Town Meeting survey results
It’s been more than a month since Town Meeting, and oh, what a month! In past years I published the results of the Legislative Survey, which 140 Charlotters filled out this year, within a week or two of the meeting.
Greenhouse gas is a problem
Greenhouse gas is a big problem. It causes fires, flooding and the species extinction. Everybody must take part in stopping greenhouse gas. Every single person in this world must take part. The world takes care of us. Now it is our turn to take care of the world.
Building a foundation for carbon reduction
Expectations that the Legislature would take significant steps to address the climate change crisis this year have been high. Over the last 12 months Vermonters have joined people all over the world in climate demonstrations demanding that governments do something about climate change.
Climate Solutions caucus brings its road show to Charlotte
More than 80 people crowded into the Great Room at the Charlotte Senior Center on Monday night to hear from and make suggestions to members of the Legislature’s Climate Solutions Caucus, which is focusing its work on ways to strengthen the economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Solutions Forum coming to Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg
Senator Chris Pearson and Representatives Mike Yantachka, Jessica Brumsted and Kate Webb invite you to a forum at the Charlotte Senior Center on Monday, Dec. 16, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., to discuss how Vermont can act on climate change in the coming legislative session. They invite you to join them to learn more about important climate policies like the Global Warming Solutions Act and a 100 percent renewable energy standard and to find out what you can do during the coming legislative session to help get meaningful climate legislation passed.
Steps to address climate change
Rep. Mike YantachkaThis past week in the Vermont House saw several major bills passed with significant floor debate. These included broadband deployment (H.513), childcare (H.531), workforce development (H.533) and the major money bills including, transportation (H.529), revenue (H.541) and the budget (H.542), plus a controversial weatherization bill (H.439) that increases the fuel tax by 2 cents per gallon.
The brighter side of our climate fiasco
Writing a column for one’s local paper is a challenge. As a volunteer who writes only to provide our community with something other than the news to ponder, I suffer from inspiration blocks for a variety of reasons: my full-time job, three grandkids, five kids, a house that always needs painting or cleaning or repairing, a lawn that needs to be mowed, dishes, laundry and cooking that must be done.
Changing Champlain: Lake Champlain and Climate Change
We often hear about climate change and its implications, but what does it actually mean for Lake Champlain and the communities around it? Lake Champlain has already seen drastic increases in lake temperature.
Global environmental change: A clear and present danger
Last July, shortly after president Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate accord, I wrote a piece for The News bemoaning the slow progress that has been made in addressing global climate change and controlling greenhouse gas emissions (charlottenewsvt.org/2017/07/26/health-matters-time-new-climate-change-message). Since I wrote that column, Scott Pruitt, the current EPA administrator, has followed through on the president’s threat to roll back the Clean Power Plan reducing carbon emissions from coal fired power plants, announced plans to delay rules aimed at setting fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, attacked rules limiting methane emissions from oil and gas wells and attacked efforts to set appliance efficiency standards. This has occurred with little if any adverse political consequences for the protagonists and only a tepid response from environmentalists and public health advocates.
Charlotte Library receives climate change grant
The grant is from the Public Libraries Advancing Community Engagement (PLACE), a project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), working in partnership with the National Weather Service, Califa Library Group, DawsonMedia Group and Goodman Research Group.