Location: Vermont

Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and the Climate Advocacy Lab fielded a statewide survey of Vermonters about attitudes towards their state’s Climate Superfund Act. We found that a majority of respondents agreed with the intention behind the law of holding fossil fuel companies financially accountable for climate damages incurred by the state. However, none of the messaging approaches we attempted seem very effective in increasing support for the policy. Qualitative responses suggest that the Act is not well-known and, while respondents favor corporate accountability, they also have concerns about the policy’s legality and government transparency. Notably, even among some of those who responded that they agree with the Climate Superfund, there was confusion about how fossil fuel companies contribute to climate-related impacts like flooding, suggesting the need for greater popular education around the chain of attribution. Distrust of government also surfaced as a concern about the Act.

From the latest on perennial topics such as engaging rural audiences, to new frontier insights on building support for climate superfunds or for battery storage, join the Climate Advocacy Lab and our research partners on the ground across the country for an hour packed with presentations on our latest research. Presentations include projects in collaboration with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (message test among Six Americas audience segments, especially among Asian & Latino populations), Evangelical Environmental Network (testing testimonial videos), Water Hub (disaster resilience opinions), Vermont Public Interest Research Group (Climate Superfund Act attitudes), Alliance for Climate Transition (maintaining support for battery energy storage systems), and Resource Rural (persuasive message framing and rural narrative analysis).

From our July 2025 study with The Alliance for Climate Transition (ACT), we found that residents in the US Northeast have little familiarity with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), but are intrigued by the technology when it is framed around improved electricity reliability and lower utility bills. However, those perceptions are endangered by concerns that BESS may endanger their homes or entail high upfront installation costs.