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This week, Vermont made history as the first U.S. state to enact a law that mandates oil and gas companies to cover the costs of environmental damage linked to their emissions, a move that is likely to incite legal counteractions from the energy sector.
Late Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott let the bill pass into law without his endorsement, expressing worry over the potential expenses and outcomes of the small state taking on the titans of the oil industry in a protracted and costly legal battle.
“We only have a budget of $600,000 set by the Legislature to conduct an analysis that will need to stand up against rigorous legal examination from a heavily financed defense, we are not setting ourselves up for victory,” Scott penned in a letter to state legislators.
Nonetheless, “I comprehend the aspiration to procure funds to alleviate the impacts of climate change which has inflicted harm on our state in numerous ways,” the governor wrote.
The American Petroleum Institute has voiced its “deep concern that the [law] retroactively burdens costs and liability on previous actions that were legal, breaches equal protection and due process rights by holding companies accountable for society’s collective actions; and is overridden by federal law.”
Other states like New York, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland are mulling over similar legislation.
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