Climate superfunds in N.Y., Vermont will harm consumers even if courts nix them, experts say

Ian Banks, research fellow for C3 Solutions, explained that the term “superfunds” have historically referred to specific, discrete polluted sites. The costs of cleaning up those sites are borne by the parties responsible for creating those sites. 

Climate change, on the other hand, he explained, has no specific, discrete site. It’s a global phenomenon. We all emit greenhouse gases in the course of our daily lives, and attributing those emissions to extreme weather events is full of uncertainty. So, trying to assess the responsibility for climate change, Banks said, is a very difficult process.
 
“One state, attempting to take action to mitigate or remediate the effects of climate change on their state by exacting fees and costs onto companies, in many ways, is just a carbon tax by another name,” he said.