President-elect Donald Trump made domestic drilling a key part of his campaign platform and repeatedly pledged to make America "energy dominant."

However, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill that will make Trump's promise harder to fulfil. 

Tax will hit companies for carbon emissions

According to The Hill, Hochul signed legislation on Thursday that targeted those companies that produced the largest share of carbon emissions between 2000 and 2018.

Under the bill's provisions, those corporations will have to pay out an estimated $3 billion over the course of 25 years.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signs law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for natural disaster cleanup https://t.co/88YCd3HjM3

— The Hill (@thehill) December 27, 2024

The law is modeled after the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980.

Lawmaker faults companies for "creating the climate crisis"

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that it "created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment."

Those funds are deposited into the Superfund and are used to pay for clean-up efforts at pollution sites where the responsible party cannot be identified.

The law was co-sponsored by New York Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger, who lauded it as being a "shot that will be heard 'round the world.'"

"Too often over the last decade, courts have dismissed lawsuits against the oil and gas industry by saying that the issue of climate culpability should be decided by legislatures," Krueger was quoted as saying in a statement.

"Well, the Legislature of the State of New York — the 10th largest economy in the world — has accepted the invitation, and I hope we have made ourselves very clear: the planet’s largest climate polluters bear a unique responsibility for creating the climate crisis, and they must pay their fair share to help regular New Yorkers deal with the consequences," she added.

Oil association warns of "punitive new fee on American energy"

Hochul spoke up with a statement of her own in which she linked carbon emissions to climate change and natural disasters.

"Establishing the Climate Superfund is the latest example of my administration taking action to hold polluters responsible for the damage done to our environment and requiring major investments in infrastructure and other projects critical to protecting our communities and economy," she said.

For its part, the American Petroleum Institute (API) denounced the legislation in an email sent to The Hill, saying, "This type of legislation represents nothing more than a punitive new fee on American energy, and we are evaluating our options moving forward."