Vermont State House. Photo Credit: Creative Commons/Jared C. Benedict
July 23, 2024 (Montpelier, VT) – In its latest effort to ensure state leaders are held accountable and follow their own climate laws, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has sent a notice of alleged violation to Vermont’s Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources for failing to meet her legal responsibilities set by the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), ensuring the State is on track to reduce climate-damaging emissions.
“The Global Warming Solutions Act was not a suggestion. This critical legislation ensures we are on a path to cut carbon pollution because future generations deserve to enjoy the Vermont we love right now,” said Elena Mihaly, Vice President of CLF Vermont. “The damaging rainstorm and flooding just weeks ago, coming on the anniversary of the devastating and deadly flooding of 2023, is a painful reminder of how the dangerous impacts of our overheating planet continue to harm our neighbors and our communities. The climate crisis is crushing Vermont, and the Agency of Natural Resources is not doing its job in the face of that crisis. Vermont must cut climate pollution to protect our future, our way of life, and our health.”
Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act passed in 2020. It makes sure that Vermont lowers its polluting emissions by turning the State’s existing emissions reduction goals into legally binding requirements, with benchmarks to hit along the way.
But the Secretary of Natural Resources’ deficient implementation of this climate law is thwarting our collective opportunity to act urgently. Specifically, the Secretary has failed to adequately review and, if necessary, adopt or update rules to ensure the state is on track to meet its January 1, 2025, emissions reduction requirement by the July 1 review deadline.
In its inadequate review, the Agency misinformed Vermonters, relying on inappropriate modeling that doesn’t align with the accounting methods in its own greenhouse gas inventory or historical emissions data. Unfortunately, that same modeling misalignment appears in the State’s recently released “Vermont Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast: 1990 – 2021,” which paints an inappropriately optimistic picture of the State’s progress toward achieving the 2025 emission reduction requirements. What’s more, the State hasn’t involved the public in this review process as required to do so.
All New England states except New Hampshire have passed statutory requirements to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These laws mandate cuts to climate-damaging emissions that fuel stronger and more frequent storms, extreme temperatures, and flooding.
CLF’s notice of alleged violation can be found here.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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