11.05.2024

Vermont wants big oil companies to pay for climate damage

The US state of Vermont is ready to adopt an innovative measure that will force big polluting companies to participate in paying for the damages caused by the climate crisis, reports Guardian. The situation is being closely monitored by other states, including New York and California.

The new regulation is modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program, which forces companies to pay to clean up toxic waste. Vermont's Climate Superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies operating in the state billions of dollars for their past emissions.

The measure would make Vermont the first US state to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for polluting the planet.

"If you contributed to the mess, you should be involved in the cleanup," said Elena Mihali, vice president of the Vermont chapter of the Conservation Law Foundation, which campaigned for the bill.

Role model

If passed, the bill would face an uphill battle in the courts. But supporters say the first-of-its-kind legislation could be a model for the rest of the country.

Four other states are considering similar initiatives. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland also tried to include a federal version in the 2022 infrastructure bill, though it was left out of the final draft. The measure would have raised $500 billion.

Advocates of the Vermont bill scored a major victory last week when the state House of Representatives advanced the measure by a preliminary vote of 100-33 — enough support to overcome a potential veto by Republican Gov. Phil Scott. At the beginning of this week, the bill was passed by the House with 94-38 votes.

Next week, it will be put to a final vote in the Senate, where it received preliminary approval by a 26-3 vote last month. It will then head to Governor Scott's desk for final approval; if he takes it down, supporters are confident they have the votes to override the veto.

“Climate impacts are increasing everywhere, and they come with a price. Of course we're going to see efforts to force the companies responsible for the disasters to pick up the tab," said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, which campaigns for climate superfund legislation in the US.

Legal challenges

If Vermont's bill becomes law, lobbyists protecting the interests of the fossil fuel industry are expected to challenge it in state courts.

“We are a gnat compared to a giant. ExxonMobil alone has annual sales of $344,6 billion, and Vermont has an annual budget of about $8,5 billion,” said Vermont Sen. Randy Brock, a Republican who voted against the bill.

Gov. Scott has not said whether or not he will veto the measure. But he expressed concern about the state being saddled with high legal costs.

The American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. oil and gas lobby group, sent a letter to the Vermont Senate opposing the bill, saying it "retroactively imposes costs and liability on past activities that were legal and violates the right to equal protection and due process.”