by Paul Burns, Executive Director, VPIRG
Between the devastating floods, the bad air quality, the negative health effects, and the infrastructure damage, climate change is costing Vermonters billions. That much is certain. The only question is, who pays the bill?
And there are really only three possible answers: 1) the individual victims, 2) taxpayers, or 3) the fossil fuel companies that caused much of the damage in the first place.
As you know, last year Vermont passed a new law to finally hold Big Oil accountable. The Climate Superfund (Act 122) requires payments from the biggest oil companies operating in the state to help cover the costs of, among other priorities, the roads, bridges, and water systems that have been damaged by increased rainfall and floods.
If Big Oil doesn't pay for these costs, you will.
But, to no one’s surprise, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are now suing Vermont to stop us from implementing the new law. Instead of taking responsibility, they’re adding insult to injury.
The core of their argument is that the State of Vermont does not have the right to hold climate polluters financially responsible for the harm that their products have caused.
Here’s the thing, though: their concerns were thoroughly vetted by the legislature last winter. I’m sharing below links to testimony from the Attorney General’s Office, legal experts, practicing attorneys, and VPIRG’s own Ben Edgerly Walsh. Together, they and others have already addressed the legal issues API and the Chamber of Commerce are raising in their suit.
We’re confident that this law was carefully crafted to withstand a legal challenge from Big Oil or anyone else.
The fact is, the fossil fuel industry cares about its profits above all else. These companies would much rather hire a bunch of lawyers to try to escape legal liability than to take one bit of responsibility for the damage they’ve caused to Vermont homeowners, farmers, businesses, and taxpayers.
So, Vermont will be seeing Big Oil in court soon. The lawsuit has been filed in federal court and VPIRG will be providing updates as the case works its way through the process.
We’ll also be doing everything we can to protect Vermont taxpayers from having to pay all of the costs of climate change. That means helping to implement and defend the law, because Big Oil needs to pay its fair share, too.
P.S. The API/Chamber suit isn’t the only case in the news recently. There is also the Attorney General’s consumer fraud suit against several major oil companies. Attorney General Charity Clark scored a big win in that case last month when a judge rejected the oil companies’ request to dismiss the case.
These cases are different from a legal perspective, but they share the fundamental goal of protecting Vermonters from Big Oil’s actions and impacts.
Resources/Testimony on Vermont’s right to hold polluters accountable:
Office of the Attorney General, Memo: Re: S. 259 - An act relating to climate change cost recovery
Rachel Rothschild, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Law School, Memo: RE: State Polluter Pays Climate Superfund Program
Anthony Iarrapino, Esq., Testimony on behalf of Conservation Law Foundation
Jon Groveman, Policy and Water Program Director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Testimony
Ben Edgerly Walsh, VPIRG Climate & Energy Program Director. Testimony
Vermont Public Interest Research Group