Why this small state is picking a fight with Big Oil

A small tractor clears water from a business as floodwaters block a street in Barre, Vt. on July 12, 2023. the overwhelming task of steeling itself for the next climate disaster.

The Vermont law comes as oil and gas companies face dozens of climate lawsuits, both in the United States and abroad. While only a— and they are on appeal — they pose a growing threat and add to the companies’ potential liabilities. If Vermont’s novel approach endures, it could reverberate across the industry.

The timing of the Vermont law was no accident, said Ben Edgerly Walsh, the climate and energy program director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Memories of, which inundated the state capitol of Montpelier, damaged thousands of homes and trapped people in small mountain towns, are still fresh.“When we brought this idea to legislators, they came to it with a very open mind in a way that may have taken more time, more convincing, in another year,” Edgerly Walsh said.

Ultimately, the governor allowed the law to go into effect without his signature, saying he understood “the desire to seek funding to mitigate the effects of climate change that has hurt our state in so many ways.”The oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute, has said that states don’t have the power to regulate carbon pollution and can’t retroactively charge companies for emissions allowed under the law.

Supporters and environmentalists involved in drafting the law said they believed they had created a legally defensible way to recover damages from polluters by modeling it after the Superfund law, which has been repeatedly upheld in court. Several legal experts said the state had also taken a more conservative approach than others by requiring a study before assessing companies’ liability, ensuring the fines levied against them are proportional to the amount of damage caused by their products.

Nigeria Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Nigeria Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Vermont becomes 1st state to require oil companies pay for damage from climate changeVermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Vermont becomes 1st state to require oil companies pay for damage from climate changeVermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather. Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature late Thursday.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »