ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — The Vermont Legislature’s inaction on climate action bills last session may be reversed next time around as a key House lawmaker and climate caucus members plan to move more sweeping legislation to combat global warming in the new year.
The legislative Vermont Climate Solutions Caucus both promoted and explained its plans while hearing the public’s concerns at a forum Wednesday night in St. Johnsbury.
State Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, said the caucus was frustrated by a lack of progress last session despite a growing desire among Vermonters to wean the state off fossil fuels. They’re hoping a pre-session “public engagement campaign” will allow for the broader input and buy-in needed to pass more ambitious climate bills next year.
A linchpin of their platform for next year is making the state’s emissions reductions goals into legally enforceable mandates, as some other New England states have done.
The bill, known as the “Global Warming Solutions Act,” would turn the state’s emissions reductions goals into mandates and require state agencies to adopt rules to reduce emissions.
Although Vermont has aggressive greenhouse gas emissions goals on the books, emissions have increased in recent years. The state’s most recent data from 2015 show emissions are 16% higher than in 1990 when they are supposed to be 50% below that target.
“We have had pollution reduction goals in aspirational statutes for some time … but the fact of the matter is we haven’t done a whole lot to bend the curve and get our emissions going in the right direction,” Copeland Hanzas said.
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New York have enacted similar laws.
Copeland Hanzas said the details of the bill are still in flux, especially as the House Energy and Technology Committee has been working on a similar proposal.
State Rep. Tim Briglin, D-Thetford, who chairs that committee, stressed in an interview Thursday that the committee still needs to work through the proposal. But modeling a Vermont proposal off New York and Maine could make the most sense for Vermont, he said. Both states opted for approaches that bring different parts of government together to come up with a “blueprint” to reduce emissions, he said. In contrast, Massachusetts required the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to develop its emissions reduction plan.
Noting that Vermont has already fell short of some of its emissions reductions goals, Briglin said his committee would look at modifying the state’s targets as part of the Global Warming Solutions Act discussions.
“I’m hopeful to have a bill introduced very early in the session,” he said.
Most of Vermont’s emissions come from transportation and heating; reducing emissions from those sectors has recently dominated climate policy discussion. Last December, Gov. Phil Scott’s administration announced that Vermont would take part in developing a regional cap-and-invest program for on-road gasoline and diesel called the Transportation Climate Initiative. A similar effort called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has helped Northeast states reduce emissions from electric utilities and provided Vermont with funding for energy efficiency.
TCI released a draft framework last month and will unveil the policy proposal in December. States will then have until spring to decide whether to join.
Copeland Hanzas said that the caucus supports Vermont joining the Transportation Climate Initiative as a means to reduce vehicle emissions.
“We want to make sure that this collaboration happens regionally because we know that Vermont is not an island; our borders our porous,” she said.
State Rep. Scott Campbell, D-St. Johnsbury, said the caucus wants to improve training and outreach to builders to make sure they know how to make retrofits and new buildings energy efficient. For example, although Vermont has had building energy standards for decades, residential builders sometimes do not know about them, said Campbell, a former contractor and former director of the Champlain Valley weatherization program.
“You would think that people would understand the basic concepts of building science and energy performance in buildings,” he said. “But the knowledge base in the construction industry isn’t that high.”
Last session, lawmakers worked on a bill to register contractors, in part to avoid contractor fraud issues. Campbell said a registry would also allow the state to conduct better outreach about building energy efficiency.
The caucus’ “banner priorities” for next session lastly include supporting the transition to electrification of heating and transportation through efforts like promoting in-state renewable generation. Copeland Hanzas cited as examples a bill lawmakers had passed last session to increase the amount of net-metered solar power schools could obtain and a proposal to consolidate electric vehicle incentives from various utilities.
While many meeting attendees voiced support for bolder action on climate, they also called on lawmakers to think about creative, cost-effective ways to cut emissions that are tailored to Vermont’s rural economy.
Jack Friedman, of Danville, Vt., former manager of Washington Electric Co-op’s power plant, said that while he supports climate action, electric vehicle technology and infrastructure still are not viable options for many Vermonters, especially with electric grid constraints.
“I would like to hear what’s doable now without driving more people out of the state,” he said. “What makes sense to me is, we have a huge carbon sink in our forests. Why don’t we invest in that?”
Copeland Hanzas and Campbell agreed that working with farmers and forest landowners was logical for Vermont. A legislative study committee is currently looking into a proposal to pay farmers and others for carbon sequestration and other so-called “ecosystem services.”
A couple attendees called on lawmakers to ensure that promoting in-state renewables was done in a way that is accessible to all Vermonters, without shifting costs to less wealthy ratepayers.
The caucus will hold more forums, including at 6 p.m. Monday at Hartford Town Hall and at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 at West Newbury Hall in Newbury, Vt.