" Bill that would make Vermont the first state to have a 'Climate Superfund' takes a key step forward
The #ClimateSuperfund Act directs the state treasurer to work with climate scientists to catalog the damage Vermont has seen due to #ClimateChange between 1995 and 2024 — and what it will cost to adapt to a warmer future with more volatile weather.
If the bill becomes law, #Vermont could start to seek damages in 2027."
WOW.
"The state Senate is expected to give final approval this week to the proposal, which would create a program that fossil fuel companies would pay into for #ClimateChange adaption projects in Vermont. It will then be considered in the House.
Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures, but #Vermont’s bill is moving quicker through the Legislature. "
"#Vermont’s measure would task the state treasurer with calculating the costs of needed #climate adaptation work, as well as the damage inflicted by previous disasters such as last summer’s devastating floods.
The program would collect money from companies that emitted more than 1 billion tons of CO2 around the world from 1995 to today. Those companies with business activity in Vermont would be charged according to their percentage of global #emissions."
It passed the #Vermont House.
"The legislation — the first of its kind in the U.S. — would require companies with high emissions to help pay for destruction caused by climate-fueled extreme weather.
The law passed with just three no votes in Vermont’s state Senate in early April, followed by approval in the state House on Monday. The Senate will deliver a final vote later this week before the bill heads to Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s desk."
But will Vermont's Republican governor sign it?
" 3 of the session’s largest climate bills face opposition from Phil Scott administration
The administration has expressed concerns with S.213, a bill that would establish a new state permitting system for building in river corridors, S.259, a bill that require big oil companies to pay for damages from climate change in #Vermont and H.289, a bill that would update the state’s #RenewableEnergy standard. "
At least the Rnewable Energy Standard is veto-proof" it requires 100% renewable electricity across all the state’s utilities by 2035
"H.289 was passed in both the State House and Senate today with veto-proof majorities. If Governor Phil Scott (R-VT) vetoes it, then it is expected to be overturned when the state legislature reconvenes in June for its veto override session. The bill has broad support from utilities and renewable developers."
https://electrek.co/2024/05/07/vermont-just-passed-a-100-renewable-electricity-mandate/
#Vermont
"The #Vermont bill doesn’t outline the total amount it would seek from polluting companies.
Instead, it calls for the state treasurer to account for the costs Vermont has incurred because of #emissions from 1995 through 2024 — including future costs from those past emissions. That includes impacts from floods and heat waves, along with losses to biodiversity, safety, economic development and anything else the treasurer deems reasonable."
"This law doesn’t depend on proof of deception, or false advertising, or the campaign to sow doubt about #ClimateChange that the companies are accused of in over 30 lawsuits across the country. The companies are liable by virtue of what they do. It’s not that they’ve committed anything wrong, necessarily—”#PolluterPays” is the concept here.
The fact that your product creates carbon pollution, which is driving climate change, that’s enough to make you liable."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25052024/vermont-superfund-fossil-fuel-climate-impact-liability/
IT'S A LAW
"#Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring #FossilFuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by #ClimateChange.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature late Thursday, saying he is very concerned about the costs and outcome of the small state taking on “Big Oil” alone in what will likely be a grueling legal fight. "
Next: New York.
"After a swell of grassroots pressure, the #NewYork State Assembly passed the #ClimateChangeSuperfund Act by a vote of 95-46, to make fossil fuel polluters pay for costs associated with climate change, including climate resiliency projects. The Senate passed the bill in May; it now requires Governor Hochul’s signature to become law."
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2024/06/08/ny-assembly-passes-climate-change-superfund-act/
New York is still waiting for Gov. Hochul to sign this law.
"According to a poll from Data for Progress, a whopping 89% of New Yorkers support fossil fuel companies covering at least some of the cost for climate damages. Another poll found that 70% of #NewYork voters support the #ClimateChangeSuperfundAct, including majorities across party lines."
"Given the scope of climate disasters, the stakes of a second Trump presidency and independent economic assessments projecting little to no impact on the state’s economy, Weltman felt his governor’s mind should already be made up on the legislation. “Hochul has only one choice: side with #NewYork taxpayers or the fossil fuel industry,” he said.
“I can’t fathom why she wouldn’t side with us.” "
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24112024/new-york-climate-change-superfund-act/
#ClimateChangeSuperfundAct
Hochul signed
"Under the new state law, companies responsible for the bulk of emissions from 2000 to 2018 will be on the hook for some $3 billion a year over the next 25 years.
Hochul’s signature makes #NewYork the second state with such a law, following Vermont, but the Empire State is far larger, more populous and a major center of American and international financial power."
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5056675-hochul-new-york-climate-change/
#superfund
Big oil pushed to kill bill that would have made them pay for wildfire disasters
"The legislation, called the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act of 2024, has new life in the wake of the Los Angeles catastrophe, its supporters say, but the industry is already mobilizing."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/15/polluter-pay-bill-climate-disasters
#California #PolluterPays
"A California state senator said Monday that he wants to give homeowners and insurers the ability to sue oil and gas companies when a disaster caused by #ClimateChange damages their property.
Senate Bill 222 also would provide #insurers with a direct cause of action against oil and gas companies. They could recover losses resulting from climate impacts and rising costs looming over the insurance market and the state’s FAIR Plan."
22 GOP CONTROLLED states sue New York, alleging environmental fund is unconstitutional, amirite
"Besides West Virginia, the states joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming."
https://apnews.com/article/climate-superfund-lawsuit-new-york-3da22703ba7c00c0a5eed1f3a4dfa492
"A bill that would require major oil companies to pay fees to cover #climate damages based on their past emissions was reintroduced in California on Friday.
#California state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D) and Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D) introduced the “Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act” in both houses of the Legislature."
