 Hi there everyone. Thank you for coming to this press event. We're really excited to have everyone here and to see so many of our elected officials taking a stand for climate justice and against fossil fuels. My name is Julie Massuga and I'm the Extreme Energy Field Organizer for 350 Vermont and a member of the Grassroots Group, Protect Your Prags Park. Together with our volunteers, we organize fossil fuel resistance in Vermont and throughout our region. Today, with our legislators, we are taking steps to prevent new fossil fuel infrastructure in the state, both to protect people, wildlife, water, and land from these projects and to protect our climate from the greenhouse gases that they would emit. On the national level, we're seeing amazing proposals like the Green New Deal, which calls for a halt to all new fossil fuel extraction, infrastructure, and subsidies by 2035, while ensuring a fair and just transition for workers, folks of low income, communities of color, and indigenous people. While we are definitely in support of all of that, we cannot wait a single session more to take action at the state level, which is why we're so pleased to have legislators doing that right here today. With that in mind, I would like to introduce Mari Cordes. She's a freshman legislator from Addison 4, a nurse at UVM Medical Center, and an activist for all kinds of justice. After listening to her constituents speak about their experiences of being threatened with eminent domain for Vermont gas's new pipeline, she decided to propose changes to Vermont's laws regarding the condemnation of land. H175, an act relating to prohibiting utilities from using eminent domain for new fossil fuel infrastructure. And I have to be honest, it is the people, especially my neighbors and friends in Addison County, that I must credit for their perseverance and protecting not only our environment, but our communities from very real potential disaster, and not only our environment, but lands far away that fuel extraction has devastated. Enormous resources, including precious time that we do not have, have already been used over the past few years over this gas pipeline that benefits very few in the short term and brings lasting harm to so many. Resources that could have been focused instead on clean energy infrastructure. And some of our neighbors experienced extended and enormous loss as their beloved homes and homesteads were taken from them through eminent domain. Others did not lose their homes, but experienced incredible stress defending themselves from it. Even though we face seemingly insurmountable odds, I have hope because our will is strong. We have faced extreme challenges before, such as passing the Clean Air Act of 1970, after which pollutant emissions dropped 73% between 1970 and 2017. And in clean water, in October of 2017, the Natural Resources Defense Council stated that industry-specific discharge standards now prevent more than 700 billion pounds of toxic pollutants every year from being dumped into the nation's waters. So those are just a couple of examples showing you that we can do it if we join together. A few points about eminent domain. Federal eminent domain has two main applications. Limits imposed by the Federal Fifth Amendment on eminent domain under state law. So under the Federal Fifth Amendment issue, we are proposing by this by H175 to limit not to expand eminent domain. It is therefore highly unlikely to be a Fifth Amendment issue. The other use is of federal courts through federal statutes, such as the Federal Power Act, which authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to approve of regulations that involve interstate utility lines, for example, or the Natural Gas Act. It does not preempt Vermont law. Federal agencies use federal eminent domain statutes. State agencies, such as the Public Utilities Commission, apply state eminent domain statutes. So each state gets to decide for itself when and how to give away that power. For a federal court to hold that state, that a state must, over its objection, allow use of its power to further fossil fuel use would be an extraordinary impingement on the Tenth Amendment, which reserves all powers to the states that are not necessarily granted to the federal government by the Constitution. This is not just a property rights issue. It's not just a personal rights issue. It is a public health and safety issue. And you're going to hear more about that from other speakers today. Finally, we have little time left to make major course corrections. We must invest in a fossil free future now. Thank you to the so many who have been working so hard. And I will say, I believe, and we have demonstrated that when the people lead, the leaders will follow. Thank you. Our next speaker is Representative Mary Sullivan. She is a fierce advocate for climate related legislation and recently introduced a bill, H 51, which would put a ban on any large new fossil fuel infrastructure in the state. Added the support of 31 co sponsors and nearly 1600 Vermonters who signed a petition in support of it. We're so pleased to join Mary in championing this bill. Thank you all for being here. As I was introduced, I am Mary Sullivan from Burlington, a state representative. And this bill really is very near and dear to my heart. H 51 with its over 30 co sponsors really is in such a good state because so many of you out there called your legislators really got people interested, explain the bill, explain the importance of it. And that type of advocacy makes all the difference in the world. When you look at fossil fuel infrastructure, we read all of the reports that come out of the United Nations out of this country out of you know, every type of plan that we we need. And wanted to make this continue to make this planet habitable for human population. And why on earth would we invest in something that has a 20 or 30 or payback? We know we really have to switch the direction of our economy so quickly. So we hope to see this move this been moving forward. If you want to know what you could do, you could certainly be in touch with your own legislator and really start, you know, asking what they're doing to help promote this bill. So thank you all for being here. And let's keep moving on. Our next speaker is the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and a fierce climate activist and farmer Lieutenant Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman. Thank you. Thank you for just a brief moment to speak. And I was going to come up and stand in solidarity. When I heard about this, and I appreciate the opportunity to say a couple of words. This morning, I put out on Facebook a post from Greta Thunberg, who I'm pretty sure everybody in this room is familiar with that really went to the heart of some of what we're up against. And also some of how powers that be try to belittle or disgrace or attack those people who are standing up for the future that we know we have to have in order to have a livable planet for ourselves and the other flora and fauna of our planet, because it's not just about us. And I was thinking about her, and then hearing our great leaders and the legislature here speaking, and I was looking around at the group that's behind me. And no disrespect to some of the men including myself, but we have had women leading the way on these issues for decades. And it's finally time that women are ascended in politics from Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, to Speaker Pelosi, who wasn't great on this particular topic with the Green New Deal, I know. But we are in a new time. And we have these opportunities to set a new agenda and a new vision for our communities for our livelihoods. And we have the opportunity through renewable energy and other sources and through conservation and through thinking and through working with our communities to do exactly what 350.org is talking about to implement the kinds of laws that Representative Cortez and Mary Sullivan are talking about. But as was mentioned at the end by Representative Sullivan, it takes people. Democracy is about people. The word is right in there. Deimos, it's about people. And we are seeing across Vermont and across this country, people stepping forward with the vision that we all want to have to get it. And so I want to thank all of you and thank all the folks here for being some folks. I've seen Brian at these kinds of events and many others for decades. But also all the new people getting involved, and that if we work together, we are the majority. That's clear. Sometimes money and other influences have had more power in the past. But we are taking over. We are shaping a new future. These bills and the folks here and you out there are a part of that. So I just want to thank you for the work you're doing and encourage you to stay engaged and involved so we can get these bills across the finish line. Thank you. Our next speaker today is Terrence Cuneo, a professor of philosophy at UVM and an outspoken critic of the Vermont Gas Pipeline, which he and his wife, Kerry, have tried to prevent from cutting through his family's land in Williston. Hi there. They asked me to say a few words about our experience. So I'm going to do that. Just take a few minutes as I say. Our experience was one of hearing rumors that a pipeline was coming, getting a letter in the mail one day, which stated something to the effect that there's a pipeline coming through your property. You can either accept X amount of money, which wasn't a very large sum, or your land will be taken by that domain. Now, if you're a landowner like myself, you haven't thought about eminent domain. You haven't thought about pipelines. You have no idea why they would want to run a pipeline through your property. So it faces landowners with a lot of questions that they're just been prepared to answer. And what I found is that when we asked the questions, it was very, very difficult to get satisfying answers to the questions. So for example, there were safety issues. If they were to run a pipeline through our property, am I putting my family in harm's way? And it was really hard to get good answers as to whether there was any sort of state oversight or federal oversight of these things turns out there really isn't. What does it do to one's property value? If you have a pipeline running through your property, does this devalue your property? If so, how much? It was almost impossible to find reliable information about that simply because this sort of thing really hadn't happened in Vermont. And it was very difficult to make cross state comparisons to states like New Jersey or California where it does happen. There are questions about the legal issues. Who's going to represent us? How are we going to pay for that? As it turned out, it took a petition on the part of landowners to even persuade the government to the governor to provide any money for legal representation to figure out what to do. There were moral issues. As a landowner, you're thinking, goodness gracious, a pipeline, this is the last thing you want through your property. This is the last thing we need to be doing at this point. And are you responsible at that point for taking a stand on moral grounds against such a thing? So these sorts of questions were really very difficult to work through. And I should say probably also, even though we did go through the process of eminent domain to a certain point, it's really the threat of eminent domain that does the work. It's basically, it's a pistol in the ribs. You have to do this or that. And as landowners, we're just not equipped to have the resources at our disposal and the time to make really good informed decisions. I'll end with that. It's a very unfortunate experience. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Our next speaker is Kanika Gandhi. She's here at the State House day in and day out working for as VPIRG's clean energy advocate. She pushes for policy solutions such as low income levelization, energy efficiency and electrification as well as the bills that we're presenting here today. Good morning. I'm happy to be here representing VPIRG today as our organization has been working actively to promote safe and local alternatives to fossil fuels for decades. In 2012, VPIRG helped lead the charge to ban fracking in the state. And we became the first state to pass such legislation. Later, we worked with many other people, many of whom are here in the room today, to fight the proposed pipeline expansion from Vermont to Ticonderoga, New York under Lake Champlain. Today, we believe it's time to say no to any major new fossil fuel infrastructure investment in the state. It makes no sense to continue to send our money out of state to pay for fossil fuels that pollute our environment, wreck our climate and pose real safe and health risks, safety and health risks to our citizens. For example, in the last four years alone from 2014 to 2018, there have been at least 7 million gallons worth of leaks and at least 40 explosions related to fossil fuel pipelines. Some of these you've heard about like the recent explosion outside of Boston, Massachusetts in September, which caused 30,000 evacuations and over 80 fires. And some of those you haven't heard about that don't really make it to national news or even local news at times. Here are some other impacts over 31 deaths, hundreds of injuries, tens of millions in property damages, methane, butane and propane leaks, amongst other harmful things and water contaminated with lead and many other carcinogens. And these are just some examples. Instead of throwing more money towards dirty fossil fuel infrastructure and dangerous, dangerous pipelines, we should be investing in 100% clean and renewable energy for the state of Vermont. We thank Representative Sullivan and Clarkson in the Senate for introducing and taking the lead on this legislation. We also thank the dozens of other representatives in both houses that have cosponsored. We urge, urge other legislators to step up and join this fight against fossil fuel infrastructure. It's time for us to transition to a cleaner and more renewable Vermont. Thank you. Our next speaker is Maple Purchlich. She's a sophomore at Montpelier High School and a representative of the Vermont Youth Lobby. And she's here to tell us from a youth perspective why we need this legislation. Any problems with the world that I find myself thinking about on the day to day, but climate action over the past couple years has really been miles above anything else. I want to keep the snow on my green mountains. I want there to be deep, cool blue water and Lake Champlain every summer. And possibly on a more selfish note, I want to one day raise a family that can see the beauty of nature, understand the glorious concept of sustainability and have respect for the earth. Along with countless other youth in the state, I have worried aloud that my life will not have the possibilities I deserve. And as much as I enjoy fighting for my future and the future of others, I hope that someday I will be able to live without a battle against climate. Generations before have had the freedom to make choices that my peers and I will be cleaning up for a very long time. The choices you make today are the choices that not only determine my future, but your kids, your nephews, nieces and grandchildren's future. This is where Vermont Youth Lobby has drawn their line. And I will, with all my respect, insist every legislator give us something that will be a big step in cleaning up this climate crisis. If you don't agree with carbon pricing, give me another solution. If you don't agree with the banning of fossil fuel infrastructure, tell me what you do agree with. We need to do something big this session, and I refuse to hear another no if it's not followed by an idea that will bring us closer to a clean planet. To close this out, I'd like to speak on behalf of some of Vermont's most stalwart climate activists, the citizens who brought environmental and safety issues on Vermont gas's ANGP pipeline to life. We oppose these projects primarily because of the impacts they have on our climate and the injustices that they perpetuate. But we are also concerned about safety. The ANGP now has nine categories of alleged safety and construction violations stacked against it. And there are some that are so egregious that the pipeline may be shut down pending the results of an upcoming investigation. The interveners on this case and their attorney tell us this. We have spent thousands of hours examining materials from public records requests, which have revealed the shocking recklessness of construction practices for the Vermont gas pipeline. Not only were higher standards agreed to in the certificate of public good largely ignored, even the federal minimum requirements for safe construction were violated. Vermonters now have a ticking time bomb that crisscrosses people's yards and public roads and wild spaces. Given the frequency with which pipelines are leaking and exploding around the country, this poses a grave threat to landowners who essentially had no choice faced with eminent domain. Other than to grant permission for the pipeline construction on their land. Landowners should not be forced into harm's way and especially not for the purpose of extant banding fossil fuel infrastructure. The future of our state and the future of every generation to come after us is dependent on what we do here in 2019. Thank you all so much for coming and let's pass some legislation this session.