The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an oil group are suing Vermont over a law requiring companies to pay for climate change damages
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The US Chamber of Commerce and the oil and gas industry’s leading trade group filed the application lawsuit against Vermont because of a new law that requires fossil fuel companies to pay for part of the damage caused by climate change.
The federal lawsuit, which was filed Monday, is asking a state court to block the state from enforcing a law lawmakers passed last year, according to The Associated Press. The state said it has been working on estimating the cost of climate change since 1995.
Vermont became the first state in the country to pass such a law after suffering catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather conditions, the paper noted.
Chamber and American Petroleum Institute argue in a lawsuitt that the U.S. Constitution precludes the act and that state law takes precedence over the federal Clean Air Act, The Associated Press reported. The lawsuit also says the law violates the domestic and foreign commerce clauses by discriminating against “important interests of other states by targeting large energy companies located outside of Vermont.”
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Flooding in downtown Montpelier, Vermont on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Getty Images)
Prosecutors say the federal government is already reaching out climate changethe report states. The plaintiffs add that because greenhouse gases come from billions of individual sources, it is impossible to measure “precisely and fairly” the impact of emissions from a particular entity at a particular location over multiple decades.
“Vermont wants to impose large retroactive penalties going back 30 years for lawful out-of-state conduct regulated by Congress under the Clean Air Act,” said Tara Morrissey, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of the Chamber’s Litigation Center. , the report states. “It is illegal and violates the fabric of the US Constitution – one state cannot attempt to regulate a global issue that is best left to the federal government. Vermont’s penalties will ultimately increase costs for consumers in Vermont and across the country.”
A man watches as heavy rain sends mud and debris down Vermont’s Ottauquechee River. (Getty Images)
The law requires Vermont’s state treasurer, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, to issue a report by January 15, 2026, on the total cost to the state and its residents of greenhouse gas emissions from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2024. The review would examine the effects of greenhouse gases on a variety of areas, including public health, natural resources, agriculture, economic development, and housing.
The state would use federal data to determine whether the amount of greenhouse gas emissions covered could be linked to a fossil fuel company.
A portion of the funds collected from the companies could be used by the state for things like improving stormwater drainage systems, modernizing roads and bridges, erecting or retrofitting wastewater treatment plants, and energy-efficient weatherization upgrades to public and private buildings.
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The aftermath of a flash flood on Red Village Road in Vermont. (Getty Images)
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The Vermont law has drawn interest from other states, including New York, where a similar bill was signed into law last month.
New York’s law requires companies responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions to pay into the state’s fund for infrastructure projects to repair or prevent future damage from climate change, and the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases between 2000 and 2018 would face fines.
