Successfully defending our environmental laws and putting a stop to damaging rollbacks was the headlining win for the 2025 legislative session. These wins were made possible in large part because of collaborative efforts with coalition members and community leaders who doggedly opposed the dismantling of climate, energy, smart growth, and toxics legislation that was hard won in past legislative sessions. Read about our successful defense of Vermont’s Natural Resouces in the 2025 Legislative Bulletin.

We fought for climate action and communities and we won when the budget that lawmakers ultimately adopted carved out funds for the implementation of the Climate Superfund Act to the order of $350,000. We fought for the continued elimination of PFAS and were successful in extending the ban on PFAS to include firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorinated containers. We fought for the successful implementation of smart growth land use and through our efforts and with the help of many partners, we were able to fight back measures to weaken the conservation achievements in Act 181, while helping to secure funding for a position to provide increased, long-term capacity to conduct natural resource mapping and additional Act 250 regulatory review work necessitated by Act 181. We fought for the protection of threatened and endangered species, and with our support, and through the excellent testimony of other experts, as well as leadership from the Fish and Wildlife Department, and House and Senate environmental committees, the Legislature passed a final bill that adds necessary protections for reptiles, and amphibians. We fought for clean water and while policy aiming to decrease road salt was not enacted this session, we made important progress this year, and the bill is in good shape to be adopted by the legislature early next year.

We now look forward to doing the hard on-the-ground work to make these policies a reality for Vermonters. The long game of management and implementation is just as critical as passing legislation to move the needle for the health and wellbeing of Vermont communities. That is why we are thankful to have such a robust and talented network of collaborators and coalition partners that spend many hours not just fighting for policy wins, but for achieving policy outcomes. 

Thank you to all helped make these successes possible!