Vermont’s Climate Superfund: A New Era of Accountability

Earlier this year, Vermont made history by passing the Climate Superfund Act, marking a new era in holding the world’s largest polluters financially accountable. For the first time, fossil fuel corporations, including Big Oil, will be required to pay for the damage their carbon pollution has inflicted on our climate. The Act will assess the cost of climate impacts on Vermont and issue cost recovery demands proportional to each corporation’s contribution to the crisis.

Join Johanna Miller, Energy and Climate Program Director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, and Ben Edgerly Walsh of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group as they explain how this groundbreaking law works and the tangible benefits it will bring to Vermont as the state adapts to more frequent and severe climate impacts like flooding and extreme temperatures. Similar legislation is awaiting Gov Hochul’s signature in New York, and bills have also been introduced in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and most recently in Congress. Could this legislation serve as a model for the rest of the country?