‘Burning down the village to save it’

It would also repeal the rules adopted by the Agency of Natural Resources following California’s clean cars standards. We would still have to follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act. Since adoption of the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2020, we have been through a pandemic, a war that has affected fuel costs and a possible recession, all affecting affordability issues for Vermonters. Our workforce is lacking numbers, here and across the country, slowing our ability to accomplish what’s needed to reach these benchmarks.

I was serving on the House Committee on Energy and Technology when the Global Warming Solutions Act passed 9-2. It then went on to the House and Senate where it passed and was then vetoed by the governor. The Legislature overrode the veto. He believed the structure was an unconstitutional separation of powers. 

The Comprehensive Energy Plan, updated every six years, was just updated in 2022. It covers all energy sectors (electric, thermal, and transportation), and it sets new goals for each sector. In the electric sector, we must meet 100 percent of energy needs from carbon-free resources by 2032, with at least 75 percent from renewable energy. In transportation, 10 percent of energy needs must come from renewable energy by 2025, and 45 percent by 2040. In the thermal sector, 30 percent of energy needs must come from renewable energy by 2025, and 70 percent by 2042.

Last year alone, the state spent $215 million on climate change initiatives in its 2023 budget.

As a builder and hobby farm owner, I have certainly seen the effects of our changing climate. I believe we need to take a step back and really consider how these proposals will affect Vermonters in the coming years. The Global Warming Solutions Act has locked us into achieving benchmarks rather than goals. The 23-member climate council was appointed by the Speaker of the House, Senate Committee on Committees and members of the administration. This unelected committee has the charge of how best to meet these carbon reduction benchmarks. 

The climate council’s initial support was for the Transportation Climate Initiative, which was a cap and trade (gas tax) proposal, which fell apart after many New England states decided not to join. More recently, the Agency of Natural Resources has adopted rules following California’s clean car standards. This proposal stipulates no new internal combustion engine vehicles will be sold in Vermont by 2035. Even if you purchase a vehicle outside Vermont, you would not be able to register that vehicle here.

Now, there is the second attempt in passing the Clean Heat Standard, now being called the Affordable Heat Act — a tax on fuel oil, propane and kerosene. The new version still lacked “details on costs and impacts” and delegated outsized policymaking authority to the three-member Public Utilities Commission. Agency of Natural Resources secretary Julie Moore estimated the bill will cost 70 cents a gallon, and Ethan Allen Institute estimated as much as $4 a gallon.

We receive an annual report from the climate council every January. It says that “the current plan and suite of actions does not add up to achieving the requirements of the GWSA.” The biomass subcommittee recommends not approving the McNeil biomass plant’s heat recovery proposal and recommends the closure of both it and the Ryegate biomass facility over time. This would be a loss of a market for Vermont’s low grade forest products. The McNeil plant burns 76 wet tons or 30 cords of wood an hour, and Ryegate burns 250,000 tons of chips per year. They have also recommended banning gas cook stoves by 2035.

This short-sighted effort to electrify with prescriptive remedies, doesn’t allow for innovation of options for the future. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has just certified NuScale Power’s small modular reactor. Each 50 MW module leverages natural processes, such as convection and gravity, to passively cool the reactor without additional water, power or even operator action. Vermont Gas Systems is looking at a hydrogen pilot program with GlobalFoundries to heat its Essex Junction facility. This technology and others, if considered, could save our ridgelines from wind and our fields from solar.

I’m realistic enough to know H.74 will not be considered in today’s political majority in Montpelier. However, I will not stop in advocating for a balance in what Vermonters can achieve and afford in efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

In closing, a quote from William Nordhaus, co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in economics, that requiring “deep reductions in living standards” to chase climate goals would amount to “burning down the village to save it.” 

Mark Higley, a Republican, represents the Orleans/Lamoille District, which includes Eden.