The House Oversight Committee recently held a hearing to interrogate Big Oil executives about their companies’ decades of deliberate climate disinformation. A disappointing yet unsurprising outcome tells us it’s time for more climate mandates for real accountability.
Thousands of hazardous waste sites and chemical facilities across New England are unprepared for the impacts of climate change. The failure of regulators to require such preparation leaves the health of our communities and our environment in jeopardy.
“We’re at a critical point in determining the future of Vermont,” said Elena Mihaly, Vice President CLF Vermont. “Now is the time to do our part to slash climate emissions, prepare our communities to be resilient in the face of the climate crisis, and ensure our natural resources are protected. I’m eager to get to work leading CLF’s efforts in the State House and the courtroom here in Vermont.”
Our communities and neighborhoods deserve to be safe – and we must urgently transition off dirty gas to protect them.
“Toxic garbage water has no place in Lake Memphremagog or any of Vermont’s waters,” said CLF attorney Peter Blair. “Landfill leachate contains a toxic soup of chemicals, including PFAS, which cause serious health issues in humans and animals. Waste companies need to take responsibility for the damage they’re causing to our waters, and this new permit is a huge step towards making that happen in Vermont.”
State officials need to hear your voice in crafting this plan, which helps us achieve our mandatory climate targets.
CLF celebrates the fifth anniversary of the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Now, we’re calling for more of our ocean and land to be permanently protected.
Wrestling humanity away from single-use plastics will not be easy. But we can start by reducing our reliance on single-use plastic beverage containers.
In the decade since Irene, Vermonters have shown a tremendous capacity to rise to the challenge of becoming more resilient, just as we have in responding to the challenges of COVID. We cannot afford to lose pace. Adopting clear metrics for resilience and adaptation to accompany the Global Warming Solution Act’s emissions reductions targets would help ensure we are doing everything possible to slash our greenhouse gas pollution and create a climate-resilient Vermont.
Our region has seen hurricanes and tropical storms before, but, as we’ve just witnessed, it doesn’t have to be a storm of that magnitude to do significant damage. This year’s wet summer has shown that severe storms are becoming more common and intense, and they will only grow more frequent as the climate crisis deepens.
