SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (November 24, 2025) — Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic, on behalf of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), has filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont in support of the state’s Climate Superfund Act, the landmark law that will help recover the escalating costs of climate change from certain responsible fossil fuel companies.
“Between the devastating floods, the bad air quality, the negative health effects and the infrastructure damage, climate change is costing Vermonters billions. That much is certain. The only question is: Who pays the bill?” said VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns. “The Climate Superfund provides the only fair answer: the companies that caused the problem.”
The EAC’s brief defends the Climate Superfund Act, emphasizing the urgent need for climate resilience funding within the state — made clear by the historic flooding of 2023 and 2024.
Arguing the act is both fair and well within the state’s authority, the brief provides the court with the perspectives of everyday Vermonters to illustrate that, contrary to allegations, the law is a legally valid and reasonable approach to raising funds to address climate adaptation costs borne by communities.
The brief was submitted in the lawsuits against Vermont filed by the Trump administration, the Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute and a number of states, which challenge the constitutionality of the Climate Superfund Act.
“The act is a lawful, common-sense policy that will give Vermont communities some relief from the punishing and growing costs of climate change,” said Christophe Courchesne, associate professor of law and director of the EAC. “We are asking the court to reject the attacks on the act by the administration and its allies.”
Passed in the spring of 2024, the Climate Superfund Act establishes a fair and careful process that will seek to recover from responsible fossil fuel companies a portion of the many billions of dollars of costs the state must pay for climate change adaptation, proportional to the companies’ contributions to those costs between 1995 and 2024.
The bill received supermajority support from representatives and senators from all political parties following extensive testimony from legal scholars, climate scientists and flood-affected Vermonters. During the process, the EAC joined other law clinics in supporting passage of the bill.
VPIRG is the largest nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization in Vermont. As explained in the brief, VPIRG played a significant role in securing the act’s passage.
###
EAC student attorneys Abigail Durrant, Kaya Mark, Cassidy McMann and Matthew Olsem, Parenteau Climate Action Fellow Rachel Westrate and Director Christophe Courchesne authored the amicus brief, with support from former student attorneys Lauren Carita and Yanissa Rodriguez and VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns and other VPIRG staff.
Vermont Law and Graduate School, a private, independent institution, is home to a law school that offers ABA-accredited residential and online hybrid JD programs and a graduate school that offers master’s degrees and certificates in multiple disciplines, including programs offered by the Maverick Lloyd School for the Environment, the Center for Justice Reform and other graduate-level programs emphasizing the intersection of environmental justice, social justice and public policy. Both the law and graduate schools strongly feature experiential clinical and field work learning. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Founded in 1972, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) is the largest nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization in the state. For fifty years, VPIRG has brought the voices of everyday Vermonters to public policy debates concerning the environment, health care, consumer protection and democracy. As a 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy group, VPIRG conducts non-partisan public interest advocacy in support of priority public interest issues and campaigns and seeks legislative and policy solutions that make Vermont an even better place to live. VPIRG advocates and organizers use independent research, policy analysis, public outreach and grassroots mobilization to design and implement effective strategies for each of its campaigns.