Our organizations have a long history of working to protect Vermont’s environment and are committed to continuing this work well into the future. We join in encouraging all Vermonters to ask your members of our General Assembly to pass H.926 as an investment in a shared vision of our future that continues a legacy of environmental stewardship and healthy, prosperous communities.
“The COVID pandemic has exposed what happens when we fail to plan for an emergency,” said Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “This bill will make sure that we don’t make the same mistake when it comes to the urgent threat of the climate crisis. It will also help make our communities stronger and boost our economic recovery from COVID-19. Governor Scott must sign it into law so we can get to work.”
As we celebrate the four-year anniversary of New England’s national monuments, CLF is part of a growing movement of scientists, policymakers, businesses, and conservation organizations in the United States and around the world calling for the global protection of at least 30% of land and 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Communities across New England deal with the crude repercussions of local incinerators every day. As long we allow these facilities to operate, they will continue to poison our planet and our people.
“We should never have to wonder if the water coming out of our taps is safe,” said Jen Duggan, Director of CLF Vermont. “The federal government has utterly failed to protect us from these toxic forever chemicals, so it is up to Vermont to take action. Vermonters must make their voices heard and tell regulators to put standards in place that get all of these chemicals out of our water once and for all.”
UPDATE: Temperatures across the Northeast have soared this summer. As emissions rise and climate change worsens, extreme heat becomes more common and more people face these deadly conditions. We need to take action to prevent things from getting even worse — and to help those most affected.
Although the State has taken important first steps to clean up our drinking water, the work will not be done until we stop chasing these chemicals down one by one and remove all PFAS from water supplies.
We know that to protect biodiversity and build our ocean’s resilience to climate change, we must protect much more of New England’s ocean.
In times of change and upheaval, there is also room for hope and inspiration. While we collectively have much hard work ahead of us, we also have much to commend. Our hope is that this report offers insight into the work that your support makes possible – and inspiration for what we know we can accomplish together.
This spring, the Trump administration reversed stronger protections for our nation’s waters, putting people, animals, and local businesses at risk. CLF and our partners are fighting this latest attack: We’re taking the administration to court.
