By Matthew Hersh
Students, environmental advocates, and local residents gathered outside Firestone Library at Princeton University on May 6 for a “Rally to Make Polluters Pay” urging New Jersey lawmakers to pass the proposed Climate Superfund Act, legislation that would require major fossil fuel companies to help finance climate damage recovery across the state.
The rally, organized in part by Food & Water Watch, Coalition for Peace Action, and other climate justice groups, was one of several coordinated demonstrations held across New Jersey during a statewide week of action. Supporters say the bill would shift the financial burden of climate adaptation — including flood protection, infrastructure repair, and public health responses — from taxpayers to corporations responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
A series of rallies stretched from Newark, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, and Mount Holly. Among the featured speakers at the Princeton rally was State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, who framed the campaign as part of a broader historical struggle over political and economic power.
“You already know why you’re here. So I’ll tell you why I am,” Zwicker told the crowd. “Because in 1776, we said something radical: that power doesn’t belong to the people who take it. It belongs to the people. And we’ve been fighting for that ever since.”
Standing before a crowd holding signs reading “Polluters Pay,” “Climate Justice Now,” and “Our Future, Not Their Profit,” Zwicker said the Climate Superfund Act is about accountability and public responsibility.
“The fossil fuel industry has spent 50 years telling us we have to choose — energy or air, jobs or water, profit or people,” he said. “They’ve won that argument a thousand times.”
The senator pointed to environmental and economic consequences felt across the state, citing asthma rates in Newark, refinery impacts in Paulsboro, and repeated coastal flooding along the Jersey Shore as examples of communities bearing climate costs.
“Every time we decided, ‘That’s just how it is,’” Zwicker said. “But something changed. You said enough — not in a whisper, not in a petition that goes nowhere. You said it standing up. You said it together.”
The act could raise billions for state climate relief, potentially up to $50 billion over time, according to organizers, with revenue funding New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) grants for projects such as flood protection, infrastructure upgrades, and coastal restoration.
Advocates argue that New Jersey faces mounting climate expenses driven by stronger storms, sea-level rise, and infrastructure strain. Supporters say the proposed law mirrors the principle behind federal Superfund environmental cleanup programs by requiring polluters to contribute to remediation costs.
New York and Vermont have already passed similar legislation. Despite the act’s lack of advancement in Trenton, the Climate Superfund Act has earned considerable support in the legislature, with more than half of New Jersey legislators listed as sponsors or co-sponsors. Opponents, including some industry organizations, have warned the measure could face legal challenges and potentially increase energy costs. Backers of the bill dispute those claims, arguing that failing to act leaves residents paying for damages caused by decades of fossil fuel extraction and emissions.
Zwicker emphasized that sustained public engagement would determine the outcome.
“When people stand up together, that’s when the thing that seemed permanent starts to crack,” he told the crowd. “They don’t know what happens when hundreds of people keep showing up — again and again. That’s power that scares them.”
Student organizers said hosting the rally at Princeton underscored the connection between climate science research and political action. Universities, they argued, play a growing role in mobilizing young voters and shaping public debate around environmental policy.
Zwicker closed on accountability as the rally’s central message.
“Here’s what we’re building: a state where the people who broke the climate pay to fix it. Not working families, not students — the ones who got rich destroying it,” he said. “That’s not radical. That’s justice.”
The demonstration concluded with a march through campus and calls for continued organizing throughout the spring legislative session. Additional rallies and lobbying efforts are expected to advance the Climate Superfund Act before the end of the legislative session, organizers said.
“We choose people over profit,” Zwicker said. “Every time.”