News and Updates

VPIRG Statement on Proposed Repeal of EPA’s Endangerment Finding

Climate & Energy, News and Updates, Press Releases / By

Ben Edgerly Walsh, Climate & Energy Program Director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), released the following statement today in response to the Trump Administration’s proposal to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) endangerment finding: “The Trump Administration’s move to dismantle the endangerment finding is exactly what we’d expect to see out of …

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Scott Administration Undermining Vermont’s EV Future

Climate & Energy, News and Updates, Transportation Modernization, Uncategorized / By

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration must release millions in funding for EV charging infrastructure to fourteen states – but not Vermont.   Why? As Seven Days revealed, the Scott Administration refused to support Attorney General Charity Clark’s lawsuit to force the Trump Administration to deliver those funds to Vermont. The story …

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Vermont’s Neonicotinoid Restrictions Take Effect: Advocates Urge Timely Action on Rules to Protect Pollinators

News and Updates, Press Releases, Toxics & Environmental Health / By

Vermonters concerned about the state’s threatened bees and other pollinators are celebrating the July 1, 2025 implementation of legislation to restrict the application of toxic neonicotinoid pesticides (“neonics”) in the state. On June 17th, 2024, Vermont legislators overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of H.706 (now Act 182) that phases out the use of nearly all …

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2025 Legislative End of Session Update 

Bottle Bill, Climate & Energy, Consumer Protection, Elections and Government Reform, News and Updates, Toxics & Environmental Health, Zero Waste / By

CLIMATE & CLEAN ENERGY  Protecting Vermont’s Climate Progress from Rollbacks One of the most important outcomes of the 2025 legislative session was the successful defense of Vermont’s foundational climate policies. From the beginning of the year, attacks on climate action have come hard and fast from both President Trump and Governor Phil Scott. While many …

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Gov. Scott signs legislation banning toxic “forever chemicals” from firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and more

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Late yesterday, Gov. Phil Scott signed into law further restrictions on the use of toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorine-treated containers. According to the Vermont Department of Health, PFAS exposure can lead to reproductive and developmental disorders, decreased antibody response to vaccines, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, certain types …

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Vermont State Representatives Introduce Bill to Let Big Oil Off the Hook: Oppose H.518

Climate & Energy, News and Updates / By

Last year, after devastating floods that swept across our state, the Vermont legislature took a bold and necessary step by passing Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act. This landmark law is designed to do what’s only fair: require the world’s largest fossil fuel companies, which profited for decades while knowingly fueling the climate crisis, to help pay …

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Urge your senators to support funding to implement the Climate Superfund Act

Climate & Energy, Climate Superfund Act, News and Updates, Take Action / By

After the devastating floods that hit Vermont in the summer of 2023, the Vermont legislature stepped up and passed the Climate Superfund Act, requiring some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies to compensate Vermont for the enormous costs the climate crisis is causing Vermont and Vermonters.   Now, the work of implementing that law is …

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2025 Mid-Session Update

Climate & Energy, Consumer Protection, News and Updates, Toxics & Environmental Health, Zero Waste / By

We’ve passed the unofficial halfway mark of the 2025 Vermont legislative session. Last Friday marked the crossover deadline – the date by which bills must be advanced out of their initial policy committee if they are going to have a chance of being passed this year. We knew coming into this session that we’d need …

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Environmental and Business Groups Blast Governor for Retreating on Climate Action 

Climate & Energy, Global Warming Solutions, Heat Clean, News and Updates, Press Releases / By

Just days after President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. to once again pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, Governor Phil Scott – reflected in the budget and policy proposals he put forward yesterday – called to fundamentally retreat from Vermont’s commitment to climate action.  “While Gov. Scott’s rhetoric is very different from Trump’s, both …

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