With great sadness, we note the passing of Donald Ross, who was one of the original Nader’s Raiders, and who led the organizing efforts in Vermont more than 50 years ago to establish the group that became VPIRG. In fact, Donald was considered to be the “father” of the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) because …
We recently heard that Governor Phil Scott is considering vetoing the environmental justice bill, S.148, which passed with overwhelming tri-partisan support in both the Senate (28-1) and House (109-31). In this last week of the legislative session, and with reports that they will not hold a session where they could override his veto, he can enact …
Don’t Let Gov. Scott Sink the Environmental Justice Bill Read More »
The Vermont state Senate gave its final approval today to legislation that would update and substantially expand the scope of the state’s beverage redemption program, commonly known as the Bottle Bill. The vote in favor of H.175 was 17-13 and the bill now must return to the House for possible concurrence before it can go …
Senate Backs Legislation to Modernize Bottle Bill Read More »
A Win For Big Oil And Keeping Vermonters Tethered To Polluting & Costly Heating Systems After the Vermont House narrowly failed to override the Governor’s veto of the Clean Heat Standard (H.715) on a 99-51 vote, Vermont has once again delayed essential climate progress. The Clean Heat Standard – a performance-based approach that would require …
Governor Scott And A Minority Of Lawmakers Stymie Climate Progress Read More »
Governor Scott’s veto of the Clean Heat Standard (H.715) disregards years of hard work to design an approach to strategically and equitably transform the fossil fuel heating sector.
S.148, the environmental justice bill, is headed to the governor’s desk! After initially passing out of the State Senate in late March, the Senate has now concurred with the version of the bill passed resoundingly by the House just days ago. This legislative victory puts Vermont on track to enact its first environmental justice law, …
This year VPIRG is celebrating its 50th anniversary. All year long we’ll be sharing special messages like this—from VPIRG staff, board, and members, past and present—reflecting on some of the major victories this incredible community has achieved together over the past five decades. Kati and Marcie Gallagher here – we’re sisters, and we share a …
Today, the Vermont Senate followed in the footsteps of the House of Representatives in adopting legislation to ban sales of 4-foot linear fluorescent light bulbs starting January 1, 2024.
Yesterday, the Vermont Senate advanced H.744, legislation that would allow the City of Burlington to use ranked choice voting (RCV) in all future city council elections.
Today, community leaders and legislators gathered in Montpelier to call for passage of the state’s first comprehensive Environmental Justice bill, S.148. Leaders discussed environmental justice issues in Vermont, and the actions being taken to remedy known inequities among impacted populations. Vermont is one of only a handful of states that lacks an environmental justice policy, …
Community Leaders & Lawmakers Call for Passage of Environmental Justice Bill Read More »
