Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather.He said in his message to lawmakers that he is “deeply concerned about both short and long-term costs and outcomes”, and if the state fails in this legal challenge “it will set precedent and hamper other states’ ability to recover damages”.
It is a polluter-pays model affecting companies engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil attributable to more than one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the time period. “Finally, maybe for the first time anywhere, Vermont is going to hold the companies most responsible for climate-driven floods, fires and heatwaves financially accountable for a fair share of the damages they’ve caused.”
Vermont legislators know that the law will face legal challenges, and the governor has voiced worries about costs to the small state.
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