The Vermont Legislature is advancing legislation requiring big fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather.
The state Senate is expected to give final approval this week to the proposal, which would create a program that fossil fuel companies would pay into for climate change adaption projects in Vermont. It will then be considered in the House.
“In order to remedy the problems created by washed out roads, downed electrical wires, damaged crops and repeated flooding, the largest fossil fuel entities that have contributed to climate change should also contribute to fixing the problem that they caused,” Sen. Nader Hashim, a Democrat from Windham County, said to Senate colleagues on Friday.
Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures, but Vermont’s bill is moving quicker through the Legislature.
Taxes, while commonly passed with some justification for their existence, aren’t required to have any justification. States can tax companies in just about any way they see fit.
Taxes don’t even need to be “fair”. They can tax entities for any reason they want in just about any fashion they can dream up.
Who cares how much or what percentage of damage a hurricane caused is attributable to a specific corporation’s behavior? The state has decided this class of corporation, as a condition of doing business in the state is to pay into this fund. Take it, or leave.