VPIRG members are coming together with our staff, friends and family on Sunday, September 24 at 2pm at the Alchemist Brewery in Stowe to celebrate 45 years protecting the public interest in Vermont. Tickets are limited for this event, so reserve yours today! Get your tickets here! Tickets are $45…
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The Vermont Public Interest Research Group announced today that it is going to federal court to urge review of two rules recently proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement the 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act. The petitions challenge final rules issued by the EPA concerning how the agency…
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VPIRG joined our allies Wednesday at a news conference outside to show legislators that Vermonters want them to pass toxic chemical reform legislation before they go home for the year. All session long we’ve been tracking S.103 – a toxic chemical reform bill that makes important strides to protect kids from harmful…
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Governor Peter Shumlin signed H.458 into law Thursday, making Vermont the fourth state in the country to enact automatic voter registration. The new law will essentially flip voter registration procedures at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Under current law, the DMV requires Vermonters to “opt in” to voter registration. But…
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VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns and UVM professor and Gund Institute economist Jon Erickson made the case for pricing carbon pollution in a debate against opponents from the climate-change-denying Ethan Allen Institute Thursday night in Montpelier. Burns and Erickson went back and forth with the Ethan Allen Institute’s Rob Roper…
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Al Gore delivered his Climate Reality presentation to a capacity crowd at Ira Allen Chapel on the University of Vermont campus Tuesday. The former vice president delivered the most up-to-date version of his renowned slideshow detailing the science behind man-made global warming, the climate crisis we are now facing and…
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The “Vermont Legislator Roll Call Profiles” published by the Ethan Allen Institute on Tuesday had at least one notable omission: the 25-5 roll call vote on Senate Resolution 7 recognizing climate change science. This omission leads us to ask, “What’s EAI afraid of?” The Ethan Allen Institute has a documented…
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Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) goes into effect today. The law was passed unanimously by the Vermont legislature in 2012. VPIRG believes that Act 148 will be a great complement to our state’s most successful recycling law – the Bottle Bill. Act 148 will provide an excellent opportunity to…
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After a slew of cost increases, Vermont regulators are weighing whether to “re-open” the permit process for the fracked gas pipeline Vermont Gas wants to build. After 15 hours of testimony, 12 witnesses and 10 pages of notes, VPIRG’s Energy and Democracy advocate, Julia Michel, offers her impression of the…
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