Vermont Natural Resources Council Today, July 1st, marks a key deadline for a couple of our top state-level policy priorities. The Vermont Climate Council just finalized the 2025 update to the Climate Action Plan, and phase 1 of the neonicotinoid pesticide ban we helped pass with a broad coalition in 2024 is taking effect.
Meanwhile, we just learned that the U.S. Senate passed Trump's Budget Reconciliation Bill (on a 51-50 vote), which includes a wide range of deeply concerning policies and funding cuts, including backwards-looking provisions that double down on coal and other fossil fuels while significantly undermining clean energy. Analysts anticipate this bill will increase families' energy bills and kill hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs across the country (among many other harmful impacts).
But it's not over yet--the bill will now head back to the U.S. House of Representatives, and we will continue fighting to stop these devastating policies every step of the way.
Vermont Climate Council adopts 2025 Climate Action Plan
Over the past year, the Vermont Climate Council has been hard at work getting public input, analyzing data, and formulating policies to craft an updated Climate Action Plan. Today is the statutory deadline to adopt a new plan, which the Council has successfully done. The plan outlines a set of 52 priority recommendations as well as a top ten list of recommended actions for the state to advance key strategies to equitably and affordably cut planet-warming pollution, reduce energy costs, and enhance resiliency in a climate-changed world.
“Beyond the dangerous, sometimes deadly, costs and consequences of climate change, there are huge economic benefits in climate action. Vermonters are vulnerable to a heavy reliance on high-cost, price-volatile fossil fuels, and there are more affordable, cleaner, and healthier solutions at our fingertips. The Climate Action Plan outlines various pathways to make them available to Vermonters,” said Johanna Miller, VNRC Energy & Climate Program Director and Vermont Climate Council member.
Thank you to everyone who shared their input throughout this process. With a backdrop of federal barriers to clean energy and climate action, we need to stick together and stay engaged to ensure Vermont steps up to meet the moment and address our changing climate. Stay tuned for more opportunities to get involved, and read more about the new version of Vermont’s Climate Action Plan here.
Neonicotinoid Ban Takes Effect
Today, the first phase of a ban on pollinator-harming pesticides, which we helped pass in 2024 alongside a coalition of beekeepers, scientists, farmers, and environmental advocates, is taking effect. Neonicotinoids are toxic pesticides that threaten bees, bats, birds, and the ecosystems they support, and this law is a critical step towards addressing these harms. These pesticides not only threaten flora and fauna, but also our aquatic ecosystems when they enter watersheds like Lake Champlain through runoff.
Starting today, Act 182 prohibits outdoor applications of neonicotinoids, and starting in 2029, it will prohibit the use of field crop seeds (corn, soy, wheat, and cereal) treated with these pesticides, giving farmers plenty of time to adopt safer alternatives. The coalition is urging the Agency of Agriculture to complete the rule-making process to implement this law promptly and include public participation. “Vermont's neonicotinoid ban is a significant step forward in addressing the harm that pesticides cause to public health and the environment. VNRC is hopeful that the ban will lead to restrictions on other pesticides that data show are contaminating Vermont's water and soils," said Jon Groveman, VNRC Policy and Water Program Director. Read more about Act 182 here.
Last fall in our Vermont Environmental Report, we dove deep into the impacts of neonic pesticides on pollinators, food systems, and more, interviewing beekeepers, ecologists, and policy experts. Read the full story here.
P.S. We'll keep you updated on what's happening with the federal Budget Reconciliation Bill, including what you can do and potential impacts on Vermont. Stay tuned!
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Vermont Natural Resources Council
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Montpelier, VT 05602
Vermont Natural Resources Council
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