House committee hears update on Vermont Climate Action Plan, outreach and rulemaking timeline

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on March 19 that the state is updating its Climate Action Plan and will present a revised plan by the statutory July 1 deadline.

Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore described the Climate Action Office as a hub for technical analysis, community engagement and interagency coordination that supports the Vermont Climate Council and the state’s obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act. “We have a staff of 7, in that space when fully staffed. We do have 2 vacancies currently that are in recruitment,” Moore said, summarizing the office’s teams and workstreams.

The office’s work includes greenhouse-gas modeling, rulemaking, resilience and adaptation planning, and contracted programs to support refrigerant management and local energy navigators. Moore said the agency maintains and updates a baseline business-as-usual model, uses scenario planning to test policies, and is developing a “measuring and assessing progress” tool of indicators that will go beyond the greenhouse-gas inventory to track adaptation and resilience outcomes.

Jane Lazorczak, director of the Climate Action Office, told the committee the office and the Climate Council have focused the update on a smaller set of high-priority recommendations. “We have a…