Climate Dispatch: March 31: A Busy Week for Climate in the State House with Rep. Mike Rice 

Mar 31, 2023

Today’s Episode

Today we’re joined by Representative Mike Rice, member of the Climate Solutions Caucus leadership team, to talk about all of the exciting progress on climate and energy policy priorities this week in the State House. 

It’s a tremendously busy time for legislators, and members of the House of Representatives have spent more than a few days over the past couple of weeks working well into the evening,  voting to advance a range of bills that support strong action on climate. 

As we learned last week, one of these exciting victories is the 30×30 conservation and biodiversity bill, which also implements a Climate Action Plan Recommendation for land conservation in Vermont. But there are many more, as Rep. Rice shared – funding for building a climate workforce in the State budget, the overarching Transportation Bill that supports expanded access to high efficiency and electric vehicles (and lots more), fossil fuel divestment, and much more important progress. At the same time, legislative committees continue to set the stage for further progress, including the House Environment and Energy Committee’s ongoing work to explore the Affordable Heat Act; a priority policy intended to help all Vermonters move beyond the costly, deeply inequitable status quo and have the ability to access cleaner heat.

Call to Action

In the midst of this very busy season, it’s more important than ever that legislators are hearing from their constituents with support! They’re working long hours to advance critically important policies on climate and environmental protection. Please take a few minutes to reach out and thank your legislators for all the hard work they’re doing on behalf of Vermonters this session. You can find your legislators and their contact information here. 

We’ll be back next week with more to share! 

PS: Please join us and other members of the ActOnClimateVT Coalition next Wednesday, April 5th at noon for a mid-session legislative webinar on what’s happening on all these bills – and what more is required to continue to make essential climate progress.