Over the past two plus months, the legislature has been hard at work addressing the immediate needs of Vermonters as the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded. Legislators have passed or dug into putting a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, directing hazard pay to essential workers, enabling safe elections during the pandemic,…
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The Transportation bill being debated in the VT legislature creates a program to help Vermonters who are low income repair cars’ emissions control systems, keeping pollution out of our air. Unfortunately, it also lets cars that fail emissions tests off the hook as long as they’re 15 years old or…
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In July 2017, Gov. Phil Scott established the Vermont Climate Action Commission, tasked with creating a plan for Vermont to meet our climate and energy commitments. The commission recently released its final report and, unfortunately, it’s a 119-page disappointment. The report fails for three reasons. First, Gov. Scott corrupted the process by…
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While legislators and the governor continue to debate critical components of the state budget, all indications are that he, and they, intend to leave the budget’s climate package as the House and Senate passed it earlier this month. Last year, we told you about an incredible opportunity for Vermont to…
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On May 22nd, Gov. Scott signed H.676, which establishes a voluntary standard for establishing a pollinator-friendly habitat label on solar farms and recognizing solar installers that are leading the way in protecting and promoting pollinator species. Just like our work to make it easier to build solar on previously developed…
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On May 21st Gov. Scott signed H.739, which creates a three-year pilot program that allows Efficiency Vermont more flexibility in working with Vermont businesses on custom efficiency and energy saving programs. While it started as a reaction to the Scott Administration’s proposal to make significant cuts to efficiency programs, we…
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The discovery of a $50,000 allocation buried deep in the state capital bill that was passed by legislators several months ago is stirring up significant controversy today. As first reported by Vermont Public Radio, the nondescript allocation was earmarked for Lyndon State College to purchase sound monitoring equipment. The equipment…
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VPIRG delivered a petition signed by 1412 Vermonters to the Public Service Board on Monday in support of keeping Vermont’s net metering program strong. The petition asked the Board to address the concerns as raised by VPIRG, VNRC, Vermont Conservation Voters and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility in their July…
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Late last night the legislature passed a fixed version of the energy siting bill (S.230) previously vetoed by Gov. Peter Shumlin. The new bill (S.260) made four simple clarifications necessary to address the governor’s concerns. VPIRG supports this bill. It will empower towns and regions to take a greater role,…
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Friday evening, after a flurry of back and forth negotiations between the House and the Senate – S.230, the energy siting bill, finally passed and is heading to the governor’s desk. The result is a bill that will do a lot to empower towns to take on a greater role…
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