Democrats have been threatening the country with this for some time now and they obviously weren't just bluffing. Having already blown massive amounts of imaginary money and enacted all manner of devastating policies at the federal level in the name of climate change, they are bringing the battle to the states and launching an assault on the private sector. The opening volley in this latest front in the war took place in Vermont last week. A new law will allow the state to force fossil fuel companies to pay "a share" of the "damage" caused to the state by fossil fuels. The bill was allowed to become law without the signature of Republican Governor Phil Scott, who declined to veto the measure. If they are allowed to get away with this, you can rest assured that the same type of assault will be coming to a state near you before long. (Associated Press)
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.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature late Thursday.
He wrote in his message to lawmakers that “taking on ‘Big Oil’ should not be taken lightly” and that he is concerned about the costs and outcomes. He said he worries that if the state fails in this legal challenge “it will set precedent and hamper other states’ ability to recover damages.”
Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures.
I probably should have put the word Republican in scare quotes above when referring to Governor Scott. He could have vetoed that bill and it's obvious that he knew he should have. Instead, all he did was issue vague warnings about the dangers of "taking on Big Oil." He's also aware that the law will be challenged as soon as the state tries to bill any of these companies and the state is likely to lose. So he warned the legislators how such a loss might "set precedent and hamper other states" that try to pull off the same shenanigans.
So how would this process work? By 2026, the State Treasurer, working with the Agency of Natural Resources, will sum up the "total cost to Vermonters" of impacts caused by greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1995. They are tasked with examining public health effects, natural resources, housing (?!), and other areas. Those two offices will then calculate the cost of all of the damage caused by each fossil fuel company and send them a bill.
First of all, what sort of formula will be used to calculate all of this "damage" and how much of it was directly caused by carbon emissions? That's a very amorphous area of science and coming up with precise answers would obviously be impossible. Secondly, these emissions are measured and closely regulated in Vermont along with every other state in the nation. Provided they didn't exceed those limits, they have broken no laws, yet you think you can simply hand them a massive penalty anyway?
Finally, the distribution of the supposed emissions would date back to 1995, long before anyone was talking about regulating such things. How will Vermont justify penalizing a company for doing something for three decades that the state knowingly allowed them to do? The first companies hit with any such charges should immediately take the state to court and sue them. If there is any justice left in the system, this case should blow up like a frozen burrito left in the microwave for an hour on the high power setting.
If Vermont is allowed to get away with this, they will be coming after every person or company that drove a pick into a seam of coal or captured a cubic centimeter of natural gas over the past half of a century or more. They are drooling over the idea of doing it. They weren't able to regulate the fossil fuel industry out of existence legislatively, so they will just drain their bank accounts until the companies collapse under their own weight. This simply cannot be allowed.
