Vermont Legislature Passes Bill to Allow Citizens to Sue the State if Climate Change Goals Aren’t Met

The Vermont State House in Montpelier.

The Vermont State House in Montpelier. Shutterstock

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Lawmakers say that the bill “ensures accountability” for the government to meet carbon emission reduction goals in a timely manner. But Republican Gov. Phil Scott is skeptical of the litigation provision.

The Vermont legislature passed a bill this week that would require the government to reach certain carbon emission reduction goals in future years and would allow private citizens to sue the state if they fail to meet them. The bill, which does not offer specific methods for reducing emissions, would also create a Climate Council composed of state agency leaders, scientists, and representatives from rural communities and small businesses, among others, who would be tasked with identifying strategies to reduce emissions. 

The Global Warming Solutions Act would require a 26% reduction from 2005 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, in line with the commitment asked by the Paris climate accord. (President Trump removed the U.S. from the climate agreement in 2017, but Gov. Phil Scott, like a number of other city and state leaders, vowed Vermont would still adhere to the goals independently.) Emissions produced in the state would then need to fall at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050. As one step in helping achieve these reductions, state agencies would be required to consider greenhouse gas emissions when purchasing equipment, constructing and maintaining new buildings, and designing and operating services and infrastructure.

The goals largely mirror those put forward in the state’s Comprehensive Energy Plan from 2016, but the new bill goes one step further by putting pressure on the government to accomplish them or risk lawsuits. 

For years, climate change advocates in Vermont have warned that the state isn’t moving fast enough to accomplish the staggered goals. Vermont emissions have increased in recent years, with 2015 emissions closing out the year 16% higher than 1990 levels, making it the only state in New England where emissions have increased per capita in the last 30 years.

In 2018, the Vermont Climate Action Commission, a group created by Gov. Phil Scott and charged with developing a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, acknowledged that “if Vermont continues its current trajectory—with rising, not declining greenhouse gas emissions—we will not meet these goals.”

“Transforming our state will take a generation or more,” the commission wrote in a report. “To get there we must increase momentum and take meaningful steps forward immediately. There is no silver bullet—no single policy or pathway—that will ensure this necessary transition occurs, so we must begin taking action on multiple fronts to reach our goals.”

State lawmakers this week painted the Global Warming Solutions Act as just that—not a silver bullet, but a critical step in the right direction. During debate on the floor, state Rep. Mary Sullivan, a Democrat, said that “the time to act was decades ago, but better late than never.”

The bill has been a point of contention between the Democratically-controlled legislature and Scott, a Republican who has said that while he supports the intent of the bill, he is opposed to certain provisions, namely the one allowing citizens to sue the government should progress not happen as quickly as planned. “I have … some concerns that have not been met at this point that I think are detrimental to the state,” he told reporters earlier this week. 

Supporters of the bill said that concerns over potential lawsuits are overblown because the bill does not allow a court to award monetary damages to citizens or impose fines on the government, although the state may have to pay legal fees of plaintiffs if they win their suits. Instead, a judge can order the state to comply with the deadlines or to craft new legislation with more stringent requirements to meet the goals. State Rep. Laura Sibilia, who isn’t affiliated with a political party, defended the provision in a recent op-ed where she said that “appealing to the courts is a right citizens have to protect against legislative overreach or administrative failure to enforce the law. It is how we hold our government accountable.”

Scott did not respond to a request for comment as to whether he plans to sign or veto the legislation. Lawmakers in both chambers passed the bill by more than a two-thirds majority, raising the question of whether they will use that majority to enact a veto override.

Julie Macuga, an organizer with the climate justice organization 350 Vermont, said that citizen lawsuits are “one small way” to try and reach big goals like soil regeneration and limits on the fossil fuel industry, but “not enough to reach the goals of our comprehensive energy plan.”

Still, she acknowledged that the legislation is a “good first step.” Her organization was one of 30 that called for the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act in January, along with other climate change mitigation efforts like transitioning the state to 100% renewable energy by 2030. “It’s really exciting to see legislation focused on climate get passed,” she said. “But this should be the floor and not the ceiling in terms of what’s possible.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.