Vermont Enacts A "Climate Superfund Act" - Uh-Oh!

Last week, Vermont became the first state to enact a "Climate Superfund" law. As I noted in January, I fear that this will not end well. It seems odd to model a statute on a law frequently given the accolade – deserved, in my view – of the worst statute ever written. Moreover, the Vermont Climate Superfund Act does not seem to reflect any effort to address any of the flaws in the original Superfund law.

I could go on at length, but that would by definition no longer be a blog post, so I'll note only two issues. First, strict liability, a term used in the Act, means liability without fault; it does not mean liability without causation. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting that GHG emissions don't cause climate change. However, the fact that GHG emissions cause global warming does not equate to evidence that the emissions of a specific company from 1995 through 2024 caused any particular damages in the state of Vermont. Nor does the statute make much of an