Editor’s note: This commentary is by Sue Minter, of Waterbury Center, who is the Democratic nominee for governor of Vermont. She is a former state representative and was secretary of the Vermont Department of Transportation.
[A]s Irene Recovery Officer for Vermont, I have seen firsthand the devastating impacts of extreme weather on our state. Our next governor has to not only understand that climate change is real but understand the causes and offer real solutions.
I know that climate change is not just real; it’s here. Representing Vermont on President Barack Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, I worked with leaders across the country who are dealing with the devastating effects of climate change — historic drought, fires, storm surge and sea level rise.
I agree with the characterization by former Gov. Jim Douglas in his 2005 executive order on climate change, which recognized “the scientific evidence of destabilizing human influence on global climatic systems.”
Changing our carbon-based economy will take regional action. Douglas was the first governor to sign on to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a bipartisan partnership that now includes all six New England states and other states in the Northeast. The RGGI model was aimed, in the words of Douglas administration negotiator Jeffrey Wennberg, at showing “you can get meaningful reductions in emissions and at the same time do it at a price that’s affordable to ratepayers.”
The good news? RGGI works. Research from the Nicholas Institute at Duke University shows that RGGI, which applies to the power sector, has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent compared with a business-as-usual scenario. And as a participant in RGGI, Vermont has received over $10 million in proceeds to invest in renewable energy to transform our energy away from carbon-based power.
On this, the 10th anniversary of the RGGI program, Vermonters can be proud that we were early leaders on climate. Let’s not let anyone tell us we have to slow down.
On Aug. 15, we celebrate 10 years since the original RGGI partner states came together and published a model rule to establish the program.
In Vermont we are proving that we can partner with our neighbors to reduce emissions while also investing in efficiency and renewable energy. We are showing that these investments mean jobs — over 17,000 jobs in the clean energy sector for Vermonters. And we are doing it all while at the same time we keep rates affordable, just as the RGGI program intended.
This progress has convinced me that we can do more through the RGGI model to reduce our carbon footprint while also creating jobs and growing our economy.
As secretary of transportation, I worked with Northeastern states to discuss strategies for partnering to expand the RGGI model to the transportation sector — Vermont’s largest source of carbon pollution in Vermont. I have made that idea a key element of my Vermont Climate and Energy Plan. As your governor, my commitment would be to reach out in a bipartisan way to other Northeastern governors and work hard to expand the successful RGGI program. If we do that, we can reduce carbon pollution and boost investment in rail, public transit and innovative technologies such as plug-in vehicle charging stations.
Our next governor must understand the significance of climate change to our economy and our future, and must bring serious solutions to the table to address it. We cannot afford to have a governor who waffles on acknowledging the scientific consensus on climate change, or who wants to take renewable energy technologies off the table.
On this, the 10th anniversary of the RGGI program, Vermonters can be proud that we were early leaders on climate. Let’s not let anyone tell us we have to slow down. Let’s charge forward together and continue our progress toward a cleaner and safer environment and a stronger economy. Jim Douglas’s RGGI program showed us that we can achieve both of those goals together.
