This commentary is by Lauren Hierl, Executive Director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council
As 2024 draws to a close, I resolve to begin the new year with both optimism and determination to protect the things we care about. At the heart of Vermont’s identity is our shared connection to nature. We love the beauty and abandon of our state. We also know that a healthy environment is essential for a healthy economy. Our state relies on its brand of a clean and protected environment to attract residents, visitors and businesses.
But I am wary of a false choice: that we must choose between an affordable Vermont and a clean and healthy Vermont. Protecting our environment and health saves our state money and helps our local economies by protecting Vermont’s greatest assets – our clean air, water, land and vibrant communities.
We all know affordability is a significant issue, and the status quo isn’t working for many Vermonters. First, people spend too much money to heat their homes and get around. The costs of heating and transporting fossil fuels are expensive and unpredictable.
As an example, in November 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of oil in Vermont rose to over $5 per gallon — more than $2 per gallon higher than the year before. The Vermont Legislature passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 to ensure our state would address the growing effects of climate change while helping Vermonters access more stable, local heat sources and better transportation options. While we debate the most effective ways to implement this law, we must continue to work on solutions to help all Vermonters transition to clean and affordable ways to power and heat our buildings and get where we need to go.
Over the past two summers, Vermont has experienced devastating floods that are becoming more extreme due to climate change. These floods have upended the lives of thousands in communities across Vermont and have cost our state more than a billion dollars.
Earlier this year, the Vermont Legislature passed the Flood Safety Act, which will help reduce flood risk by keeping development away from our rivers and out of the way. The bill also better protects wetlands, which can act as sponges on the landscape, and improves dam safety.
These critical steps forward are just beginning to take effect. Still, when rolled out in our communities, they will help protect the lives and livelihoods of Vermonters and save our communities money – especially as Vermont is unfortunately expected to see increasingly intense flooding in the coming years.
Vermont also continues to implement the Vermont Clean Water Act of 2015, created to clean up Lake Champlain and ensure healthy water throughout our state. When the bill first passed, Vermonters rallied and declared that we were “all in” and needed to do our part to protect our waters. We realized that the costs of allowing our waters to become increasingly polluted are unacceptably high.
We have invested significant resources in this work and significant progress has been made. Meanwhile, work continues as we still see too many beaches closed due to algal blooms and too many waterways that remain polluted. Vermont must continue to take action, including creating a more effective system to regulate farm pollution.
Similarly, Vermont and other states already pay an exorbitant amount to clean up contaminated water. Harmful chemicals like PFAS have been found in Vermont’s drinking water, and exposure to these chemicals increases the risk of many diseases – which also contributes to rising healthcare costs
To help address the human and financial costs of PFAS contamination, the legislature made it easier to hold polluters accountable for the harm they cause, and they have banned certain products containing PFAS from being sold in Vermont. There is more to do, including banning PFAS from additional products, such as dental floss and cleaning products.
In the past two sessions, the Legislature passed bills encouraging the development of affordable multifamily housing. As these bills begin to be implemented, we are already seeing these policies stimulate more housing of all kinds. By focusing development in and near our urban and village centers, we will increase the vibrancy of our communities, protect Vermont’s forests and other critical natural resources, and hold down municipal infrastructure costs. We must unite to successfully roll out these policies across the state so that all communities can benefit.
These are just a few of the policies that Vermont has recently adopted to address some pressing issues. If we let them work as intended, they will help create healthier, safer communities while reducing the heavy costs of a polluted environment. We are excited to work with all incoming legislators to build on this work.
Vermonters deserve solutions to address affordability. But any leader who tells us that we must choose affordability over a healthy environment simply locks us into today’s problems even further, pushing even greater costs onto people’s shoulders in the long term.
If we want to create a state that attracts new families and where our children choose to stay, we must create communities where people want to live. Fortunately, policies that protect our land, water and air, create affordable housing and build our resilience to climate disasters can help make Vermont the affordable, healthy and safe place we all deserve.
