State of Vermont 80% dependent on feds for climate change funding
By Paul Bean
Four out of every five of the $520 million Vermont spends annually to fight climate change comes from the U.S. government. With the Trump administration poised to cut federal spending in general and climate change funding in particular, how will State of Vermont climate spending be affected?
“Vermont’s FY25 budget includes significant increases in funding directed at climate action, with $524,403,768 appropriated and/or spending authorized,” says the Vermont Climate Council January 16 Report to the General Assembly. About $100 million of that figure is state funds. The rest comes from Uncle Sam.
These grants include emissions reduction programs like the $100 million Solar for All and $59 million for Home Energy Rebates.
Car charger funding cut – one funding cut already announced involves the Trump administration cancellation of a $9.3 millon grant to build more EV charging stations, Vermont Public reported last week.
Like many states, Vermont lacks adequate numbers of public car charging stations. The cancellation of the grant will at best delay the buildout of this infrastructure considered vital to reaching the EV sales required by Vermont’s adherence to California emissions reduction standards.
Federal funding cuts could cause Vermont lawmakers to rethink the carbon emissions goals in the Global Warming Solutions Act. Vermont is already being sued by the Conservation Law Foundation for not meeting mandated benchmarks of the GWSA. Losing some of that $400 million could make meeting those benchmarks much more difficult.
A member of the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee told VDC that the chair won’t act on the GWSA repeal bills. Similar legislation in the Senate also appears DOA.
Vermont isn’t alone in loss of Federal funding. NPR reports “A Missouri school district couldn’t pay for almost two dozen electric school buses it ordered to replace a fleet of diesel buses. In Springfield, Mass., officials didn’t know if the city would get money it was promised to weatherize homes, remove lead paint and repair roads. Oklahoma regulators warned $100 million in grant funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells was in jeopardy. A North Carolina official said the state risks losing out on more than $100 million in conservation projects that could protect communities from floods and wildfires.”