Julie Moore, ANR Secretary, Reviews Priorities: Climate, Water Quality, Infrastructure

Julie Moore, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, told the Natural Resources & Energy committee on Thursday that she has led the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) for “just over 8 years” and that the agency’s most pressing work includes climate action, water quality, emerging contaminants and conservation.

Moore said infrastructure underpins those priorities, noting ANR “owns several billion dollars worth of stuff” including flood-control dams, state parks and access areas and that many drinking-water and wastewater systems are reaching the ends of their useful life. “I would say infrastructure may underpin a bunch of those and has a bunch of different facets,” she said.

The hearing began with a committee member asking Moore to explain why she described her job as the best in state government, and Moore attributed it to mission and staff. “We have this incredible mission of stewarding Vermont’s natural resources,” she said, and added that ANR’s “650 brilliant, passionate scientists and engineers” make the work rewarding.

In outlining priorities, Moore listed…