By Sam Hartnett, for the Community News Service

Lawmakers in the House’s energy committee recently listened to a report on Vermont’s fossil fuel sales from 2017 to the start of the year.

The key takeaway: Overall fossil fuel consumption is trending downward, and greenhouse gas pollution has seen a 16-21% reduction below 2005 levels, according to the research nonprofit Energy Action Network, which presented the report.

Additionally, Vermonters registered over 18,000 electric vehicles, installed over 70,000 heat pumps and weatherized over 40,000 homes as of last year, according to the study.

But the report estimates that Vermont fell 18-39% short of meeting its first legal obligation under the Global Warming Solutions Act, the 2020 law that requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below that mark by 2050.

And “there’s an important caveat to that, though, which is it’s been happening slowly and largely supported by federal funding that is going away for facing uncertainty,” said Jared Duval, executive director of the network, to the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on May 2.

The Trump administration’s rollback of environmental protections includes cancelling or freezing funding for many programs meant to reduce fossil fuel use.

Vermont households each year spend an average of $7,000 on energy, much of which goes toward fossil fuel–heavy activities like driving and heating homes, according to the network. Last year was the third in a row that statewide fuel costs exceeded $2 billion, according to the network, citing data compiled from the state Department of Taxes and Vermont Gas Systems.

Duval noted Vermont’s dependency on price-volatile fossil fuels as a reason for the growing price tag.

The Energy Action Network report says the state’s failure to meet the 2025 goals for the Global Warming Solutions Act is the “result of Vermont not implementing policies, regulations and programs to cost-effectively and equitably cut climate pollution” — not because the goals weren’t achievable.

In terms of cash flow, the report noted that while 75% of money spent on fossil fuels leaves Vermont, only 40% of electricity spending leaves the state.

According to the Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont reduced total emissions by 16% from 2005-2021. New Hampshire reported a reduction of 36% in the same time period, according to that state’s Department of Environmental Service.

“Progress is too slow, both on emissions and, more importantly, on Vermonters’ wallets,” said committee member Rep. Chris Morrow, D-Weston, in an email. 

Morrow believes the volatility of fossil fuel prices “leads to expensive and uncertain economic realities” for Vermonters, and “we need to push the transition in smart ways.”

House Republicans have pushed for easier targets to meet and have largely opposed the Global Warming Solution Act’s legal obligations. This year they introduced H.62, a bill aimed at repealing the act, as well as H.289, which would soften some of its requirements.

In a press release late last year, state GOP chairman Paul Dame said that “these goals were unattainable given the currently available technology, but now the state is getting dragged into court for completely avoidable reasons.”

Republican legislators on the House energy committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship