This commentary is by Deb Markowitz of Montpelier. She is former Vermont secretary of state and former secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, currently serving as the chair of Conservation Law Foundation’s Vermont advisory board.
As Vermont’s former secretary of state, I have often seen how elections can have meaningful consequences. We are experiencing this now as President Donald Trump and his cronies work to dismantle the federal government and reverse the progress on so many things that Vermonters care deeply about.
It is hard not to feel immobilized by shock and fear. But one thing we have learned from the last time this happened is that states have the power to hold the line and continue the progress, even in the face of federal backpedaling. This is especially true when it comes to protecting the health and safety of our communities by acting on climate change.
Last time Trump was in power and started the process to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, the international agreements to reduce climate emissions, a broad coalition of states, local governments, universities, and the private sector came together to commit to continue the progress. More than 4,000 governors, mayors, CEOs and university presidents signed a commitment to continue to meet the emissions reduction targets set out in the agreement.
According to the World Resources Institute, “Bottom-up leadership from states, cities, businesses and other subnational actors would reduce emissions by up to 37% by 2030, even without federal intervention.” This coalition was largely successful, despite significant federal attempts to stall and reverse climate efforts.
At a time when Vermont needs to be doubling down on its climate action, Gov. Phil Scott and fossil fuel lobbyists have been pressing the Legislature to dramatically back away from our commitment to reduce the climate pollution coming from Vermont. He claims that recent election results support this “go slow” approach.
There is no question that the recent Republican gains in the Vermont Statehouse came as a big surprise to many. But that election was not a referendum on Vermont’s climate leadership. Vermonters still overwhelmingly opted for a strong Democratic majority — legislators who have supported, and continue to support, actions to reduce climate pollution and hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the damage they are doing to our planet and our communities.
The governor talks a lot about making Vermont a more affordable place to live. I agree with this 100%! One way to do this is to make fossil fuel companies pay for the terrible damage they have caused to the state and to homeowners with devastating floods and to deploy more homegrown energy so that families are insulated from the large fluctuation in energy prices from global trade wars.
With so much going on in Washington it is hard to focus on everything that is happening in Montpelier — but we must! This is the wrong time to roll back the progress we have made and kill laws that were passed to ensure Vermont meets its climate commitments.
Vermonters’ strong support for our environment and our planet did not change last November. The Legislature should reject the governor’s call to reduce accountability and slow down the state’s progress to reduce climate pollution. We must learn from the last Trump years; when states, local governments and the private sector stood strong and continued to take climate action. Let us not back away from doing our part to support global efforts to protect the planet from even worse climate impacts. Vermonters deserve this!
