Flood damaged merchandise outside a business in Montpelier, Vermont. Photo by Shutterstock
May 1, 2025 (Montpelier, VT) – The U.S. Department of Justice sued Vermont challenging the state’s first-in-the-nation Climate Superfund law. The law is meant to protect the wallets of Vermont families and businesses who are currently paying to cleanup and repair damage after extreme storms and force the largest fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share of the damages. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response.
“Having invoked a demonstrably false ‘energy emergency’ to override federal law unilaterally, President Trump is now using the same absurd pretext to attack the Constitutional powers of red and blue states alike to protect their citizens and provide just compensation when they suffer in-state harm from dangerous products,” said CLF President Brad Campbell. “We call upon Governor Phil Scott to join all Vermonters in opposing Trump’s latest and most outrageous power grab, which is equal parts tyranny and lunacy. Scott should defend Vermont’s landmark law against this attack and implement the law to determine if and from whom compensation is due for Vermont’s extreme weather losses.”
Hawaii, Michigan, and New York have similar efforts to make polluters pay and were also targeted by the DOJ lawsuits. Last year, Vermont led the nation when it passed a law requiring the biggest fossil fuel polluters to pay into a fund to cover the costs of preparing for and recovering from climate disasters. Legislators modeled the law after one that has successfully held polluters accountable for cleaning up their toxic messes for decades: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, better known as the Superfund law.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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