MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A major environmental organization is suing the state of Vermont for failing to meet legally mandated pollution reduction goals.
The Legislature intentionally opened the door for the state to be sued when it passed the Global Warming Solutions Act four years ago.
The Conservation Law Foundation is suing the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, alleging that the state is not on track to meet climate benchmarks.
But this legal challenge also raises questions about whether the state should prioritize cutting carbon emissions or making communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The Conservation Law Foundation is taking Vermont to task, alleging it’s misrepresenting its carbon emission data. The CLF claims the state is showing it’s on track to meet an upcoming pollution reduction goal in 2025 when it actually isn’t.
“Climate change is here and it’s time for us to be honest with Vermonters about the realities of that, be honest of the policies we’re undertaking and what those policies are doing in terms of cutting down on our emissions,” said Elena Mihaly of the Conservation Law Foundation.
Mihaly says the lawsuit– which is not seeking money as damages– is aimed at forcing the state to accelerate its carbon-cutting efforts.
In 2020, state lawmakers overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act which requires we reduce our pollution to strict standards or face a lawsuit: pollution to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
“They want honesty and accuracy in terms of where we are to date and where the projected emission line is for reductions in the future,” Mihaly said.
The CLF put the state on notice this summer but just filed the lawsuit in Washington County Superior Court on Tuesday.
“We may have pushed a little too hard too fast,” Vt. Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore said.
Moore wouldn’t comment directly on the allegations but told us this summer they stand by their data. But she says the Global Warming Solutions Act is creating goals that are moving faster than the state can keep up with.
“We have to invest billions in infrastructure and be thoughtful about how we go about that work,” Moore said.
She points out that even if Vermont spent billions de-carbonizing overnight, climate change-driven floods would still happen. Moore says Vermont needs a balanced approach.
“If we over-invest on the greenhouse gas emission reduction side at the expense of the work we know we need to be doing on the resilience side, it’s a disservice to Vermonters in the near term,” she said.
But Mihaly with the CLF says fighting climate change is a collective issue.
“By nature that part is going to have some impact on our way of life but we owe it to future generations to do everything we can right now,” Mihaly said.
This marks the first of what could be several lawsuits, including on other global warming benchmarks if we miss them.
The Attorney General’s Office is representing the state in this lawsuit. But even as the suit has been filed, the CLF says that settlement talks aren’t off the table.