The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trade group representing some of the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world have sued the state of Vermont in federal court over the state’s landmark Climate Superfund law.The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges Vermont’s law is an overreach of state jurisdiction. It also casts aspersions about whether a small state like Vermont can accurately use “climate attribution science” — the discipline that aims to quantify how climate change makes natural disasters worse, and what the cost is — a practice most climate scientists say is credible and borne out by the data and by peer reviewed research.“One state can’t try to regulate a global issue best left to the federal government,” said Tara Morrissey, chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Litigation Center in a statement.Morrissey called Vermont’s law unconstitutional, adding, “The Chamber and its partners will continue to fight back against excessive overreach by the states that want to usurp the role of federal regulators.”More from Vermont Public: Vermont just became the first state to try to make big oil pay for climate damagesThe American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for the fossil fuel industry, and co-plaintiff in the case, declined to comment, referring Vermont Public to the Chamber of Commerce.Vermont’s Attorney General’s Office said as of Friday, Jan. 3, they had not been served with the lawsuit and therefore declined to comment.The suit comes just days after New York State passed its own version of a Climate Superfund law, adding legal significance to the action, as it could set precedent for the future of similar laws in other states. Massachusetts, California and Maryland are weighing similar legislation.Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act is modeled after the federal Superfund program and empowers the state attorney general to pursue payment from major fossil fuel companies for a share of what climate change has cost Vermont since the mid-1990s, in proportion to how much their products contributed to global climate change.The policy does not target businesses that distribute fossil fuels, like fuel dealers or gas stations, but rather pursues some of the biggest companies in the world.If Vermont is successful, the state will use those funds to help its residents recover from climate fueled disasters like flooding, and to finance adaptation projects at scale. Buyouts, culvert upgrades and floodplain restorations are all examples of things the money could fund.More from Vermont Edition: A deep dive on Vermont’s Climate Superfund billBut the fossil fuel industry and Chamber of Commerce allege the Vermont law is unfair and violates federal law.Legal scholars say they’re not surprised to see the law challenged by litigation, but they are surprised to see a suit so early.Vermont still has to undergo a process to tally its damages from climate change, and to figure out what size bills to send individual companies, deta
Lun. Gen 6th, 2025
