Vermont passes bill to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

May 7, 2024, 4:53 PM EDT


Vermont lawmakers passed a bill this week that is designed to make big fossil fuel companies pay for damage from weather disasters fueled by climate change.

The legislation is modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s superfund program, which requires the companies responsible for environmental contamination to either clean sites up themselves or reimburse the government for the costs of work to do so.

Vermont’s bill, referred to as its Climate Superfund Act, would similarly mandate that big oil companies and others with high emissions pay for damage caused by global warming.

The amounts owed would be determined based on calculations of the degree to which climate change contributed to extreme weather in Vermont, and how much money those weather disasters cost the state. From there, companies’ shares of the total would depend on how many metric tons of carbon dioxide each released into the atmosphere from 2000 to 2019.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/vermont-climate-superfund-bill-charge-companies-weather-damages-rcna150243

[elleng]

1. 'The amounts owed would be determined based on calculations of the degree to which

climate change contributed to extreme weather in Vermont, and how much money those weather disasters cost the state.'

[Think. Again.]

2. This is EXCELLENT news!...

...hopefully this bill can act as a precedent for other states to begin holding the fossil fuel industry responsible for the damage it is causing.

[Mr. Sparkle]

3. They have been posting lavish profits for decades; Make them pay for their pollution.

Thank you Vermont !

[ariadne0614]

4. Kudos to Vermont. Corporations have been externalizing the cost of their harmful practices for decades.

They reap the profits, and taxpayers pay for cleaning up the mess.

[2naSalit]

5. They've done it...

For their entire existence.

[Aussie105]

6. Unfortunately. . .

no amount of money will undo the pollution and climate change that is happening currently.

There are some problems that money can't fix.

[PatrickforB]

7. If more states do this, two things will happen.

Millions of good jobs will be created as we move toward a clean economy and lower carbon footprint.

Fossil fuels will rise because the climate costs are now baked in, which will stimulate efforts to clean up the damage.

My point is that while it will result in steep price hikes for gasoline, which will hurt people living on Main Street, the overall effect should have some real benefit.