| February E-Newsletter from VNRC Latest news… — Environmental Common Agenda — Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) will be releasing the 2022 Environmental Common Agenda tomorrow. The Common Agenda is the Vermont environmental community’s guide to this year’s top legislative priorities for the environment, and a vision for future progress. VCV will also be awarding the Environmental Rising Star Award to Representatives Gabrielle Stebbins and Dane Whitman for their leadership. Read more below. — VECAN 2022 Workshop Series — The Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network (VECAN) is hosting a series of workshops to help build capacity for Town Energy Committees and those looking to get involved in local energy solutions. Learn more and register here. — Climate Action and Resilience in Vermont Webinar Series–Much of VNRC’s priorities, whether focused on water, forests, or sustainable communities, also helps to improve Vermont’s resilience to climate change. If you’ve missed our first three webinars on these key intersecting issues, find the recordings here, and stay tuned for more webinars focused on the climate overlap with forests, transportation, environmental justice and more in the coming weeks. — Environmental community outlines a 2022 blueprint on climate — Along with many other environmental advocates, we have outlined steps that lawmakers should take this session to implement the recommendations in Vermont’s Climate Action Plan, including passing an Environmental Justice Bill, adopting the Transportation Innovation Act, and advancing a Clean Heat Standard, as well as investing in clean energy workforce development, weatherization for all, maintaining forest health, encouraging smart growth development, and much more. Read more here. — Missisquoi Bay and Lamoille River Tactical Basin Plans — Tactical Basin Plans provide a detailed description of current watershed conditions and identify strategies to protect and restore Vermont’s waters. The Basin Plans highlight watershed restoration priorities, including Vermont Dam Inventory data identifying dam status and dams that are potential candidates for removal. Here are the links for the recently released Missisquoi Bay and Lamoille River Tactical Basin Plans. — Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP) Energy Action Heroes — VEEP is launching a new professional learning series for educators beginning in February, that will count for professional development and focus on helping students become energy leaders. Learn more and register here. — Defending natural resource protections at the Vermont Supreme Court — VNRC has been busy responding to a recent Vermont Supreme Court decision that would weaken Act 250 oversight for commercial and industrial development in “one-acre towns” (towns without land use regulations). We recently submitted a brief urging the Court to reconsider the decision, and VNRC’s General Counsel, Jamey Fidel, argued in front of the Court in support of the 50-year practice of applying heightened oversight in towns that don’t have land use regulations. A final decision is pending. Read more below. VNRC updates… — Greta Hasler joins VNRC as our Energy and Climate Program Associate: — Greta joined VNRC in December as our new Energy and Climate Program Associate, helping to coordinate the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network (VECAN) and grow climate leadership in Vermont. Greta has a background in responsible resource management, food system resilience, and renewable energy policy. We’re thrilled to have Greta on our team! Those of you who receive our Climate Dispatch were introduced to Greta in December. If you missed it, you can sign up to receive the Climate Dispatch to your inbox here. — Welcome Jon Godbout — Jon joins VNRC as our newest legislative intern for the spring 2022 session. Jon is a Masters of Environmental Law and Policy student at Vermont Law School and will be monitoring legislative activity throughout the session. Jon previously worked as an outdoor educator and has an educational background in philosophy and environmental ethics. We are grateful to be benefiting from his passion for dam reclamation and wilderness protection. — Welcome Meghan Oates— Meghan joins VNRC as a legal extern for the spring of 2022. Meghan is pursuing an Accelerated Juris Doctorate at Vermont Law School and will be doing legal research and studying environmental law and policy while at VNRC. She is originally from central Connecticut and studied Environmental Studies and English at the University of Vermont. We’re happy to have Meghan’s insight at VNRC, where she will be working on issues around forestry, land use, and natural resources policy. — Farewell Stephanie Gomory — Stephanie Gomory, VNRC’s Communication Director, moved on to a new position at the ACLU of Vermont in January. We will greatly miss Stephanie, who skillfully shaped our communications since joining the team in 2018. We wish her the best in her new position! Read more below. Funding Opportunities… — Small Grant for Smart Growth awarded in Randolph — We’re thrilled to announce that a VNRC Small Grant for Smart Growth has been awarded the Randolph Area Community Development Corporation (RACDC)! The $5,000 award was granted as part of a special Vermont Climate Action Plan-themed competitive funding round. The funds will be used to support Salisbury Square, a net-zero affordable housing development in downtown Randolph, through communications materials and community engagement. Congratulations, RACDC! Read more below. — Better Places grant program launched — Better Places, a community matching grant program, has been launched by The Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Community Foundation, and Patronicity. The statewide community grant program empowers Vermonters to create vibrant and inclusive public places in the hearts of Vermont communities through parks and green spaces, lively main streets, colorful public art projects, community gardens, and cultural events. Those who are interested in the Better Places program can learn more on Thursday, February 10, at 11am by attending the program launch webinar. Register here or visit the website to learn more. — Downtown Transportation Fund for Downtowns & Village Centers — The Downtown Transportation Fund has $2.9M available to support transportation related community revitalization efforts in eligible Designated Downtowns and Designated Village Centers. There is an additional $170,000 of Clean Water Initiative funding to incorporate eligible storm water components. Applications are due March 7th. Read more about how investments have made transformations in downtowns and village centers on their blog. — EV Charging for residents of multiunit housing — A $1 million grant program was launched to provide funding to owners of affordable and non-profit multiunit housing who would like to provide electric vehicle charging for residents. The application deadline is April 1, 2022. The Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development hosted an informational webinar about the program on January 26, 2022, where you can learn more about the program. Find more details below… Environmental Common Agenda for 2022 Tomorrow, our partners, Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV), will be releasing Vermont’s 2022 Environmental Common Agenda. The Agenda will highlight Vermont’s environmental community’s top policy priorities 2022. This year’s priorities include enacting a statewide environmental justice law, specific policies to implement the recommendations of the Vermont Climate Action Plan, and legislative solutions to reduce exposure to PFAS and other toxic pollution. VCV will also be awarding the Environmental Rising Star Award to Representatives Gabrielle Stebbins and Dane Whitman for their leadership on climate, transportation, and natural resources issues. You can find a preview of some of this year’s priorities in last week’s Climate Dispatch, where VCV’s Lauren Hierl and VNRC’s Johanna Miller talked with Representative Stebbins about The Transportation Innovation Act, the Clean Heat Standard, the Environmental Justice Bill and more. The Common Agenda will be made available tomorrow at VermonConservationVoters.org. Defending Act 250 in front of the Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is reconsidering a recent decision that would weaken land use protections in some Vermont towns. The original decision would have exempted commercial and industrial development from Act 250 review in towns without land use regulations (known as “one-acre towns” due to the threshold that would normally trigger an Act 250 review). “The decision weakens environmental protections in towns that do not have any land use regulation, which could have lasting consequences on our state and the people who live here,” said VNRC’s General Counsel and Forest & Wildlife Program Director, Jamey Fidel. We recently submitted a brief urging the Court to reconsider the decision, and Jamey Fidel argued in front of the Court in support of the 50-year practice of applying heightened oversight in towns that don’t have land use regulations. A final decision is pending. Randolph Area Community Development Corporation awarded a Small Grant The Randolph Area Community Development Corporation (RACDC) has been awarded a $5,000 VNRC Small Grant for Smart Growth as part of a special Vermont Climate Action Plan-themed competitive funding round. The winning project isSalisbury Square, a net-zero, mixed-unit, affordable housing development in downtown Randolph. Small Grant funds will support raising public awareness about the net-zero affordable housing, neighborhood scale microgrids, and how smart growth development can meet the needs of Vermonters, especially low-moderate income households. The project has received support from both Senator Leahy and Senator Sanders, and would be the first of its kind in the Northeast. Congrats RACDC! We’re thrilled to be supporting this innovative project! Farewell Stephanie Gomory Stephanie Gomory moved on from her role as VNRC’s Communications Director in January. Since 2018, Stephanie has provided her insight, tact, and prodigious writing to help shape complex policy considerations into engaging, easily-digested communications. Stephanie also managed the design and launch of our new website in the spring of 2019, a project which greatly enhanced our ability to connect with our members, partners, and community of activists. We will miss Stephanie and wish her much success in her new role at the ACLU of Vermont! |