Today’s Episode

In this week’s Climate Dispatch, we’re joined by Representative Laura Sibilia, Vice Chair of the new House Environment & Energy Committee! This newly constituted committee is going to have a suite of important policies on their desks this session, and we chatted with Representative Sibilia to hear about her priorities in the energy and climate action arena.

As Vice Chair of the former House Energy & Technology Committee last year, Representative Sibilia was a key leader in advancing the Clean Heat Standard bill, which has returned as S.5, the Affordable Heat Act, as a new and improved policy to address emissions in our thermal sector. She’s eager to receive the bill once the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee, and begin committee discussions around how to continue changing and improving the bill. 

Additionally, Representative Sibila noted the possibility of reviewing and modernizing Vermont’s existing Renewable Energy Standard, looking at things like how clean and renewable our energy really is, our grid’s reliability, affordability of rates, and more. She is looking forward to working alongside her fellow committee members to understand how Vermont can ensure that our clean energy transition is affordable and equitable, while also supporting us in building climate resilience, energy independence and mitigating emissions. 

Call to Action

This week, Vermont Conservation Voters introduced the 2023 Environmental Common Agenda for Vermont, alongside 17 fellow environmental organizations, outlining the top priorities for action this legislative session. In addition to the two major pieces of policy we discussed today with Representative Sibilia, the Common Agenda outlines priorities around climate resiliency, land use and community planning, public health and democracy. We hope you’ll dig into all of the priorities outlined here, and stay tuned as we continue to lean in to all of you, advocate for big policies this session, and collectively keep up the momentum for needed climate action!