Buffalo News Another Voice: Lawfare against the energy sector won’t make New York more affordable

March 30th, 2026

By Justin Wilcox

March 30, 2026 – Read on the Buffalo News.

There’s no doubt that climbing energy prices are contributing to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Gov. Kathy Hochul warns that New York’s climate mandates are likely to increase utility bills by thousands of dollars in the coming years.

Unfortunately, rather than rolling back unrealistic emissions targets that constrain energy supply, raise costs, and threaten grid reliability, some legislators are instead pushing an extreme legislative agenda that wields the justice system against American energy companies.

Lawsuits and investigations will do nothing to make life more affordable or reduce emissions. This strategy also fails to recognize emissions result from consumer use of fuels, not their extraction — and most critically that China, not the United States, is the world’s leading polluter.

One proposal would open the door for the state attorney general and insurers to sue just about any company involved in energy production, alleging that emissions caused major storms, floods, and other disasters.

The Institute for Legal Reform warns that the massive litigation costs tied to this legislation would be passed on to consumers, dramatically increasing household energy bills over time.

Another proposal goes even further by creating new corporate crimes tied to environmental harms, extending beyond incidents clearly caused by willful neglect. When legal standards expand from concrete actions to mere suppositions, it creates uncertainty that ripples across the entire economy.

The most troubling piece of legislation creates a financial incentive for virtually anyone to sue companies involved in the historical production or sale of fossil fuels based on their own belief that emissions could have contributed to a weather event.

These efforts follow the enactment of the Climate Change Superfund Act, which penalizes energy companies for the use of their products throughout time — like driving to work or heating a home. That law already faces multiple legal challenges.

Instead of opening the door for more lawsuits, Albany must take up practical measures to fix our climate law, increase energy supply, encourage innovation, and keep prices in check.

Justin Wilcox is executive director at Upstate United.