MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – After the Legislature four years ago overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act, the governor warned that it was only a matter of time before the state faced lawsuits over the measure. Now, an environmental group is threatening to sue the state over whether it’s on track to meet its own climate goals.
The Conservation Law Foundation is putting Vermont on notice over its efforts to combat carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.
“The damaging rainstorms from two weeks ago are a reminder of how dangerous the impacts of an overheating planet continue to be,” said CLF’s Elena Mihaly.
2020′s Global Warming Solutions Act sets strict requirements to eliminate greenhouse gasses in home heating, cars, and more. It also allowed people to sue the state to spur action if the state failed to meet those benchmarks. This week CLF officials gave notice that Vermont is using the wrong data set to paint a rosier picture and make it appear that the state is on track to meet the first deadline next year.
“If you properly calibrate the model and you put in inputs that are closer to real-time emissions that the state has measured through its inventory, it shows we are not on track,” Mihaly said.
Governor Scott maintains the state is following the law and says the data the state is using is accurate. “One of the reasons I vetoed it was because I was concerned about someone suing the state. Well, here we go,” he said.
Vermont Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore says CLF’s concerns are similar to those of another group that have already been settled. “We fully reviewed the concerns, the different data sets that were being recommended and feel confident with the approach we are proceeding with,” she said.
Supporters of the law say Vermont has an obligation to cut back on carbon in the face of global warming, but skeptics contend that the state’s greenhouse gasses are negligible in the big picture and that the law’s targets are unattainable from a financial and workforce perspective.
We don’t know how much the potential litigation would cost taxpayers but this is just the first potential lawsuit associated with the measure, and there could be others over future benchmarks. If a judge agrees with the plaintiffs, they could order the state to make a course correction through new regulations.