The Vermont Superior Court granted the State of Vermont’s motion to dismiss Conservation Law Foundation’s (CLF’s) lawsuit seeking to compel the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to update its rules implementing the Vermont Climate Action Plan to meet the goals of the Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 (the Act). CLF alleged that ANR did not conduct a proper review to support its July 2024 determination not to update the rules. The court concluded that the type of citizen suit CLF brought under the Act was a deadline suit focused on whether ANR met statutory deadlines for adopting or updating rules and did not authorize review of the substance of rules. The court ruled that there was no statutory basis to compel ANR to  adopt or update its rules.

Lawsuit alleging that Vermont's Secretary of Natural Resources failed to comply with statutory duties under the State's 2020 climate law.

Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. v. Moore

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Vermont Court Dismissed Lawsuit Seeking to Compel Adoption of State Regulations to Achieve Global Warming Solutions Act Goals

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Vermont Court Dismissed Lawsuit Seeking to Compel Adoption of State Regulations to Achieve Global Warming Solutions Act Goals

Policy instrument

Risk

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience