I mentioned back in early April that Vermont was looking to do this. Now, they have. And more
Vermont passes bill to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change
Vermont lawmakers passed a bill this week that is designed to make big fossil fuel companies pay for damage from weather disasters fueled by climate change.
The legislation is modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s superfund program, which requires the companies responsible for environmental contamination to either clean sites up themselves or reimburse the government for the costs of work to do so.
Vermont’s bill, referred to as its Climate Superfund Act, would similarly mandate that big oil companies and others with high emissions pay for damage caused by global warming.
The amounts owed would be determined based on calculations of the degree to which climate change contributed to extreme weather in Vermont, and how much money those weather disasters cost the state. From there, companies’ shares of the total would depend on how many metric tons of carbon dioxide each released into the atmosphere from 2000 to 2019.
Even if Vermont’s Republican governor vetoes it, there are enough votes to override. Notice that they are not just going after fossil fuels companies, but, any company with “high emissions.” They really haven’t determined which ones yet, though, so, what will companies who think they might get bills from the government do? That’s right, leave, taking their jobs and revenue with them.
What happens if the fossil fuels companies decide to leave? How does the government itself operate without fossil fuels? How do many heat their homes? Get to work? Operate their boats? Do visitors want to deal with high costs, or, just go elsewhere? How do truck bring goods in if there are no gas stations? How do planes get fuels? And, even if the companies stick around, they’ll just pass the higher costs on to consumers.
The bill hinges on the ability to assess how much damage in Vermont has been caused by climate change — an accounting that would rely on a line of research known as attribution science. Over the last 20 years, researchers have honed their ability to confidently model the degree to which human influence has contributed to the severity and frequency of extreme weather.
So, junk science.
State Sen. Russ Ingalls, a Republican, said he cast one of the three “nay” votes because he anticipates the law would trigger major litigation and thinks the money the state would have to spend in those legal battles could be put to better use.
“A decision was made to go to war with corporations that probably have as many attorneys as we do citizens,” he said. “We will be squashed like a bug.”
The American Petroleum Institute, one of the major lobbies for the interests of oil and natural gas companies, sent a letter to the state Senate opposing the bill, saying it “violates equal protection and due process rights by holding companies responsible for the actions of society at large.”
Lawsuits will be coming hard and fast. And, if the fossil fuels companies had any cajones, they would refuse to operate in Vermont until the lawsuits are resolved. Or, at least refusing to provide their goods to the state government.
Read: Vermont Passes Law Requiring Fossil Fuel Companies To Pay For Climate Doom »
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