House committee hears 2025 Climate Action Plan update, prioritizes 10 near‑term actions
Loading...
Summary
The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee heard an overview of the Climate Action Plan update, which narrows 150+ measures to 10 priority actions focusing on mitigation, resilience, workforce and funding. ANR warned of a drop in federal funds and emphasized the need for state bridge funding and workforce investments.
Julie Morris, secretary of natural resources, told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee that the Climate Council’s 2025 update to the state’s Climate Action Plan narrows more than 150 proposed actions to 10 priority items and emphasizes balancing emissions reductions with resilience and affordability.
Morris said the plan organizes work into three core areas — cross‑sector greenhouse‑gas mitigation, agriculture and ecosystems, and rural resilience and adaptation — plus cross‑cutting activities such as education, workforce development and financing. ‘‘We adopted our initial climate action plan in December 2021,’’ Morris said, and the council is moving to a four‑year cadence for updates.
The secretary warned that federal investment in climate work that supported a recent acceleration of programs will decline sharply. She told the committee that this ‘‘famine side of feast’’ requires Vermont to prioritize limited state resources and seek sustainable long‑term funding. Morris also said public engagement was extensive: the council held eight in‑person meetings and 11 virtual sessions to gather Vermonters’ input.
Why it matters: committee members pressed ANR on near‑term affordability and funding options because the most vulnerable households depend on programs such as weatherization. Morris said the state has increased weatherization from fewer than 2,000 homes a year to roughly 4,000 recently and that maintaining that pace is central to the plan’s equity goals.
Other priorities the council highlighted include bridge funding for key projects, targeted investments to support farms and forests as carbon sinks, municipal infrastructure to enable compact development (water and sewer), and plans to prepare Vermont to join a cap‑and‑invest program ‘‘when a viable one may exist.’’ Morris said the Climate Council will continue quarterly engagement and submit its annual legislative report at the end of the week.
Committee members asked about specific administration proposals that grew out of the 2021 plan, revenue options to sustain programs, and the relationship between the Climate Action Plan and other state energy planning. Morris said ANR and partner agencies are tracking legislative initiatives and existing state funding sources, and that the annual investment report in the climate action materials documents ongoing state expenditures for climate work.
What’s next: committee members requested ANR post the most recent greenhouse‑gas inventory and the memo appendices that detail the council’s prioritization and the resilience implementation strategy. Morris and staff said they will return with attorneys and technical staff to address legal and statutory questions that would affect rulemaking and implementation.
Ending: the committee recessed for a short break after thanking ANR staff and asking for follow‑up materials and targeted testimony from agency counsel.
