Vermont defends its landmark climate superfund law against Trump
administration lawsuit
[March 31, 2026]
By HOLLY RAMER and JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Vermont’s effort to make fossil fuel companies pay for damage caused by
climate change was tested Monday in a federal courtroom, where the state
argued that two lawsuits challenging its groundbreaking 2024 law should
be thrown out.
Vermont became the first state to enact a climate superfund law, modeled
on the federal superfund law that taxed petroleum and chemical companies
to pay to clean up sites polluted by toxic waste. It took action after
suffering catastrophic summer flooding in 2023 as well as damage from
other extreme weather, which scientists say is occurring more frequently
due to climate change. The money it collects would be used for climate
adaptation projects, such as upgrades to stormwater drainage systems,
sewage treatment plants and roads.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a top oil and gas industry trade group,
the American Petroleum Institute, sued Vermont over the law in December
2024, calling it unconstitutional and a violation of federal law. The
Department of Justice also sued Vermont and New York after President
Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against
states that may be overreaching their authority in how they regulate
energy development. In suing, Bondi called Vermont’s law and a similar
one signed by New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul “burdensome and
ideologically motivated” and said they threaten American energy
independence and national security.
Vermont insists its law doesn't conflict with federal law or policy
In asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuits Monday, Vermont argued that it
has the authority to raise revenue, protect the health and welfare of
its citizens and mitigate environmental harms. The state also said that
the law does not conflict with federal law or policy, regulate fossil
fuel emissions or punish fossil fuel producers.
“As a sovereign state, Vermont gets to do certain things that are
exercises of a traditional state authority. The Superfund Act operates
squarely in those areas of traditional state authority,” Jonathan Rose
of the Vermont attorney general’s office said in U.S. District Court in
Rutland.
The plaintiffs in both cases, however, argue that Vermont can’t legally
impose liability or penalties on out-of-state energy producers for harms
arising from out-of-state and global greenhouse gas emissions.
“This case is not about Vermont’s ability to raise revenue and protect
the health and welfare of its residents. It’s about Vermont’s attempt to
subject global energy production activity to Vermont law, which brazenly
disregards the constitutional division of power in the federal
government and the states,” said DOJ attorney Riley Walters.
While other courts have allowed the application of a state law to
out-of-state conduct, those cases involved direct and traceable
connections between the behavior and the harm, he said.
“It’s impossible to trace in-state harm to any particular source of
greenhouse gas emissions, let alone to the fossil fuel production that
is even further down along the alleged causal chain,” he said. “There is
not a direct and traceable connection between oil that’s extracted in
Texas or in Saudi Arabia and a flood or some other weather event that
takes place in Vermont.”
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Two dozen other states that oppose Vermont's law have intervened in
the case West Virginia, a top producer of natural gas and coal, is
leading two dozen states intervening in the case with the Chamber
and API, out of concern that Vermont will demand to recover billions
of dollars from major energy producers and oil refiners in their
states. Meanwhile, the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental
advocacy group in New England, and the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of Vermont are supporting Vermont in the litigation.
Attorney Adeline Rolnick, representing the conservation foundation
and farmers, told the judge Monday that granting the plaintiffs’
motions to strike down the law “would give the federal government
this roving license to seek to enjoin any state law that it
disagrees with simply by pleading preemption.
“That would be quite an expansion of the federal role in our
state-federal system, and the court should instead require the
United States to show concrete imminent injury like any other
litigant," she said.
Judge Mary Kay Lanthier took the motions under advisement and said
she would issue rulings as soon as possible.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that it's looking forward to a
decision in the case. Marty Durbin, president of the Global Energy
Institute at the chamber, said that “Vermont’s attempt to impose
massive retroactive penalties on energy producers will be disastrous
for American families.”
“Reliable, affordable energy helps power economic growth and
enhances the quality of life for American families and communities,"
he said in a statement. "It defies logic that Vermont would pursue
gigantic penalties from companies who are meeting consumer and
business demand for this essential resource.”
Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without
his signature, saying he was concerned about Vermont taking on the
oil industry alone. Since then, the idea has gained traction
elsewhere. In addition to New York, other Democratic-controlled
states are also considering climate superfund laws, while others are
seeking damages from fossil fuel companies in state courts for harms
caused by climate change.
“This is the first time that a state legislature has taken the
gigantic step of pursuing polluters and holding them accountable to
clean up the mess that they’ve made,” said Jennifer Rushlow, interim
vice president for CLF Vermont.
A Dartmouth College research team estimated the world’s biggest
corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage. The
researchers published a study last year with the estimated pollution
caused by 111 companies, with more than half the total dollar figure
coming from 10 fossil fuel providers.
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