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As Vermont Defends Its Law to Make Fossil Fuel Firms Pay for Climate Adaptation, the Bill Is Already Coming Due
The courts will decide if the first “climate superfund” law in the nation survives, a likely years-long battle. Vermont towns, meanwhile, must figure out how to pay for infrastructure that extreme weather won’t destroy.
By Dana Drugmand, Nathaniel Eisen
RUTLAND, Vt.—Eighteen years after the first “climate tort” lawsuit was filed, no U.S. plaintiff has collected damages for the harms of global warming. Now, Vermont’s different legal strategy to make fossil fuel companies pay is facing its first real test.