1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

The Monmouth County Commissioners are considering a resolution to oppose the Polluters Pay to Make NJ More Affordable Act (Formerly known as the NJ Climate Superfund Act). Please start your public comment by briefly introducing yourself, including any organizations you’re a member of, and how you, your family and neighbors have been harmed by climate change and extreme weather like during Hurricane Sandy. Here are additional talking points to include in your comments. There is no red or blue flood, and rising costs are already falling on residents. Flooding, extreme heat or beach erosion, and severe storms are increasing in frequency and cost. New Jersey families and businesses have already borne more than $109 billion in climate-related damages through higher property taxes, utility bills, insurance premiums, and emergency repairs. The core question for Monmouth County is straightforward: Should residents continue paying 100 percent of these costs during an affordability crisis, or should the corporations whose emissions contributed to the damage pay their fair share? What the Act does. The Polluters Pay to Make NJ More Affordable Act shifts unavoidable climate-damage costs away from families and onto responsible parties. Fewer than 82 of the world’s largest fossil-fuel extraction companies would contribute $50 billion over 20 years for emissions produced between 1995 and 2024. The Act would provide approximately $2.5 billion annually to fund projects taxpayers currently finance in full — repairing damaged roads, protecting water and sewer infrastructure, strengthening the electric grid, and upgrading schools and hospitals — while supporting an estimated 18,000 jobs per year. How this legislation benefits Monmouth County taxpayers We need to bring real money back into our communities to fix what’s broken and to prepare for the storms ahead. Our communities need funding for disaster relief, health care, and rebuilding without putting the burden back on everyday people. The NJ Climate Superfund Act is urgently needed to shift these costs off of New Jersey taxpayers and onto the corporate polluters responsible for the climate crisis. ■ Earlier this year, the Federal Government slashed more than 12.5 million in previously approved funding for critical infrastructure to protect public safety in Monmouth county: ● 3.35 million for an Army Corps of Engineers coastal storm risk management project covering Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet, Sea Bright to Manasquan ● 2 million for a Housing and Urban Development project for flood mitigation in Eatontown ● 5.9 million for FEMA’s Shadow Lake Storm water management and hazard mitigation project in Middletown ● 1.25 million for a Housing and Urban Development project for improvements to address persistent flooding of Lake Albert in Neptune TownshipStop The Polluters Scam The Monmouth County Commissioners resolution comes amidst an ongoing polluters scam where Big Oil lobbyists are attempting to deceive New Jersey residents, businesses and elected officials with a misinformation campaign that claims the bill would result in "across-the-board higher prices for all New Jerseyans" . In reality, The Polluters Pay to Make NJ More Affordable Act will shift unavoidable climate-damage costs away from families and businesses and onto responsible parties, making New Jersey more affordable and more resilient to extreme weather. Claims about consumer price impacts are not supported by evidence. Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), enforced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, this assessment would be treated as a retrospective liability for past conduct, not a forward operating expense added to gasoline or utility prices. It would be recorded on corporate balance sheets, reducing profits and shareholder value. When BP paid more than $65 billion for the Gulf oil spill, gasoline prices did not increase. For decades, New Jersey has imposed strict liability for hazardous-waste contamination under the Spill Act and Superfund enforcement, shifting cleanup costs from taxpayers to polluters without evidence of price increases at the pump. Similar natural-resource-damage recoveries and PFAS settlements follow this same principle. Oil and gasoline prices are set by global supply and demand, not by company-specific legal liabilities in one state. Even if a company attempted to raise prices, New Jersey’s highly competitive gasoline market — dominated by independently owned stations and suppliers not covered by the bill — would prevent it. In court filings, New York has stated that similar assessments must be absorbed by fossil-fuel companies from profits, without increasing consumer prices or affecting supply. Nine leading economists — including a Nobel laureate and a former World Bank chief economist — have reached the same conclusion. Closing Monmouth County Commissioners face a clear choice: stand with residents and businesses who are paying the full cost of climate damage, or continue allowing those costs to be shifted entirely onto local taxpayers. We need common sense solutions to address the real affordability crisis too many Monmouth County and New Jersey residents are facing. Five counties and a bi-partisan set of over 70 municipalities from across the state have adopted resolutions