Date/Location Change! – VNRC's 2010 Annual Meeting and Gubernatorial Debate

Due to scheduling conflicts, VNRC’s Annual Meeting and Gubernatorial Debate has changed to Friday, October 1st at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington! The debate, held in conjunction with Renewable Energy Vermont's 2010 Expo, will be from 3:30–5:00 pm. Following the debate there will be a reception, cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, and VNRC's annual meeting.

Stop the Circ Highway!

Remember the “Circ?” Well, that high-cost highway project in Chittenden County (which Bill McKibben calls a “global warming machine”) is back in the limelight at a critical stage of review. The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) needs to hear from as many Vermonters as possible by August 27 on the project. Our view? It’s a bad idea. It would destroy wetlands, waste money, and promote sprawl – all to save 4 minutes of travel time for the average commuter.

Water Activist and Author Maude Barlow Packs the House, Offering Sobering, but Also Hopeful, Messages on Water

Water activist Maude Barlow, speaking in Burlington, recently warned more than 200 Vermonters about the coming global water crisis – and urged them to become active. She painted a worrisome picture of shortages of clean, fresh water for the world’s population, of human suffering, of water refugees and water privatization. She also celebrated the recent U.N. declaration that access to clean water and sanitation is a human right. The event at Main Street Landing was sponsored by Click here to read more and see pictures from the event, which was sponsored by VNRC, the Peace and Justice Center, and the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center.

The Either/Or Myth of Jobs and the Environment

Our economic crisis lingers, and environmental and social disasters continue to occur — from urban runoff to tritium leaks and from underemployment to childhood hunger. In these times many Vermont leaders are tempted to pit one worry against the other, with the refrain, “Do we want to grow good jobs or protect the environment?”...

Vermonters Look to the Woods for Fuel

A cord of wood neatly stacked in a Vermont dooryard has long been a symbol of Vermont’s centuries of self-sufficiency and clever-Yankee use of our local, natural resources.

Now, however, more than ever, spawned by dwindling supplies of traditional fuels, rising energy prices and increasing interest in energy independence, Vermonters of all stripes and persuasions are asking: Should Vermont tap its forests, more than it does today, to meet our energy demands?

The Insidious Costs of Our Oil Addiction

Confronted with pictures of oil-soaked pelicans struggling in Louisiana marshes, we are reminded once again of the many costs of our addiction to oil.

Now, a new study has revealed a more direct cost – also related to our petroleum-based transportation network – that is hitting closer to home: a budget strain Vermont families face if they choose to live far from town centers.

Letting a Crisis Go to Waste?

There is certainly a lot to worry about these days. The catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico — which is devastating the livelihoods of thousands, drowning wildlife in oil and irrevocably ravaging ecosystems — is the most recent and deeply disturbing of our nation's worrisome events.

In Vermont, a series of leaks of radioactive water at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, no comprehensive energy plan for Vermont, significant and semi-debilitating budget constraints, a noticeable trend, for the first time in a century, of a loss of our forestland are among just a few of the challenges facing Vermonters.

There Is No Better Time for a Shift in Energy Policy

The Gulf Coast oil catastrophe is the epitome of what’s wrong with our national energy policy. For many, it’s also become the most prominent and deeply devastating ‘wake-up call’ for kicking our addiction to oil now.

Ironically, the most damaging oil disaster in U.S. history is taking place while Congress finally contemplates comprehensive energy and climate legislation; an effort to cut our dependence on fossil fuels, reduce carbon pollution and transition our country to clean, homegrown power.

Thumbs up, Thumbs Down: A Look at 2010 Under the Golden Dome

Lawmakers wrapped up the 2010 legislative session about midnight on Wednesday, May 12, and it was, without a doubt, one of the wildest and toughest sessions in recent memory. Given the session was dominated by budget shortfalls (and imperfect attempts like Challenges for Change to address it) the end results for Vermont’s natural resources weren’t all bad.

VNRC was very busy on multiple bills all year, both promoting good conservation initiatives and trying minimize bad legislation. Here is VNRC’s take:

WCAX – Governor Signs Bill Granting HydroQuebec Renewable Status, and VNRC Responds