Today, the Vermont Senate gave initial approval to legislation (S.20) to ban PFAS and other toxic chemicals from certain products. The bill is supported by firefighters, business groups, educators, public health and children’s advocates, and environmental groups. The bill will be up for its final Senate vote tomorrow, before being…
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The 2020 general election is fast approaching! The Secretary of State has sent every active, registered voter in Vermont their mail-in ballot, and voting is officially underway. Once you receive your ballot, it’s important to remember the “4 S’s” to ensure your vote gets counted: Select your candidates, Seal the ballot inside the return envelope, Sign the certificate…
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We believe that open channels of communication between Vermont citizens and their elected representatives are essential to a healthy, functioning democracy. And in a year like this one, that’s never been more critical. That’s why we’ve compiled the Vote Safe Vermont Candidate Information Toolkit. This comprehensive compilation of legislators’ websites,…
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The Vermont House and Senate need more climate champions. Could you be one? As the only state in New England to experience a rise in greenhouse gas pollution since 1990 and the state with the highest per capita emissions, it’s clear that Vermont is moving in the wrong direction. In…
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An overwhelming majority of Vermonters are worried about global warming and support a wide range of actions to cut Vermont’s climate pollution. That’s according to poll commissioned by VPIRG and Vermont Conservation Voters – released on Wednesday. The alarming news (or at least the news about people being alarmed): 76%…
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OVERVIEW The House Energy and Technology Committee is holding a public hearing on April 23rd from 4:15pm – 7pm in Room 11 of the State House in Montpelier on the future of fossil fuel infrastructure in the state. Several bills have been introduced this year aimed at limiting the growth…
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The electric vehicle incentive program made it into the budget and out of the House late last month, with Representatives allocating $1.5 million to the program. This is a far cry from the $4.5 million VPIRG and our allies have advocated for this session. As it moves on for consideration…
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The Senate has given final approval on a 30-0 vote to S.113 – legislation to address the problem of plastic pollution in Vermont. The Senate had previously given initial approval to the bill on a 27-3 vote. Though this is just the first step toward stopping the problem, if passed…
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Last week, VPIRG spoke to members of the Climate Solutions Caucus in the statehouse to outline the various pieces of the Volkswagen Settlements. Our Clean Energy Advocate, Kanika Gandhi, presented the group with a memo (see below) and described the state and federal level settlement outcomes. The caucus is pushing…
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On Wednesday, VPIRG joined with a coalition of 25 groups from around Vermont — representing youth, low-income, business, public health, environment and others — to announce a shared platform for Climate Action, detailing our shared policy goals for the 2019 session. In a press event at the Vermont State House…
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