Fox News Business is reporting that the State of Vermont was sued on Monday (12/30/2024) by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an oil & gas industry trade group to block enforcement of a new law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay the state for damage the state attributes to climate change.
The Vermont law in question requires the state treasurer, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, to issue a report by January 15, 2026 regarding the total cost to the state and its residents as a result of greenhouse gas emissions from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2024. The report would use federal data and include the effects of greenhouse gasses on public health, natural resources, agriculture, economic development and housing.
A similar bill was signed into law last month in the State of New York, requiring companies responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state fund for infrastructure projects, with the biggest emitters between 2000 and 2018 facing fines.
The Fox News Business article may be read in full HERE.
My brothers and sisters, as a retired environmental enforcement manager with the New Mexico Environment Department’s Solid Waste Bureau, I am appalled by the audacity of New York and Vermont to continue pushing the issue of climate change in a manner that seems to clearly show, as with carbon credits, that this is all about money and funding government, not about actual climate controls.
It is equally audacious to believe that state regulators in Vermont are in a position to accurately estimate the economic loss to the state because of issues directly resulting from ‘climate change’ (i.e., weather events such as flooding) and that such estimates can be made by assessing out-of-state business operations, etc.
It strikes this writer that courts will deem this law unconstitutional, but only after millions and millions of citizen taxpayer funds are wasted. It seems impossible for such an action to result in evidence meeting the criminal standard of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ or ‘done with gross negligence.’
This will almost certainly result in those seeking cash to instead pursue civil enforcement – which allows for outrageous monetary penalties and typically utilizes the much lower standard of ‘more likely than not’ to prevail against a target. The use of civil enforcement also avoids adherence to the rules of evidence required in a criminal court of law and the proper application of Miranda rights during interviews of suspects.
The Bible tells us that knowingly dishonest business practices are an offense to the Lord, and that we are to do justice and walk humbly before God:
Proverbs 11:1-3 (Amplified Bible)
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
“A false balance and dishonest business practices are extremely offensive to the Lord, [b]ut an accurate scale is His delight. When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame, [b]ut with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind. The integrity and moral courage of the upright will guide them, [b]ut the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.”
Micah 6:8 (ESV)
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
