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 is simple: nearly $17 million in federal money meant to help Vermont build more EV chargers has been frozen by the Trump Administration. In response, Attorney General Charity Clark’s office did the right thing: they sued the federal government to get those funds unfrozen and put to work for Vermonters.
But here’s the shocking part: instead of supporting the attorney general’s lawsuit, Governor Scott’s administration refused to provide simple documentation Trump’s action was harming Vermont – meaning Vermont was left out in the cold, while the judge issued an injunction against Trump’s funding freeze for fourteen other states involved in the suit.
As I told Seven Days:
“The Scott administration deliberately undermining the AG’s attempt to get funds back from the Trump administration — for Vermonters — is beyond disappointing,”
What’s worse, this comes on the heels of Gov. Scott citing his perception that Vermont lacks charging infrastructure to justify delaying Vermont’s clean cars rules, which require auto manufacturers to deliver EVs to Vermont dealers (reality check: Vermont needs to keep building out EV charging infrastructure, but we actually have the most per capita of any state in the country).
So, Gov. Scott thinks we don’t have enough charging stations, but won’t push to get federal funds Vermont is legally owed to build those charging stations? It’s almost as if he isn’t actually committed to helping Vermont transition to EVs.
To justify their inaction, Scott Administration officials told Seven Days that they didn’t want to risk the ire of the Trump Administration by fighting for these funds. The only problem with that? As Rep. Mollie Burke of Brattleboro, a longtime member of the House Transportation committee and champion of Vermont’s work to support EVs so aptly put it, “We know that people who try to play nice with the Trump administration still get screwed.”
Transportation is the number one source of climate pollution in our state. Expanding access to EV charging is one of the most important things we can do to meet our climate goals, clean our air, and help Vermonters save money. For the governor and his administration to obstruct the release of these critical federal funds is an abdication of their responsibility at a time when we can least afford it.
If you agree, I hope you’ll take a moment to email Gov. Scott, urging him to reverse course and support the attorney general’s work to protect Vermonters from the actions of the Trump Administration.
At VPIRG, we will continue to hold the administration accountable and fight to ensure Vermont doesn’t get left behind in the transition to a clean energy future. Thank you for standing with us in this crucial work.