Vermont Measure to Charge Big Oil for Climate Damages

On this Memorial Day, a solemn day of remembrance, I wanted to contact you, my reps, to ask about your continued support of the out of control GOP and its short-sighted stances and policies. 
Two of you are military veterans, as am I (having served in the Far East during the Vietnam War), and you frequently hold up your military service backgrounds to your constituents. And that's fine, but how can you continue to support a party and its leader (and now presumptive nominee for president!) which demonstrates demonstrably anti-American policies, stances and actions? Your party leader obviously cares little for this nation, has belittled Gold Star families, has denigrated the dead soldiers at Normandy as  "suckers," has ridiculed Senator McCain for his service and sacrifice, has bragged about becoming a dictator if, God forbid, he is re-elected, has repeatedly insulted our long-term allies and the refused to honor important treaties with them, has fomented a failed coup to overturn a fair election (the bedrock of our democracy), has still not accepted his loss in the previous election and claims that he will not accept the 2024 election results WHEN he loses, etc., etc. etc.?
On this solemn day of remembrance of the most extreme sacrifice to the preservation of this nation, I call upon you to deeply reflect on why you can justify continuing to support such anti-democratic and anti-American behavior. Power and influence will not count for anything under a tyrannical leadership. 
Peace to you and your families,
John D. 
Tallahassee, FL

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Only 10 ????????

This is a great step towards protecting American people from the ravages wrought on our environment by corporate greed.

I hope this goes forward successfully, but we still need to reform the Supreme Court so they'll be on the side of people and not their "conservative" corporate overlords. We know the obedient Thomas and Alito are never going to vote for people when their corporate handlers are holding their leashes.

Why not give it a try????

Here's my prediction:  

Several states will pass laws requiring Big Oil/Fossil Fuel Corporations to own the consequences resulting from using their products.  It's similar to the laws that have tried to hold Big Tobacco responsible.  

The problem will be the Supremely Corrupt Catholic Roberts Court will get the final say...  Of course, they will side with Big Oil--THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS!  

By the way, I'm betting they will decide NOT to decide on Trump's" Presidential Immunity claims.  They'll send it back to the District Court to delineate what is and what isn't protected Presidential action...  And the District Court won't decide until after the November elections....  

I truly HATE the Robert's Supremely Corrupt Catholic Court!

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The reality is that the president really has no control over inflation and is a the will of corporation to dive cost up or down at will. Corporations were hoping Trump win with a 1.5 %  now they are hoping Biden Will lose at 9%. Trump gave tax cuts, got rid of regulations, defund healthcare, social security and other things. 
 Biden is try to make corporations pay their fair share, hold corporations accountable, change the direction of the destruction of the world, support the constitution and democracy.

but the reality is citizens united made corporations people with money to buy and sells politicians and lives!

America needs to wake up and needs to find out who's in control, not the will of the people!

The Vermont State House passed the legislation with a veto proof majority (94-38), and the state senate is expected to do the same based on the preliminary vote (26-3). 4 other states (CA, MA, MD, NY) are expected to do the same. 2 Senators (MD, VT) tried to include it in the Infrastructure Legislation but it was left out final of te final drat to get it passed.

The legislation creates a fund similar to the EPA Superfund used to cleanup after disasters which each oil and gas company operating in Vermont would pay per disaster event based on an how much of the damage done from fires, floods ($1B for recent flood), etc, was due to climate change, and how much each company contributed.

The fund would then be used for cleanup, and prevention projects.

Since Big Oil has been aware that their products contrition climate change since 1977 based on research Big Oil conducted it seems like time after 47 years that action needs to be taken as they haven't voluntarily done anything (green technology investments).

Industry change is this previously occurred through lawsuits like when State AGs sued Tobacco Companies to reimburse state funds for Medicaid and Medicare spending on tobacco caused diseases. States are now becoming more proactive creating legation to fund damage and infrastructure needed because of climate change.

" The legislation would compel Vermont’s state treasurer, Mike Pieciak – who supports the effort – to set up a fund for climate damages. To do so, he would be required to determine how much money to collect to pay for climate-related impacts to Vermont’s public health, biodiversity, economic development and other damages. (The bill text does not include a specific figure to be collected, but an initial rough estimate from the Vermont Public Interest Research Group suggests the figure could be as much as $2.5 bn.)"

" The state would also have to work with scientists to figure out how much of that damage is attributable to climate change. Then, officials would calculate how much each major oil and gas company within the state contributed to it, based on the emissions from their products between 1995 and 2024. To do so, they would use the Carbon Majors database – an account of the world’s largest polluters’ contributions to the climate crisis."

" The money collected would be used to fund projects to improve climate adaptation and resilience, as determined by the state’s Agency of Natural Resources."

" Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue, according to a recent investigationfrom InsideClimate News."

" In the 1970s and 1980s it employed top scientists to look into the issue and launched its own ambitious research program that empirically sampled carbon dioxide and built rigorous climate models. "

" In their eight-month-long investigation, reporters at InsideClimate News interviewed former Exxon employees, scientists and federal officials and analyzed hundreds of pages of internal documents. They found that the company’s knowledge of climate change dates back to July 1977, when its senior scientist James Black delivered a sobering message on the topic. “In the first place, there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels," Black told Exxon’s management committee."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/vermont-charge-oil-industry-climate-crisis

Asking corporations to take responsibility for the products they create which directly correlate to natural disasters?

Finally!!!

IMHO Vermont also needs to invest in clean energy sources & incentivize utilization of clean, renewables. 

Yes, more states should follow Vermont's lead.  Any company that pollutes our env. needs to be held accountable.  In fact, I'd say that not only states, but the fed. gov. should take this type of aggressive action.  The financial, personal, physical, and environmental cost of any company that contribues to climate change is great, therefore, compensation should be made by these companies to those who are impacted negatively by climate change.

It's about damned time they be held accountable!

Not just No, but Hell No! Asking companies to accept liability for effects that were unknown at the time the product was originally made is both unfair and unwise. The key word here is "unknown". If the comapnies knew that the effects of their products were harmful and made them anyway, that's one thing (see cigarettes and asbestos), but to force any entity, be they individuals, corporations or Governments to accept liability for potential future undiscovered hazards that are revealed sometime in the future is absurd! In effect, you're asking the entity in question to predict the future! Now, the last time I checked, the only valid use for a crystal ball was as a doorstop, LOL! Forcing companies to insure themselves against potential future hazards, if it doesn't bankrupt them outright, will make doing business so expensive that it will make products so expensive as to be virtually unsaleable! That is absurd beyond the pale!