By Keith Whitcomb Jr. [email protected]
MONTPELIER — The state is behind on its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a fresh report from the Agency of Natural Resources.
But advocates and lawmakers say they think the state can catch up.
The report, “Vermont Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast: Brief 1990–2016” was filed by the ANR earlier this week. It, and past reports, can be found on the ANR’s website, bit.ly/0108Emission
According to the report, while greenhouse gas emissions for Vermont in 2016 were down 4% from where they were in 2015, they’re still 13% above what they were in 1990.
Most of the reductions came from the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, with small decreases in waste and agricultural sectors, the report states. Meanwhile, increases were seen from the industrial processes, fossil fuel industry and transportation sectors.
“The vast majority of Vermont’s emissions, over 70%, come from fossil fuels used for how we get around and how we heat our homes and buildings,” said Jared Duval, executive director of the Energy Action Network, a nonprofit network of businesses, nonprofits and other entities with the stated goal of helping the state reach its emissions goals.
Duval said Wednesday that while it’s encouraging that there’s been a decrease, things will have to ramp up if emissions goals are to be met.
“The one that’s nearest to us in time, to meet it would require the least amount of emissions reduction compared to the others, is the commitment that (Gov. Phil) Scott made to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement, which would mean that Vermont has to reduce our statewide greenhouse gas emissions somewhere between 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025,” he said. “As of 2016, we’re 5% below our 2005 levels and we need to get to 26% to 28% below.”
Duval said the Energy Action Network doesn’t advocate for any specific policies. But Duval countered, what’s worked in the past can work again, this time with a focus on transportation and heating fuel.
Johanna Miller, energy and climate program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said it’s time for the state to take more seriously its greenhouse gas emissions (GHE) and climate change goals.
“The big priority for my organization, and for many, is to turn our longstanding climate goals into requirements,” she said. “We have had carbon reduction goals on the books since 2006 and as the latest inventory makes it clear, our GHEs continue to be far above our goals, and though they were reduced a bit over the course of 2016, they’re still 13% above 1990 levels, so we’re radically short in terms of meeting those goals.”
She said House Rep. Timothy Briglin, D-Thetford, intends to introduce “a bill called the Global Warming Solutions Act” on Friday.”
“Essentially what it does is it commits a year-long rule-making process that would enable stakeholder engagement, and it would also call for the creation of a climate council, which would be a diverse composition of key agencies, leaders of state government, officials as well as representatives from a very diverse swath of stakeholders who have real interest and perspective in this conversation,” she said.
Briglin was not reachable on Wednesday, however, Sen. Christopher Bray, D-Addison, said he and Briglin coordinated during the summer to introduce complementary bills in their respective chambers that would address emissions.
“What I’ve been concentrating on is modernizing our energy efficiency utilities in the state of Vermont to have them target, first and foremost, greenhouse gas reductions and secondarily doing it in the most energy efficient way,” Bray said.
He said he plans to introduce his Energy Efficiency Modernization Act later this month. He said it would let Efficiency Vermont, a utility created in 2000 by the Public Utility Commission to reduce electricity usage, address issues such as home-heating systems, which it does a bit of now, and transportation.
“The governor has said he thinks it’s important to have set aggressive goals, so we take the challenge seriously and have something to aim for,” said Rebecca Kelley, Scott’s spokeswoman, in an email. “He believes that while we’re missing our shorter-term targets, our progress won’t be linear — we will see an acceleration in technology and adoption that makes the long-term goals more achievable and we should keep working towards them.”
She said it’s also important to Scott that these goals be met in a way that doesn’t make the state less affordable.
“He believes we do that by incentivizing the transition to electric vehicles and more efficient home-heating solutions, and by supporting innovations that will help expedite this transition,” Kelley said.
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