News & Updates

The 2022 legislative session has begun, and our staff at VPIRG are back to doing what they do best: fighting for the public interest. 2021 marked a year of many victories including universal vote-by-mail, major investments in climate solutions and broadband, the nation’s strongest ban on PFAS chemicals in consumer products and so much more. ...

Vermont is on track to become the first state in the nation to ban the sale of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) after the lighting industry conceded to state officials that better, mercury-free alternatives are now widely available. Attention now turns to the wide variety of other mercury-containing fluorescent lighting still being sold for residential and ...

Today, the Vermont Climate Council adopted the state’s first-ever Climate Action Plan to meet statutorily required climate pollution reduction targets – a big step towards getting our act together as a state to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Read the full Plan by clicking here and find the summary here. We at VPIRG, alongside ...

VPIRG members have been pushing for an equitable, substantial Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) for several years. We believe a well-designed program can boost our economy, reduce climate emission, and address inequities in our transportation systems.  In December 2020, a bipartisan group of governors and mayors from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia announced that they would ...

VPIRG delivered a petition signed by over 760 concerned Vermonters to the Vermont Public Utility Commission today, urging them to reject GlobalFoundries’ demand to be exempted from renewable energy and climate laws. This brazen attempt by the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the state to get out of its renewable energy responsibilities cannot be allowed ...

We are deeply grateful for the work of the Vermont Climate Council, which has put in an immense amount of effort towards creating a Climate Action Plan for the state – the first draft of which is due on December 1st of this year. Members of the Council, subcommittees, and public engagement team have put ...

GlobalFoundries, the largest electricity user in Vermont, is working on a deal with the Scott Administration to become a “self-managed utility,” cutting off its reliance on Green Mountain Power for electricity. In doing so, GlobalFoundries is declaring it should be exempt from the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. If the state bows to their ...

Coalition Calls for Phase Out of Mercury in Lighting in Vermont A new report released today by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, the Mercury Policy Project and the Clean Lighting Coalition highlights the environmental and health risks posed when fluorescent lamps break, especially to vulnerable populations. The report provides concrete steps government, industry, consumers, and others, like childcare ...