by Mark Higley
Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), gives statutory authority for rule-making to the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). The secretary of ANR has until December 1, 2022 to adopt rules to meet the 2025 emissions reductions requirements in the Vermont Climate Action Plan.
Being one of eight legislators on the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR), it appears we will be reviewing rules that follow California’s clean car standards. California’s clean car standards are much stricter than the federal standards required. I believe Vermont does have the option and should revert to the federal standards.
I believe the GWSA has given overly broad authority to the agencies, as well as to the unelected Climate Council. The mandates and benchmarks (not goals), for carbon reduction do not allow for so many variables that come up along the way. A pandemic, recession, depression, war and other variables need to be considered when making legislative decisions.
Starting in 2026, automobile manufacturers will have to supply more and more electric vehicles and by 2035 only electric or hydrogen vehicles will be able to be sold in Vermont. Even if other states don’t have this requirement and you purchase out of state, Vermont DMV will not allow it to be registered here in Vermont.
Some of the 17 states that were going to follow California’s clean car standards (Colorado in particular and maybe Pennsylvania), have decided to bow out.
Vermont is not like California in its geography or climate. There are currently a number of problems in California trying to achieve the standard:
- Severe pressures on their electric grid with Governor Newsom asking residents to turn their thermostats up to 78° this summer;
- Inadequate funding for incentives and rebates for low income residents;
- Charging stations mostly in urban areas leaving inadequate charging for renters and in rural areas;
- General Motors explaining supply chain issues make it hard to meet demand;
- Short supply of electric vehicles is driving up costs.
- Environmental justice groups admit reliability of grid is of concern, but say finding the power generation is up to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
What about our reliable grid concerns in Vermont? During our hot stretch this summer, Vermont Electric Co-Op (VEC) created a “Defeat the Peak” campaign asking consumers to not use certain appliances during certain hours. More recently VEC has asked for a 10% increase in their rates.
Where will Vermont’s electric companies get its reliable power considering such mandates, and what of the cost to consumers?
At a meeting in September, members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stated concerns for ISO New England‘s ability to run its gas-fired generation plants, because of not having enough fuel this winter.
Because of Vermont’s overly ambitious benchmarks, how will we deal with the reduction of revenue from our fuel tax?
Twenty eight percent of Vermont transportation revenue comes from the fuel tax, in 2019 this amount was $77.8 million. An average vehicle using 600 gallons a year would realize the state $180 in gas tax. Electric Vehicle (EV) advocates say we should not impose such a fee on new EV owners for incentive reasons. If we are headed down this road we should consider such a fee because all users of our highway infrastructure should contribute.
These are very real concerns that we, as legislators, need to realistically consider and work through together with all involved. Just considering carbon reduction benchmarks by the unelected Climate Council is not being realistic. This year alone we will invest $215 million on climate change initiatives like weatherization, Municipal Energy Resilience Grant program, advanced metering infrastructure and electrification initiatives.
The author is the Vermont House of Representatives member for the Orleans/Lamoille district.