Four Climate Activists Arrested Urging Hochul to “Make Polluters Pay”
Climate activists from Planet Over Profit were arrested and restrained by zip tied handcuffs on the street in front of Governor Hochul’s office on 633 3rd Avenue, on Friday October 11, 2024.
(Photo credit: Esther Luz)
Four climate activists were arrested in front of Governor Kathy Hochul's office after peacefully protesting, urging her to pass the bill that makes fossil fuel companies pay for disasters like Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
Security barriers were set up, and swarms of police officers guarded the only entrance to the building. Since 8 a.m., activists have stood with cardboard signs, peacefully calling for action, hoping to catch the governor’s attention as she enters her office.
“Hey Hochul, stop stalling. Climate change is calling.” Chants echoed across the block outside the governor’s office at 633 3rd Avenue in NYC. The Climate Superfund Act, which would require oil companies to pay $3 billion annually for 25 years, is waiting for Hochul’s signature. “We need the bill signed. New York is overdue for another hurricane like Sandy,” said Liv Senghor, lead campaigner at Planet Over Profit, which organized the protest. “When that happens, we won’t be prepared.”
Hochul never appeared. Four activists were arrested and escorted to police vehicles by officers using zip tie handcuffs.
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund struggles to keep pace with the increasingly frequent disasters, such as Helene and Milton, often falling short in providing adequate support for immediate relief and long-term infrastructure needs. “In the 1980s there were about three months between billion-dollar disaster events, but over the past decade we are experiencing them every three weeks,” Adam Smith, a NOAA climatologist, told CNN.
The financial burden of climate disasters has largely fallen on taxpayers, funding governmental projects and paying for higher insurance premiums. Activists argue that fossil fuel companies, who are the primary contributors for decades of rising carbon emissions, should be held accountable.
The Climate Superfund Act targets fossil fuel companies based on their historical greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2018. They would collectively pay $3 billion annually for 25 years, totaling $75 billion.
The bill passed the Senate and Assembly on June 7, just one day before the legislative session adjourned. Governor Hochul has the authority to sign or veto the bill. If she does nothing, it automatically becomes law after 10 days. However in this situation with the legislature adjourned, she can exercise a pocket veto, which will allow the bill to expire without action.
Current bill status from New York State Senate website.
Apparently her signature is the only key to “Make Polluters Pay” now, and the activists suspect foul play with the coincidental timing. “There are corporate interests, that’s incentivizing her one way or another.” Senghor said.
Major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell have long contributed to climate change through decades of carbon emissions. Although they publicly denied the link between fossil fuels and climate change for decades, a Harvard-led study revealed that ExxonMobil accurately predicted global warming as early as the 1970s, foreseeing rising temperatures and increased environmental impacts like hurricanes.
Collectively, the biggest polluters have profited $21 trillion while causing $15 trillion in damages. Estimated partial damages linked to emissions attributable to the 12 highest emitting fossil fuel companies and their respective financial gains between 1985-2018 by company and country in 2020 USD trillions.
Estimated partial damages linked to emissions attributable to the 12 highest emitting fossil fuel companies and their respective financial gains between 1985-2018 by company and country in 2020 USD trillions.
During the recent New York Climate Week, John Kerry, former U.S. Climate Envoy, criticized the fossil fuel industry, saying they were “just plowing ahead, like it’s business as usual.”
The American Petroleum Institute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, spent more than $100,000 last year lobbying New York state lawmakers alone.
Emails sent to Governor Hochul’s office have gone unanswered.
Activists have organized multiple protests to galvanize public pressure on Governor Hochul to sign the bill, including rallies during major events like New York Climate Week. Over 85,000 petitions have been delivered to her office.
Hundreds of cops showed up collectively within the one hour timeframe of the protest. Governor Hochul never did. As the police took the four cuffed activists away, Senghor said: “The protest often does (end up in arrests). We do disrupt,” Senghor said, “but we can actually get people to listen to us this way.”