This commentary is by state Rep. Gabrielle Stebbins, D-Burlington.
In a recent radio interview, Gov. Scott said he doesn’t disagree with the Legislature when it comes to the goal of mitigating climate pollution. I wish this were the case.
While Gov. Scott says he shares our climate goals, in reality he has actively worked to oppose critical climate-focused initiatives.
As an analogy, imagine two people who say they want to get to the summit of a mountain. One is out on the trail, putting in the work, and hiking up the mountain. The other is sitting on their couch and staring at the mountain through the window. Which one is actually serious about achieving the goal? The Legislature is putting in the work; the governor is not.
Instead, he has opposed and delayed progress. He vetoed the Global Warming Solutions Act. That is the law that finally made our “goals” around climate pollution reduction meaningful, establishing a legal requirement to meet them and forming the Vermont Climate Council to write Vermont’s first Climate Action Plan.
Regarding the Transportation and Climate Initiative — one of the most important recommendations in Vermont’s Climate Action Plan –—he had his staff join regional meetings for years, talking a good talk, but ultimately, he refused to commit.
The Clean Heat Standard was another key Climate Action Plan recommendation. He vetoed this bill twice with a rationale that doesn’t hold water, saying he “would not veto a bill that directs the Public Utility Commission to design a potential clean heat standard — provided it’s returned to the Legislature, in bill form with all the details, and debated, amended and voted on with the transparency Vermonters deserve.”
But that’s exactly what the law requires — it’s stated twice. First with: “notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Commission shall not file proposed rules with the Secretary of State implementing the Clean Heat Standard without specific authorization enacted by the General Assembly.” Then again with: “On or before January 15, 2025, the Commission shall submit to the General Assembly final proposed rules to implement the Clean Heat Standard. The Commission shall not file the final proposed rules with the Secretary of State until specific authorization is enacted by the General Assembly to do so.”
This seems pretty clear to me, and if the governor had suggestions as to how to make the statute even more clear, he never shared them with the Legislature.
The governor also mentioned his concern about hurting the most vulnerable. But that’s exactly why the Legislature moved forward with the Affordable Heat Act.
Generally, it’s the Vermonters with means who are buying heat pumps and solar and electric vehicles. It’s the people who can’t afford to make these investments that we must help. The Affordable Heat Act (which sets up — but doesn’t implement! — a Clean Heat Standard) requires that a third of all clean heat activity go to low- and moderate-income Vermonters.
Unfortunately, Gov. Scott has offered no significant alternative policy ideas. He has pretty much just said no. No to the Global Warming Solutions Act. No to the Transportation and Climate Initiative. No to the Affordable Heat Act.
Instead, he took credit in the radio interview for proposing state budgets that include climate investments. But these budgets are mostly made up of federal investments made possible by President Biden and our congressional delegation — not due to anything Gov, Scott has done.
The governor also knows that climate action is a top priority of the Democratically-led Legislature — the body of government with actual budget-making authority — and that if he did not propose funding for climate action, the Legislature would put it in the state budget anyway.
In defending his opposition to any real policy action, Gov. Scott has previously said that “Vermont is not the problem” when it comes to climate change. But, of course, every state could use that excuse. That is not leadership. If we all shirk responsibility, things only get worse.
Research by the Energy Action Network reveals that Vermont has the third-highest emissions, per capita, of the entire Northeast, behind only Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. And over the last 170 years, Vermont has produced more total climate pollution than over 70 countries around the world. Waiting for everyone else to act first means all of humanity suffers.
I appreciated Gov. Scott’s leadership during Covid. But he is not leading when it comes to addressing climate change or preparing Vermonters for more extreme and frequent storms.
Setting goals is not enough. Working to achieve them with real and substantial policy action is what really matters. Unfortunately, on that score, Gov. Scott is sitting on the couch — and Vermonters are paying the price.
