Welcome back to the Climate Dispatch! After an inspiring day of action last week with youth climate leaders, we feel rejuvenated and ready for the continued climb through the legislative process. And with so much moving through committees of jurisdiction, we have lots to recap! 

This week, we’re excited to be joined by the Ranking Member of the House Energy & Digital Infrastructure Committee (HEDI), Representative Laura Sibilia (I – West Dover). Rep. Sibilia gave her informed assessment of why a greenhouse gas reporting program is a key next step in needed climate progress – and an equitable energy transition that leaves no Vermonter behind. In this Dispatch, we go deep – as the HEDI committee did this week – on H.740. One key point has resurfaced time and again: you can’t manage what you don’t measure. For Vermont to reduce greenhouse pollution, we need a program to track its biggest sources. 

Rep. Sibilia also highlighted a bill she recently put forward – H.727 – to regulate data center deployment to ensure reliable service, environmental protection, and stable, affordable electricity. As Rep. Sibilia and other legislative allies know: There is a need to carefully track – and potentially put parameters around – data centers, which made up four percent of all US electricity consumption in 2024, contributing to an estimated eight percent increase in the average US electricity bill by 2030.

Today’s Episode

Call to Action

As H.740 – the greenhouse gas emissions reporting program – makes its way through the legislature, make sure to contact your Representative and let them know that we need a greenhouse gas emissions inventory to track emissions in the transportation and heating fuel sectors in particular, where over 70% of Vermont’s pollution and a vast majority of energy comes from. 

Thanks for your support & engagement!

Dan Fingas & Johanna Miller

Vermont Conservation Voters

Vermont Natural Resources Council