S.350 Summary - May 6, 2008

The bill:

Requires greenhouse gas impact statements. To help meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals already in Vermont statute – 25 percent by 2012, 50 percent by 2028 and 75 percent by 2050 – the bill charges the agencies of agriculture, transportation and natural resources to include a greenhouse gas impact statement when they craft administrative rules to govern new programs. (While this information and consideration is important, lawmakers overturned original language in the bill, which would have given agencies greater ability — rule-making — to achieve these goals.)  

Sets public transportation goals. S.350 also begins to crack the transportation ‘nut’ of Vermont’s energy consumption. Importantly, the bill sets goals that seek to integrate Vermont’s transportation network, which means moving towards creating a seamless network of transportation options. The bill also sets goals that will expand Vermonters’ use of public transportation and increase the viability of biking and walking where we need to go.

Creates New Climate Committee. The bill creates the Vermont Climate Change Oversight Committee, a nine-member ‘stakeholder’ body of experts and charges them with generating a report to the Legislature built off of the recommendations of last year’s Commission on Climate Change and the Vermont Council on Rural Development. The CCOC will be comprised of a diverse body of experts who will be charged with identifying potential barriers to implementation, funding sources and priority areas to advance first. The goal is to ensure the good thinking of the CCC and VCRD, their momentum and suggested initiatives are carried forward and turned into reality, based on reality, opportunity and constraints.

Requires the creation of a greenhouse gas inventory. The bill also charges the state with creating a greenhouse gas inventory, which will synthesize existing information to begin to get a better picture of the sources of Vermont’s emissions. (Originally, the bill called for a mandatory registry of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, which would have seriously helped capture a clearer picture of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The provision now in the bill takes a small step forward towards getting the information Vermont needs to understand our contribution to climate change. Such info is vital since if you can’t measure the pollution, you can’t manage it.)

Read the bill by searching for S.350 here