After a federal judge struck down New York’s Climate Superfund law, which would have generated $75 billion to help local governments cover climate mitigation costs, lobbying accountability group F Minus called on local governments in the state to cut ties with lobbying firms that also work for fossil fuel clients, and adopt policies of not working with such firms in the future.
A report(opens in new tab) released last week by F Minus and Make Polluters Pay found that more than 200 Congressional lobbying firms are working simultaneously for fossil fuel clients and local governments facing rising climate costs. The American Petroleum Institute–a lead plaintiff in the US Chamber of Commerce vs. James case threatening NY’s Superfund law–shares the firm Greenberg Traurig with the city of Rochester and Westchester County, both of which could receive tens of millions in climate mitigation funds under the law.
The report also found that the city of Buffalo and the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority share the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld with ExxonMobil. The city of New Rochelle and Livingston County share The Ferguson Group with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shares the firm K&L Gates with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), which supports the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act (S.4340), which would strip states of much of their authority to hold major greenhouse gas emitters financially responsible for the climate crisis. Greenberg Traurig also lobbies on behalf of AFPM in New York.
At the state level, 42 local governments and government agencies in New York share lobbying firms with fossil fuel companies, according to F Minus data(opens in new tab) from 2025. The cities of Yonkers and Niagara Falls share the firm Bolton-St. Johns with National Fuel Gas, which led the opposition to a 2024 bill, the NY HEAT Act, that would have ended subsidies for new gas-hook ups. The Association of Towns of the State of New York and eight other local governments share the firm Brown & Weinraub with 13 fossil fuel clients including the Koch Companies, which are lobbying in support of the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act. The counties of Lewis, Madison, and Orleans share Park Strategies with Enbridge, the largest operator of fossil fuel pipelines in North America.
“Lobbyists for the oil and gas companies who want to crush New York’s climate law also work for climate-stricken local governments who’d benefit from the law,” said James Browning, Executive Director for F Minus. “It’s time for these local governments to disrupt this dangerous dynamic by cutting ties with fossil fuel lobbying firms.”
“The fossil fuel industry would like nothing more than for one district court ruling in New York to scare lawmakers across the country into backing down, but this decision doesn’t bind other states or stop them from passing their own laws. New York should fight this ruling, and every other state should keep moving until we make polluters pay their fair share,” said Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director for Make Polluters Pay. “If allowed to stand, some of the richest corporations in history get to walk away from $75 billion they owe New Yorkers. The floods will still come, roads will still wash out, and communities will still need billions to protect themselves. Those costs don’t disappear just because fossil fuel companies don’t want to pay them.”