In the face of climate change, lawmakers and state officials want to understand how much water businesses divert from streams and rivers. Farmers were required to start recording their usage on July 1.
The petition calls for the state to outline how public land management addresses climate change and biodiversity. Organizers of the petition said they plan to “continue to investigate the legalities.”
On Wednesday, two environmental organizations launched a program that supports landowners in Vermont and parts of eastern New York who own at least 30 acres of forest and are looking to focus their land management on carbon sequestration.
Beling outlined a number of priorities for the department, including deployment of unprecedented amounts of federal funding, implementing an environmental justice law and addressing PFAS.
Staff members at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies are encouraging Vermonters to identify and record any lady beetles they see to help create a statewide lady beetle atlas.
The Department of Public Service’s effort represents part of a trend as state agencies look to include a broader swath of Vermonters in climate-related public policy decisions.
Board members cite vacancies and a lagging attendance rate for the cancellation and promise the show will be back up and running in 2024.
While the rule accounts for only about one-third of the needed emissions reductions in the state’s transportation sector, it is the most impactful measure from the Climate Action Plan still in play.
“Just as a Vermonter who worries about climate change, it's a big day,” said Jennifer Rushlow, director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School.
Montpelier is the only location in Vermont that treats leachate. Officials are waiting for a report to determine whether they can begin treating the substance again.
The environmental organization claims that a new permit for the facility, issued by Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, violates the federal Clean Water Act and Vermont law.
The incident was likely a “one-off,” said Chris Bernier, a biologist with Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Department. Vermonters “shouldn't feel like they need to fear coyotes as a result of this one incident,” he said.
Though Vermont’s drinking water standard for PFAS is lower than those in many other states, it’s now higher than what the EPA considers safe.
Zack Porter, executive director of Standing Trees, said the conservation group would “use every option that we have to force the state to follow the law of the land.” The Vermont Natural Resources Council also criticized the veto.
