Standing outside the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington waterfront, Queen City Mayor Miro Weinberger said the Vermont Climate Pledge Coalition will hold a summit this fall in which municipal governments, the state, businesses, colleges and organizations will pledge to reach specific goals to reduce carbon emissions — and will outline plans to do so.
Weinberger characterized the statewide plan as a way to counteract the “historic mistake of the Trump administration” in withdrawing earlier this month from the worldwide Paris climate change accord.
“I envision Burlington coming to the summit and reporting out where we plan to be in 2025,” the mayor, a Democrat, said. Ideas likely will include expanding on the city’s current efforts to require energy efficiencies for downtown business construction and its transition to electric buses, he said.
Gov. Phil Scott, joining Weinberger and other leaders at the press conference Tuesday, said he’s on board with the coalition. He will also convene a state climate change commission to look at economic opportunities related to carbon reduction.
The efforts are intended to meet the Paris agreement’s goal of reducing emissions by 26 to 28 percent from the 2005 level by 2050, as well as Vermont’s more stringent goal of a 50 percent reduction in emissions from the 1990 level by 2028, Weinberger said.
Meeting individual pledges would be voluntary, Weinberger said. But, he noted, the public would be able to monitor whether each participant was reaching its goals.
As the Republican governor pledged his support, environmentalists listened warily. A group from the Vermont Public Interest Research Group stood off to the side holding signs urging Scott to “walk the walk” on climate change. Scott’s opposition to wind power and a carbon tax, they contended, will hinder any attempt to put a dent in emissions.
But Scott assured the crowd that he was committed to meeting the tougher Vermont goals, as well as the Paris standards. He argued those lower levels could be reached without new industrial-sized wind projects or a Vermont-only tax on carbon emissions.
“If we did it as a country, that might be one thing,” Scott said of a carbon tax. Asked what kind of pollution-cutting measures he would agree to, Scott mentioned tax incentives for energy-efficient items such as electric cars.
Vermont Natural Resources Council executive director Brian Shupe reacted warily to Scott’s plan after attending Tuesday’s announcement.
“We’re hopeful, but a commitment to take action really depends on taking action,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll do it all on tax credits.”
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Why is this a weinberger-focused article?
How long has it been since Bernie Sander spoke to Seven Days?
It is hard to believe, with all the evidence now available about the principle driver of climate being solar output and cosmic radiation, that there are still politicians pushing their carbon agenda. We are headed into a grand solar minimum with the historic pattern of cooling global temperatures of some extremes. This is a serious concern for New England, covered by glaciers in the past from excessive snows that could not melt entirely during the shorter Summer season. Come on, get your heads on straight.
“Why is this a weinberger-focused article? How long has it been since Bernie Sander spoke to Seven Days?”
How long has it been since you reminded everyone of your pathological hatred of Weinberger?
C’mon Timothy how dare you speak the truth that goes directly against the liberal agenda? I am all for reducing the use of fossil fuels but not by covering the landscape with wind turbines and those beautiful solar panels that will quickly fill of landfills starting very soon?
Dear Phil Scott and Vermonters.
We at Hempfully Green in Putney want you to know that new construction in Vermont should be made with Hempcrete for environmental and indoor air quality purposes. The woody core of the agricultural hemp plant, lime and water are the ingredients of your hempcrete wall systems. Combined correctly they will save the occupant 75-85 % in fuel bill savings and sequester carbon making them carbon negative. Other construction methodology is responsible for 40% of our carbon emissions. Hempcrete houses will outlast other materials and are fully recyclable. A large house of 3000 square feet can be built with hemp from 5 acres grown in one season. The other parts of that same crop can be used for other purposes. We at Hempfully Green are trained in hempcrete construction and we will provide pro-bono design consultation, material assembly and building expertise to the first investor willing to build with this internationally rising material. Our houses will be helping us fight climate change when they are hempcrete, while also saving our children from the extreme toxic loads of mainstream building materials.
I could care less if Sanders ever speaks to Seven Days.I have never supported his BS narrative. And I think his more recent inching towards the 1% he supposedly loathes speaks volumes about his hypocrisy. Sanders could care less about Vermonters. Climate Change is an oxymoron. In Vermont, a few people getting rich on what will be soon The Green Wind Turbine & Solar Panel state. It shouldn’t be long before tourism is a thing of the past here because mountains will be a thing of the past. But hey, those of you who buy into this nonsense will feel virtuous.