Here they go again.
For years, activist groups and trial lawyers have tried to use the courts to impose sweeping climate policy after failing to advance it through Congress. Now, following a string of recent climate losses in court, some lawmakers in deep-blue states are escalating further – moving from litigation and regulatory pressure toward criminal liability for corporate executives and business owners.
A bill recently introduced in New York would allow prosecutors to criminally charge corporate executives for “reckless” conduct tied to climate and environmental risks. At the same time, in Washington state, separate legislation could send farmers and homebuilders to prison for unintentional environmental violations despite maintaining best practices.
Both proposals arrive at a particularly ill-timed moment: voters across the country are focused on the cost of living, and these bills risk driving businesses out of the states, disrupt supply chains, and raise energy prices for families and businesses already under strain.
New York Pushes Criminal Climate Liability – Even as Its Own Agenda Stalls
The New York proposal, introduced by state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, would update the state’s criminal code to allow prosecution of corporate leaders for alleged contributions to climate-related risks.
Supporters say the bill would apply broadly across industries, but advocates backing it have been explicit about its intended target: oil and gas companies and their executives. Their argument, that decades of lawful energy production amounts to reckless conduct, is remarkable on its face.
Public Citizen’s Climate Accountability Project is helping drive the effort, and its leaders have openly discussed expanding criminal theories that treat energy production and emissions as reckless conduct. Activists with the group have even pushed for “climate homicide” prosecutions, a fringe legal concept that would attempt to hold business leaders personally responsible for deaths linked to climate change.
Notably, Rob Weissman, the co-president of Public Citizen, was at the infamous 2016 Rockefeller-hosted meeting in New York City, further underscoring that a decade later, it’s the same activists attacking American energy companies.
The timing makes this push even harder to justify. Gov. Kathy Hochul has signaled openness to revisiting elements of New York’s 2019 climate law, amid growing concerns about energy reliability, business investment, and affordability.
Criminalizing investment decisions, however, could further chill investment and accelerate the very supply constraints driving higher costs.
Washington State Expands Criminal Penalties
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington are advancing a separate but similar effort. SB 5360 would significantly increase criminal penalties for environmental violations, making some offenses punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Agricultural and rural groups have raised serious concerns that the bill could sweep in farmers and ranchers for unintentional violations, such as runoff or manure management. As State Senator Ron Muzzall, a farmer, put it plainly during floor debate this week:
“Things happen. Sometimes the fecal material hits the rotary airfoil, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Environmental criminal liability could also affect construction and homebuilding, where compliance disputes over air and water rules are common, other members of Washington’s Republican Senate caucus argued on the Senate floor.
The bill ultimately passed the body despite bipartisan opposition on Tuesday, and now sits before the State House Environment and Energy Committee.
A Broader Pattern Emerges
These efforts fit into a growing pattern. Over the past decade, activist groups and aligned law firms have systematically tested new legal and legislative theories against energy producers and businesses:
Criminal liability is simply the next frontier in this escalating campaign.
This escalation is occurring even as state leaders confront the real-world consequences of supply constraints. In California, for example, refinery closures resulting in fuel imports from the Bahamas have forced lawmakers to confront how attacks on energy producers affect affordability and reliability.
Yet in New York and Washington, lawmakers appear poised to double down.
BOTTOM LINE: Americans are already paying more for energy, food, and housing. Proposals that threaten jail time for business decisions are the last thing that’s need to address high costs.
If history is any guide, these bills will only drive businesses from their respective states, and result in higher bills for working people.
