Editor’s note: This commentary is by Anna Marchessault, who is an organizer of the Youth Climate Congress and a student at the University of Vermont.
On Nov. 17, Vermont Youth Climate Congress convened and, according to the Rutland Herald, did “something lawmakers have failed to do so far: draft comprehensive legislation to combat climate change.”
One hundred seventy-one students from 44 schools participated. We were a diverse group. The youngest delegates came from the Marion Cross School in Norwich. Rural schools like Barton Academy and Glover Community School sent delegations. There were middle schoolers from Hunt, Crossett Brook and Main Street Middle schools. Some of the largest high schools in the state were represented, like CVU and Essex, but also smaller schools like BFA Fairfax, Hazen Union and Sharon Academy. Students made the trip from Brattleboro High School and Burr & Burton Academy. Milton, Randolph and Vergennes high schools were there. Home-schooled students participated. College students like myself from UVM, St. Mike’s, Champlain, Castleton, Goddard and Middlebury were delegates. Even students from Vermont Law School were there. It was amazing.
We gathered for two reasons. First, because the climate crisis puts our futures in peril. Gov. Phil Scott’s Climate Action Commission has warned: “Global climate change is a fundamental threat to Vermont, to our economy, environment, and way of life.”
Second, because in the face of this undeniable, existential danger, Scott and Vermont’s other elected officials are not acting fast enough to protect us. This is a climate emergency and we need Vermont’s leaders to act like it.
We took over the Statehouse not because we wanted to, but because we needed to. We did it to demonstrate to the governor and legislators how climate action can and should be done.
Once the congress was called to order we quickly broke into committees that focused on topics such as transportation, heating and energy, agriculture, and climate justice.
Another committee drafted our declaration’s preamble, which begins: “In order to preserve and protect the natural systems upon which all living things depend, we must quickly come together to agree on a plan to combat the global climate crisis. Every person, corporation, organization, and government has a role to play. Our generation is the least responsible for the climate crisis, but we are the generation that will face the consequences. Today we assemble in our state capitol to express our frustration with Vermont’s insufficient action in the face of this climate emergency. We are here to offer concrete solutions that address this challenge and demand that our state’s government do everything in its power to protect our future.”
In just over an hour, the policy committees identified more than a dozen concrete steps to quickly transition Vermont off of fossil fuels while lifting up the people and communities that need the most assistance. Some of those steps include:
- Turning Vermont’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals into mandates;
- Banning the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure;
- Increasing incentives for renewable energy generation, transmission and storage;
- Funding climate solutions by charging fossil fuel companies for the pollution they cause; and
- Requiring net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2032 and full decarbonization by 2040.
We then gathered on the front steps of the state capitol and passed our declaration – unanimously. It was an impressive demonstration of young Vermonters’ desire for real action.
Before we adjourned the congress, we pledged to return to the Statehouse on Jan. 10 to deliver the document to the governor, senators, and representatives who need to act on climate in 2020. Our future depends on them acting on climate now.
Anyone can read the full Young Vermonters United Climate Declaration and become a citizen co-signer at www.vermontyouthcongress.com.
