Today’s episode

It’s an exciting yet tenuous moment. In this week’s Climate Dispatch, VNRC’s Johanna Miller and VCV’s Lauren Hierl go deeper into all these important happenings, what they could mean, and what you might do to help ensure we seize this moment in Vermont in particular. We also explain the five fundamental components several leading environmental and business groups are urging are included in any successful initial plan.

Those include:

• Transforming transportation, starting first by joining the Transportation & Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) and adopting a complementary state policy to ensure enhanced equity process and outcomes.
• Adopting a state Environmental Justice policy that requires state agencies to incorporate environmental justice into their work in several critical ways.
• Heating and cooling our buildings; equitably weatherizing 120,000 homes by 2030 and dramatically accelerating the pace at which Vermonters are installing efficient, electric heating options.
• Expanding a renewable, resilient, local energy system by adopting a 100% Renewable Energy Standard with requirements for far more resilience-enhancing, pollution-reducing in-state renewables.
• Implementing a suite of smart growth policies to foster development in compact community centers and protect forests and agricultural soils to reduce climate pollution and enhance community resilience.

Read the full letter VNRC, VCV and partners submitted here.

Call to action

Most importantly: Make your voice heard! Write an op-ed or letter to the editor about the priorities you’d like to see in the Climate Action Plan and, importantly, why this matters so much. Share that piece – or simply share your thoughts – with members of the Vermont Climate Council and your state legislators.

We must ensure that the initial Climate Action Plan is a strong step forward – and then stand ready to further refine the priorities, policies and processes to do this work