Wyoming Is America's Air Pollution Center

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Based on per capita energy-related carbon dioxide in tons, Wyoming tops the list at 96.6. New York and Califonia are near the bottom of the list at 8.4. Nevertheless, New York has decided to hit fossil fuel companies with extraordinary penalties.

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The New York legislation has a look-back period. “The companies will pay, if it is enacted, $3 billion a year for their activity from 2000 to 2024. Payments by historical polluters into the climate change adaptation cost recovery program would be used for new or upgraded infrastructure needs such as coastal wetlands restoration, stormwater storage system upgrades, energy efficient cooling systems in public and private buildings, including schools and public housing, support for programs addressing climate-driven public health challenges, and responses to extreme weather events, all of which are necessary to protect the public safety and welfare in the face of the growing impacts of climate change,” the legislation says.

The play is not over. The law will certainly be taken to court. And, the count action could take years. A number of attorneys from states across the country could join the action, turning it into the nightmare the tobacco industry faced three decades ago.

Wyoming Pollution, Maybe

But what happens to states with high pollution rates and few people like Wyoming? The answer is a massive windfall, particularly on a per-capita basis. In a state so vast and without major population centers, there are few areas where remediation means much, except for bodies of water or rivers. Public and private buildings, for example, may not have been damaged at all.

What the New York law may be and its relationship to sparsely populated states is complicated. Fossil fuel companies may pay small amounts in states in which they appear to have done a great deal of damage but did not.