sign; the bill is popular across New York. Our action kicked off a week of disruptive protest targeting the governor in Albany led by statewide movement organizations like Third Act, NYPIRG, Climate Defenders, and Fridays for Future, who held a sit-in at the Capitol.

Alongside numerous other civil and environmental organizations, elected officials have likewise pressed the governor to sign the bill: Congressman Jerry Nadler sent a public letter to Hochul back in August calling on her to sign the Superfund Act, as did New York City Mayor Eric Adams. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander has rallied with advocates in support of the bill. Dozens of councilmembers and mayors from across the state signed a public letter in support of Hochul signing. More recently, Rep. Richie Torres, who is exploring a run for governor, publicly called on Hochul to sign the bill. 

It’s not easy for parents with toddlers and elementary school-age children to make the trek up to Albany on a cold December day. We got home on Sunday at 10 p.m. and carried our sleeping children up to their beds. We’d rather be having holiday fun with our kids instead of protesting, but the consensus of global scientists is that our children and all children’s survival is on the line.

And with a fossil-fuel-industry-funded climate denier headed to the White House after a year of devastating drought, heat, wildfires and storms, it is more important than ever that blue-state governors like Kathy Hochul side with working families and kids, not polluters. 

Gov. Hochul claims she cares about helping families make ends meet. An analysis by the Fiscal Policy Institute found that without the Superfund Act’s implementation, New Yorkers would face an increased price tag of an average $4,000 per person over the next 25 years. Not to mention the trauma and health risks families are already experiencing thanks to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

The clock is ticking: Gov. Hochul has until the end of 2024 to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act. It’s time to pick a side: Working families or polluters.

We hope she makes the right choice.

Eliza Clark is a member of Climate Families NYC and lives in Manhattan with her husband and three daughters.

Liat Olenick is a parent, educator and organizer with Climate Families NYC.  She lives in Brooklyn with her family. 

Abby Loomis is a parent, 4th grade teacher and member of Climate Families NYC.