Climate Dispatch: March 11, 2022: The Opportunity in a Clean Heat Standard

Mar 11, 2022

Today’s Episode 

You don’t want to miss today’s Climate Dispatch! Representative Tim Briglin, Chair of the House Energy & Technology Committee, joins VNRC’s Johanna Miller and VCV’s Lauren Hierl for an overview of H.715, An Act Relating to the Clean Heat Standard.

The Vermont House is poised for a vote, as soon as next week! on the Clean Heat Standard – the single largest pollution-reduction plank of the Climate Action Plan. This is the most significant piece of climate legislation under consideration in the Vermont Legislature this year and, if designed well, will put Vermont on a course to reduce planet-warming pollution in the state’s 2nd most carbon intensive sector and help Vermonters access more cost-effective, climate-accountable, local heating solutions.

Tune into today’s episode of the Climate Dispatch here. 

If executed well, the Clean Heat Standard could be one of the most transformative climate and clean energy policies the state has ever enacted, which is why as the bill moves through the Legislature, we will continue to work to strengthen it and measure its success and effectiveness on three fundamental principles, including:

  1. A requirement that fossil fuel companies cut climate pollution in the heating sector in line with Vermont’s legal emissions reduction requirements, as outlined in the Global Warming Solutions Act. 
  2. Achieving emissions reductions using a transparent, lifecycle approach; taking into account the full emissions created with options like biofuel. 
  3. Centering equity and requiring that a significant portion of clean heat benefits go to low- and moderate-income Vermonters, and those who have disproportionately borne the high cost of polluting fossil fuels. 

Call to Action 

As the Clean Heat Standard heads to the House floor soon, now is the moment to reach out to your Representatives! Let them know you support bold climate action and you want them to advance H.715. It’s critical that we push for a strong vote in the House to show that we are able and willing to take the hard actions on climate that we need to be taking, and that are laid out in our Climate Action Plan.

We will continue to keep you updated on the progress of this bill and many others as the session progresses, so stay tuned for more soon!

P.S. We worked with some of our key partners to share more thoughts on this policy – at this challenging moment for so many Vermonters and people across the planet. Check out the op-ed we recently penned for more insight on why we believe this is so important.