Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Vermont environmental leaders Wednesday applauded recent steps in New England and in the nation to address climate change and to aggressively curb reliance on fossil fuels.’ They also highlighted Vermont’s recent leadership to both prepare for the impacts of climate change and reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.’
‘ ‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Gov. Shumlin recently joined with seven fellow governors in a bold agreement to work together to put 3.3 million zero emissions vehicles on the road in our states by 2025.’ These cars include battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and other advanced automobiles that will be coming to the passenger car market soon. A program recently launched by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) provides matching grants to’ help municipalities install electric vehicle charging stations. ‘ Just last week, the first round of applications were received from six towns: Barre, Bennington, Burlington, Middlebury, Saint Albans and Morristown.’ The grant awards will be announced early in the new year.’ ‘
"Vermont’s single biggest contribution to climate change comes from the transportation sector, so this is an important priority for Vermont, said’ ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz, the Chair of Gov. Shumlin's Climate Cabinet. "We cannot effectively meet our energy and climate goals unless we adopt alternative fuel and zero emission vehicles widely in the coming years, and this matching grant program helps the state adapt infrastructure to aid this transformation."’
Karen Glitman, from Drive Electric Vermont said ‘We applaud Governor Shumlin’s support for regional efforts that will make it easier for Vermonters to choose to drive electric cars.’’ ‘
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first market-based cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, on Friday announced the results of their 22nd auction of carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances.’ The RGGI auction was the final auction of the year, generating $864,672 for Vermont, and cumulative proceeds for the state of nearly $12 million.’ ‘
The success of the recent auction was aided in part by the recent tightening of carbon caps in the RGGI market, supported by Vermont and other states, designed to make the carbon reduction goals of the market more effective and robust.’
Governor Shumlin said, ‘RGGI not only helps to cap greenhouse gas emissions in our region, but it brings needed resources to Vermont to help support important programs to weatherize Vermonter’s homes and businesses.’’ Almost a quarter of Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions come from heating our homes and buildings.’ ‘
‘The success of RGGI is great news, said Paul Zabriskie, the Director of Energy Smart, a program that provides weatherization services to low income Vermonters.’ ‘I have seen, first hand, how weatherization programs can make a difference in Vermonter’s lives and keep money within the Vermont economy.’ Weatherizing a home dramatically reduces the amount of fuel oil households use for heating and cooling, and can save as much as $1000 year.’’ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Eight Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to require upwind states to reduce air pollution generated within their borders, which causes asthma attacks, respiratory disease, and other public health problems downwind.’ The petition is aimed at requiring nine upwind states ‘ Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia ‘ to be a ‘good neighbor’ by reducing air pollution emissions that are carried by prevailing winds and contribute to the formation of ozone to the north and east.’
Governor Shumlin announced Vermont's participation in the EPA petition by noting that New England Suffers from its downwind position to states with much more intensive use of fossil fuel, including coal. He said, "We should not have to bear the consequences of serving as the tailpipe for the emissions of other states."
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The bipartisan White House Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resiliency met for the first time in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. The group, to which’ Governor Shumlin was appointed as a member, is charged with developing concrete recommendations about ways the federal government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with extreme weather, sea level rise, and other impacts of climate change.’ At the Tuesday meeting, Governor Shumlin told the gathered federal, state, local, and tribal officials that states would benefit significantly from clearer federal disaster recovery funding rules, better coordination among federal agencies, and greater federal focus on prevention by ensuring that infrastructure is built, or rebuilt after disasters, to withstand repeated severe weather events.’
‘ ‘In Vermont, our experience responding to and recovering from Tropical Storm Irene showed us that there is room for improvement in the ways that the federal agencies work with the state in the aftermath of a disaster,"’ Gov. Shumlin said, "and’ the federal programs we rely on must do a better job supporting us in our efforts to prevent future climate-related harm in our communities.’’ ‘
The Governor also urged the federal government and task force to press for other prevention strategies at the national level to address climate change, including energy efficiency, renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel usage, and carbon offset markets such as RGGI.
While these are critical steps forward the Governor said there is still work to be done.’ He said, ‘I am proud of the efforts we have made so far to reduce greenhouse emissions and prepare Vermont for the impacts of climate change, but we have more work ahead of us.’ ‘
He noted for example that the latest update of Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory showed the state is still short of achieving our goals. ‘
‘We are continuing our efforts,’ the Governor said. ‘The Public Service Department has nearly completed the Total Energy Study that will help us implement the comprehensive energy plan and we are working with the legislature to make sure that net metering, one of our most successful renewable energy programs, remains strong and available to all Vermonters who want to produce their own power.’’ ‘
Meanwhile, we continue to work with our partners, especially cities and towns around Vermont, to make sure that road and other projects are built with those effects of climate change that we cannot prevent in mind. ‘
‘We are also making sure that the state itself uses energy efficiently by retrofitting state buildings, providing incentives for state employees to use buses and carpools to get to work and by purchasing zero emission vehicles for the state fleet,’ he said. ‘In addition, we have joined with partners in projects that will help supply solar power to state buildings, an effort we hope to expand on.’
Source: Governor;s office 12.11.2013