The Vermont Senate on Tuesday passed a first-of-its-kind bill designed to make big oil companies pay for the damage caused by climate change and the costs of adapting to it.
The Climate Superfund Act,
S.259, passed by a 26-3 vote, and now heads to the House, where it is expected to enjoy similarly strong support.
At a press conference at the Statehouse on Tuesday, Sen. Dick Sears (D- Bennington) acknowledged that it could be years before the state sees any payouts, even if it successfully defends the law from anticipated litigation by Big Oil.
But he said making corporations pay for the environmental damage their products cause is legally sound. Sears compared it to the state forcing the makers of toxic PFAS chemicals to reimburse the state and homeowners over contaminated water.
Vermonter taxpayers are currently shouldering climate change costs, he noted.
“Where else does the victim pay for something that has happened to them?” Sears said.
S.259 would create a fund to be managed by the state treasurer. A study would determine the amount of fossil fuels sold in the state by major oil companies from January 1, 1995, through 2024. Only companies that sold enough fuel to create more than one billion tons of carbon emissions over that period would be liable.
The treasurer would send the companies a demand for payment. If and when those payments are received, the money could be used only to mitigate climate damage, by buying out flooded homes, upgrading public infrastructure or hardening the electrical grid against damage.
Republican opposition to the bill appeared to erode over time.
On Friday, Sen. Randy Brock (R-Franklin) voted against the bill after expressing concern about the cost. Vermont taking on multinational corporations such as ExxonMobil, which Brock noted has annual sales of $344 billion, would be like a “mosquito compared to a giant.”
“We might win, but the cost of doing so alone is huge,” Brock said. He said he wished other, bigger states were on board to shoulder the cost.
On Tuesday, Brock voted to support the bill. Gov. Phil Scott has also expressed concern about the cost but has not said if he'll sign the bill.
click to enlarge - Kevin McCallum ©️ Seven Days
- A climate rally in Burlington last July
The bill was one of the highest priorities this legislative session for environmental organizations such as the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which held a “Make Big Oil Pay”
rally in Burlington last June that featured a huge pink blow-up pig.
“The climate crisis is going to be impacting Vermont for a very long time, and there's no way we'll see a dime from these companies unless we take an action like this, " said Ben Edgerly Walsh, VPIRG’s climate and energy program director.
The bill enjoyed the support of professors at Vermont Law & Graduate School and Yale Law School, who said it could serve as a worldwide model and vowed to help defend it in court.
“The bill is, in our view, enormously important for Vermont and, indeed, for the world,” they said in written testimony to a Senate committee.
The bill was one of several climate-related pieces of legislation senators passed in recent days. Others include
S.213, the Flood Safety Act, which would change the way development in flood corridors is permitted and the way dams are regulated, and
S.310, which attempts to improve the state's response to emergencies.