Vermont is on track to miss a key carbon pollution reduction mandate — by the equivalent of 785 million gas-powered passenger vehicle miles traveled — according to an environmental advocacy organization that filed a lawsuit against the state earlier this year.
In 2020, the Legislature enacted a law, called the Global Warming Solutions Act, that requires Vermont to hit emissions reduction milestones in 2025, 2030 and again in 2050.
Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore, who’s legally responsible for ensuring that Vermont meets those benchmarks, issued a progress report in July saying Vermont is on track to achieve the 2025 mandate.
The Conservation Law Foundation, however, says the Agency of Natural Resources used a faulty modeling tool to arrive at those estimates. And an outside consultant commissioned by CLF has found that the state will emit at least 240,000 more metric tons of carbon pollution than state statute allows for.
“It shows a plane on a crash course right into a mountain,” CLF Vice President Elena Mihaly said Wednesday.
What’s frankly so alarming is that the agency has spent the past year telling the Climate Council, the leaders of our state Legislature and the public that we are on track, that it does not need any new rules or updates.Elena Mihaly, Conservation Law Foundation
Mihaly on Wednesday made CLF’s case to two subcommittees of the Vermont Climate Council, a 23-person panel created by the Legislature to help Vermont chart an emissions reduction strategy.
“And what’s frankly so alarming is that the agency has spent the past year telling the Climate Council, the leaders of our state Legislature and the public that we are on track, that it does not need any new rules or updates to ensure meeting the 2025 mandate,” she said.
The Agency of Natural Resources declined to comment on CLF’s presentation Wednesday, saying it needs more time to evaluate the organization’s alternative modeling methodology. Moore told Vermont Public in September that the agency has hired a consultant to help them refine their model, but that she stands by her staff’s prediction that Vermont is on track to meet the 2025 requirement.
CLF is asking a judge to require Moore to reevaluate whether Vermont will in fact meet its 2025 emissions mandate. Mihaly said a more accurate review will likely show that Vermont is not on track to meet the target, which would trigger a special rulemaking process to initiate emissions reduction activities sufficient to meet the 2025 mandate in Vermont law.
Attorney General Charity Clark, who’s defending the agency in court, issued a motion to dismiss the suit late last month. Clark said the Global Warming Solutions Act allows for lawsuits only if the state fails to hit statutory deadlines enshrined in the law. And Vermont’s first deadline doesn’t arrive until Jan. 1, 2025.
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