Take Action Today on Energy and Climate Change!

April 2008 

The House is now considering a bill – S.350 – that will take Vermont one important step further in reducing the state’s global warming pollution and tackling the challenge of climate change with the urgency, action and measures required. Read the bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, here.

S.350:

• Charges state agencies with crafting plans to meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals the state already has in statute – 25 percent by 2012, 50 percent by 2028 and 75 percent by 2050. The goal is to reduce Vermont’s greenhouse gas pollution to levels that climate scientists have indicated will avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
• Begins to crack the transportation ‘nut’ of Vermont’s energy consumption. The bill sets goals that will expand Vermonters’ use of public transportation and increase the viability of biking and walking where we need to go.
• Works to carry forward the momentum of the Governor’s Climate Change Commission and ensure the Commission’s 38 recommendations move towards implementation. The bill creates a nine-member ‘stakeholder’ body of experts and charges them with generating a report to the Legislature identifying barriers to policy implementation, potential funding sources and possible priority areas to advance first.
• Creates a mandatory greenhouse gas registry to identify the sources of Vermont’s emissions. This is a crucial step, since you can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.

As Vermonters articulated so clearly last fall in the series of statewide ‘public engagement’ sessions, they want action on energy and climate change. They want greater efficiency measures and more in-state renewable energy generation. And, they are willing to pay more for it.

Vermont is making progress toward responding to the interest of Vermonters in this regard, but we have much more to do. Earlier this year, the state took an important step forward by passing S.209 – an energy efficiency and renewable energy generation bill. But S.350 serves as an important complement to S.209 by beginning to address some of the other crucial elements in the energy and climate change equation.

Vermont lost valuable time last year when the Governor and the Legislature didn’t pass strong energy legislation into law. Fortunately, S.350 presents another chance. Please let your House members know you support this bill and hope they will too. Contact them today here.