U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes ruled on Aug. 31 that the statute Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law in 2024 overstepped state authority, conflicted with federal law, and violated the foreign affairs doctrine.
"The court finds that the Climate Act is 'simply beyond the limits of state law,'" she wrote in a 63-page opinion. "It is precisely because the Climate Act operates within an area of law 'in which the federal interest is so dominant' that it cannot be enforced."
Kevin D. Dayaratna, Ph.D., of Advancing American Freedom, welcomes the decision that follows challenges from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 22 Republican state attorneys general, and the Trump administration's Department of Justice (DOJ).
"I think it's great that it was struck down because it is a ridiculous policy and it is based on faulty modeling and faulty assumptions," he tells AFN. "These people just deliberately beef up their claims about how disastrous climate change is when they really have no basis for saying so."
Dayaratna argues that affordable and reliable energy remains vital for human flourishing and notes research shows that even if New York were to completely eliminate its carbon emissions, the impact on global temperatures by the end of the century would only be 0.008 degrees Celsius.
"And that is under worst-case scenarios," he says.
Dayaratna has also downplayed California's claims that a new rule for "energy efficient tires" is going to help the environment.
"We have made an effort at Advancing American Freedom to really explain and elucidate the minuscule climate impacts of these policies," he relays.
Climate activists are urging Gov. Hochul to appeal Judge Sannes' landmark decision. A spokesperson for her administration said taxpayers "shouldn't have to foot the bill for damages caused by polluters" and that the administration was reviewing the decision to determine its next steps.
Dayaratna believes the broader climate movement is losing momentum.
