 Good morning everyone. I would just like to introduce myself real quick. My name is Alyssa Brink, and I am a senior Art and Architecture major here at Norwich University. I'm also in the university's honors program and undergraduate research fellow this year and to offer welcome remarks and kickoff the conference I would like to introduce to you all our Provost and Dean of faculty at Norwich University Dr. Gaines who oversees all Norwich academic affairs and internal operations Dr. Gaines PhD is an environmental toxicology from the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health She is internationally recognized for her expertise in environmental and human Toxicotoxicological risk assessment and worked for the Department of Energy prior to entering academia Dr. Gaines is also a certified wildlife biologist and has consulted for the USEPA USFWS USDA NASA and as well as the US Department of Defense and continues to serve these agencies in various capacities Thank you so much that was a great introduction and now I don't know what I'm going to say now But thank you everybody for being here This is actually my first public address as provost of Norwich University. I am so This And and to be doing it at at this conference is very special to me because as I was introduced That that's what I've done I've I've devoted my career to the environment and I get to share that and experience this conference with people who are like-minded So let me start out I'm going to go a little bit from a script because I want to make sure that I address everything that my My beloved colleagues here want me to in terms of the conference So please welcome everyone to the third Resilient Vermont conference as I said obviously this is my first because I'm the incoming provost I'm excited about this the lineup that we have today. We're a little bit delayed, but we're going to get on track and keep pace I Just started the position although I've been a little bit of transition It's a great way for me starting out with this conference to learn a more about how we at Norwich fit into Vermont and Vermont resilience So it's gratifying that the plenary is focused on Vermont and the new global warming solutions act and the subsequent climate action plan This conversation will set the tone for the rest of the day a little bit about myself and you know how I You know sometimes people ask me what is a provost do and I thought how am I going to do this in a one-liner? So I like to say you know my job is to help the faculty help the students Right, and that that's what I do. But how you know how did it start for me? I'm originally from New York City and You know growing up in New York City in the 1970s, you know, that is when NEPA started Right, so that was signed into law first environmental law many of you know is Endangered Species Act 1969 and then 1970 the National Environmental Policy Act which was signed into law by Richard Nixon And then I grew up in New York City as things were changing The environmental laws were changing and and the Clean Air Act and and and the Clean Water Act and and you know around me Was getting a little bit cleaner, but you know there was still a lot of pollution in the environment It wasn't something that you know for me I knew I really didn't want to be in New York for the rest of my life in New York City And I remember you know there's one pinnacle moment in my life that I want to share I don't know. I was maybe six or seven. I was driving the car with my dad And we were in Brooklyn we were going over one of those you know kind of small overpasses And there were two three African-American men and they were fishing and I saw this the one of the guys pull in a fish And I thought oh my gosh, I didn't realize fish could survive in these plute You know I'm six or seven, but you know it's pretty dirty. It's like wow Fish you know and and I said to my dad is I said is he gonna eat that I think it's pretty gross, right? I mean like he shouldn't be eating that and My dad said yeah, he probably will Oh my gosh, doesn't he know doesn't he know it's polluted and You know I it was just you know It's kind of in the book if there was a book it'd be like foreshadow and and I and I thought to myself I You know this this is horrible That that somebody would eat polluted fish like that There's 17 and I left right and I and I and I went Up to Suni ESF right across the way from here and you know for me as a kid It was actually coming right here to Vermont that was my first experience to realize that the world wasn't like New York City and You know the beauty of Vermont just really inspired me to become a wildlife biologist So I got my undergraduate degree at Suni ESF if you're familiar with it and and taught in the Adirondack Mountains I taught field ornithology. It was it was some of the best times in my life And I went to Purdue University and that really brought me the pathway of understanding that being an environmental biologist was a lot lot bigger Job then then then you know what I was Experiencing in you know the luxury of being a field ornithologist and I and started to learn about technology and how technology has affected the environment and the balancing of technology and laws and how that affects people's lives every single day And then I had to get a job And I was hired by the Department of Energy at the Savannah River site and I hadn't I really didn't know much about it but If you don't know the Savannah River site, it's one of the five legacy sites kind of like Oak Ridge or Or Los Alamos and it's where they used to make weapons-grade material for nuclear bombs And my job was to look at how the environment Responded to that and that's when I really started to understand the effects of human actions on our environment It was a whirlwind for me in terms of learning about radionuclides all sorts of stuff It's where I met my husband and at the time my laboratory was Was collaborating with scientists in Chernobyl and he was one of the science first scientists to go over There and so I became a part of that project and that led to Collaborations in the Ukraine that that is still today and it's very meaningful as well as we see on the news At that point it was where kind of tip-tified back To that moment in Brooklyn where I thought gosh, you know that person eating Contaminated fish and I started working with a group. It was a consortium between the five legacy sites here In the United States where it was it's a group called the consortium for risk evaluation with stakeholder participation Where we started to look at the effects of the environmental practices of the government on human populations And how that generated risk to the water to the land Everyday life for people who live around these legacy sites I also got involved with NATO And it was a time when we were trying to figure out how Europe could come back and start selling food after Chernobyl and Having arable lands and looking at the dairy industry the farming industry and making sure that was going to be safe For human consumers. That was a big part of my life and when I decided to go back for my PhD I wanted to devote that to looking at the effects of the environment on human health as well And so I got my PhD in environmental toxicology And that's where my academic Life started and I moved to the Midwest. It wasn't mountains. It wasn't mountains But I went to the Midwest and and it's a very different environment there again looking at that environment and looking at how Agriculture has affected our environment and you really understand that our actions have consequences and but The advent of nitrogen fertilizer has a very similar to legacy to nuclear right nuclear started In weapons, but then we used it to try to help humankind With a nuclear energy and that of course had unden intended consequences well We did the same thing with nitrogen fertilizer. We learned how to fix it. It was actually Fixing nitrogen is a term for those who don't know so fixing nitrogen And we did that originally to try to blow things up But then we realized we could actually use it to fertilize our plants And after World War two Being able to use this new type of technology fed the world Right, so the United States stepped up and we started You know making a large amount of crops to help feed the world, but then That's those same Practices had unintended consequences and it contributed to a destruction of a landscape a Pollution in our waters That's now leading to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico And so as my career went on I reflected and you know all the actions that we have have Consequences and we have to work together in every single arena Because if you know we decide that we're going to make change it has to be Together and so I was I was there in the Midwest for about 12 years And I was in my department and I was doing some great research and I was working with undergraduate students and graduate students and And and really having a great career and then I got a call what I remember it Friday afternoon And I was asked if I'd be interested in applying for position as dean at every riddle aeronautical university And I thought what? Did you did you get the right caring games Embry riddle aeronautical University? Yeah, I said I don't think I really fit and they said well But you study extreme environments and they study extreme environments and they're interested in expanding In in those areas in flight and space especially space. I said, okay. I'm listening and so learning about what the future was in terms of the human research program in space and Realizing that the people that work on that come from the same background of myself many of those people have our environmental Scientists I thought heck. Yeah, I think I might want to do this and and so for the last six years I've actually been at Embry riddle aeronautical University, and I've been working very very closely with NASA and and looking at technologies and realizing that technology got us into this mess and it's going to have to get us out and Learning from those scientists have humbled me those individuals Are people that really realize that that their actions have consequences, and they've already made mistakes We know that there's junk in space that we know that there's been mistakes made in space But in terms of where we're going with energy resilience a lot of that technology has come back Come out of that those areas. They're also looking at areas of protecting our human health Making sure we don't create the next MRSA in space all sorts of stuff that that really got me thinking about human resilience and it was It opened up my mind of what we really could still do to help our planet And then I got the best call of my life Now as a recruiter who asked me if I was interested in becoming the next provost at Norwich University in Vermont The place I always wanted to live as a kid and I said tell me more about Norwich and it was all about the resiliency It was all about what we do here that It was a dream come true. It was a perfect fit for me and to be able You know, I don't know 25 30 years really if I think about you know 45 years from being that kid on that bridge in Brooklyn Not the big one, but a little one You know thinking about the environment thinking about resiliency and now being able to come back here. It's my privilege So being able to be the first speaker of this conference is an absolute honor So let me go on a little bit back to script if I can To get things going for the conference and talking about what we're about to do and and and the regrets of president And a rumor who couldn't be here But we're coming out of resiliency and he's in Berlin right now and he's kick-starting our programs there with our students so I Look at this gathering today, and I feel reassured that we can do a heck of a lot We have the resiliency. I think the community of you all right the resilient Vermont network See the changes in our landscape and ecosystems and society and you're willing to learn more Right and make those changes To collaborate and share best practices and we're collectively I'm building and Mitigating and adapting so that we can remain resilient here in Vermont It will truly take all of us not just me the scientist or You know my friend over there the engineer But it's social scientists as artists is being able to bring the humanity and back of who we are right artists That we come together That's difficult work that we have in front of us to build resilience here in Vermont And I'm grateful to be here I'm grateful that Norwich can host this conference and our center for global resilience and security that is hosting Sorry for bumping this mic. That's really annoying, right? as You've seen in today's conference program with three separate tracks Successions and we'll be able to have the ability to explore Vermont's food security and water rights Debate the relationship between renewables on our grid. These are not easy conversations to have but We're going to find the ways to make equitable access to resources incentives for all Vermonters We'll also discuss migrant education and share stories about resettled refugees right here in our home state Then we'll look at what we have right here and really understand what what's all about the outdoor spaces here in Vermont and local food that and conversations and learning more about the Organizations there here in the front lines of our resilient work. We applaud these heroes there around us today in this auditorium The afternoon programming features a suite of hands-on and interactive events and offers and needs Keynote to four outstanding workshops on billion Excuse me building our resilient bodies and regenerating our lands and expressing ourselves creatively Throughout my career. I've placed people in communities at the core of my professional obligations Looking at the future of our students as well as our communities I'm grateful to be in this state That values its social capital as strongly as Vermont does Patricia Preston will expand on the key role that Vermont plays on the global stage next And so I'll say that all of us at Norwich University are excited to be a part of resilient Vermont and This conference we're looking back 2011 when tropical storm Irene tested Vermont's resilience through the current pandemic and celebrating the successes and learning of lessons learned and looking back What could we have done differently as we move forward here at Norwich? We look it back at the universities over 200 year history and we do the same. That's how we get better. I Believe Norwich University is an exemplar of a resilient story growing and thriving even with wars and conflicts fires economics and disease that we just went through and currently are still facing Norwich community truly lives by our motto. I will try and Continues to play service to our country and community before itself a year ago President Anaruma took on that challenge Started his presidency in a pandemic I remember reading the New York Times article about him moving into The residence halls with the core because he understood what it means to be resilience And it's that humanity that gets us through things and he he did that and he lived that Under his leadership our campus and community thrived And we were able to reopen and continue to serve our students We grew We grew during that time. We learned best practices and grew our cybersecurity nursing engineering criminal justice programming and adding More engineering. I'm sorry educational pathways To our professionals here in Vermont and as a global stage We protected and strengthened our humanities programs and so many universities around the country ignore them But we understand that that's a core To who we are at Norwich We're adding to our leadership center to join our three current research centers of excellence and resilience and security cybersecurity digital forensics and peace and war and Support all our work and these renowned institutes as a senior military college We take great pride in our graduating students and all of our service branches the military Our athletes We're also growing our civilian student population to be Servant leaders and expanding our international student body And our internship and study abroad opportunities. We are Experiential boots on the ground education. It's our core value at Norwich and sometimes those boots are online Right our CGCS our graduate studies online is expanding as well as our undergraduate Offerings because we understand that to be resilient. We have to have ready and relevant education in years to come One of our one of our students just recently graduated with three majors three majors Oh my gosh, and currently finishing our master's degree program Three students here undergraduate research scholars Honors program and ready to learn from you all So once again, I wanted to extend a warm welcome To our university the home of the Center for Global Resilience and Security and now The third resilient Vermont conference I invite you to engage deeply in the conversations and debates today and participate in all of today's activities I know that the planning team at CGRS has worked so hard on this conference and they've done a great job So I wish all of you a wonderful day Experience I'm going to be in and out, but thank you again for letting me be the opening speaker of this session Thank You dr. Gaines Good morning everyone. My name is Rodion pedug. I am an international student from Kiev, Ukraine Studying cyber security and information assurance here in the core of cadets I'm also a part of North University Honors Program and a civic scholarship recipient Now I would like to invite our next speaker miss Patricia Princeton Patricia Preston is a present and chief executive officer at Vermont Council on world affairs and non-partisan statewide organization for nearly last decade Patricia has promoted culture awareness and Understanding of the world and its people places and cultures through education and engagement Before leading the Vermont Council on world affairs, Patricia received her master's in international education at New York University Tain Heart School And has held worst nonprofit and public sector roles while she developed curriculum for their public health relations Answered vulnerable communities. So let's welcome our next speaker miss Patricia Preston Rodion Thank you so much for that warm welcome and thank you dr. Gaines for your you're really wonderful opening remarks Can you all hear me? Okay? Is this is that close enough? Okay wonderful So thank you to everyone here at Norwich University for both You know for those of you who planned and organized this and brought us all together today But those of you who also are coming to speak on panels and engage in this really important conversation one of the initiatives at the Vermont Council on world affairs is that we lead a statewide a statewide program that really promotes awareness and understanding of the world and its people through public forums and civic engagement and the reason why we do this is You know, it's actually it's really it's relevant today and it's relevant to the topic that brought us all here together resilience and It's really fitting for our organization to run these programs that go around the state and bring people together and Talk about resilience and to be here today because our founder Senator Warren Austin and also the first US ambassador to the UN believed deeply in people-to-people exchange and civil discourse as key to promoting awareness and understanding of the world and its people Ultimately leading us to a safer and more prosperous world Through my work at the Vermont Council on world affairs I have seen firsthand that when Vermonters come together to engage in civil discourse We can discover new pathways that will lead us to a more inclusive sustainable and resilient future Today as we explore the importance of resilient Vermont We are reminded of our collective and powerful role in the larger global story And for that I'm grateful for the opportunity to be with you here this morning and discuss Vermont's role on a global stage We find ourselves living in an increasingly globalized world where we're facing very complex challenges From the rise of global food insecurity to the growing refugee and climate crises While there are clear obstacles before us. There's also a window of opportunity here in Vermont To respond to these crises and emerge as a leader on a global stage On the path to becoming more resilient we can and we must become more inclusive This means we have an opportunity to improve migrant resettlement in Vermont by creating welcoming communities Both through educational opportunities, but also through workforce development opportunities The strength of our state comes from our collective effort to move Vermont forward Whether we're creating these inclusive communities. I just mentioned or furthering our sustainability efforts In my work at the Vermont Council on world affairs We partner with the US State Department to identify leaders on climate action initiatives from from renewable energy to sustainable agricultural practices to climate adaptation and mitigation As a result the State Department sends leaders from around the world in These are leading industry experts to come here to Vermont to meet with Vermonters at the forefront of each of these fields Many of these these experts will be speaking in these panels here today and the State Department and the world See us here in Vermont as leaders in this Whether it's renewable energy agricultural agricultural initiatives or leading academic academia and research The world sees Vermont as a leader But there are still no shortages of opportunities to innovate and Develop new ideas so we can secure our place on the global stage and compete in a future green economy In order to make lasting progress we must come together to examine these challenges and Discover the opportunities that will equip us for the future This is exactly what's brought each and every one of us here today Throughout the day, we will hear from industry nonprofit community and academic leaders Who will share how Vermonters are taking action in response to these challenges that we're facing? The resilient Vermont conference is a necessary and Significant step forward on the path to building a more promising future We know that the strength of our state comes from our collective effort to bring these initiatives and ideas forward To find common ground and to make true and lasting change now More than ever It is important that we reflect upon how we can take action and create a resilient future It is each of your continued engagement In this work and your participation that demonstrates how we can work together to build a more peaceful and prosperous world And it's my hope today That this is just the beginning of many more conversations and you'll continue to carry Everything that you learned here today into your local communities and that we can all work to build a more resilient Vermont And I know that this is the first year back in a while in year three and I'm very much so looking to year four and Continuing to see how this grows and how Vermont continues to stay a leader on an international and local scale and We'll continue to bring experts from around the world here to engage in that work and make a more resilient Vermont So thank you so much for being here and allowing me to discuss Vermont's global role All right. Thank you miss Preston and dr. Gaines as a token of our thanks We'd like to gift you with the small gift up here, which we will bring to you And just thank you again. What's for your powerful remarks here for us And at this time I would like to invite our plenary panelists to come take a seat up here on stage with us Thank you at this time As our panelists are getting situated Alyssa, and I would like to introduce this morning's plenary as your co-moderators Good morning, everybody. My name is Tara Kulkarni I'm an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and I direct the Center for Global Resilience and Security here at Norwich University This is also the host of today's conference So today we're talking about the climate action plan which Vermont released in December of 2021 In September 2020 Vermont passed the Global Warming Solutions Act or Act 153 Which resulted in the creation of a climate council whose members were tasked with developing the climate action plan The climate council is a 23-member body Eight are cabinet members seven are Senate appointees eight are house appointees a steering committee five subcommittees and a number of task groups are responsible for building out the framework for measuring and Assessing Vermont's progress on the actions of the climate action plan the five subcommittees are rural resilience and adaptation agriculture and ecosystems Cross-sector mitigation just transitions and science and data This initial climate action plan identifies 26 pathways 64 strategies and 234 specific action steps the plans five impact areas are cutting climate pollution Capturing carbon resilient working and natural lands vital communities and cross-cutting solutions All right, so let's get into it Although I wasn't in Vermont when tropical Irene or tropical storm Irene landed I've lived through tornadoes snow and ice storms and even some monsoons The explicit call to build resilience and the work being said motion by the climate action plan Which we'll get which we'll be able to discuss here is of great interest to me as it will relate directly to my field of work So panelists, thank you all for being here again I'd begin to like to briefly introduce each of you and then invite some of the opening remarks So first we have Chris Campy the executive director at Wyndham Regional Commission Jared Duvall the executive director at the energy energy action network and Julie Moore who is the secretary of Vermont's agency of natural resources So thank you again for being here. We also have senator Keshia Ram Hensdale who is on her way So it will expect her shortly and she'll be joining the panel as soon as she gets here So it's a panelist I invite each of you to expand on our introduction by reflecting on your work in building Vermont's resilience Since tropical storm Irene came through Vermont in 2011 and through the pandemic and now as you craft and help Vermonters implement this climate action plan So Chris could we start with you? Sure. Thanks for having me. You'll tell from my accent that I'm from southern Vermont Came off a week and a half vacation in Virginia and South Carolina and I have not yet recovered my Vermont full Vermont Glad to be here. It's a lot to reflect on in a fairly brief period of time I was here about a year a little longer before Irene hit And saw the transformation that that caused In terms of the state's capacity to respond to disasters I was appointed to the council by the house to Represent municipal interest because as regional planning Commission we serve in our case one in regional Commission Serve 27 municipalities 27 towns in southeast Vermont Ranging in population from I think it's four in summer set now that they doubled in population huge growth To about 12,000 in Brattleboro and It's been a fascinating To get to really know Vermont intimately and its governance I'd worked in several other states and county at different levels of government Local through count county state and I used to work for the federal government, too And it's Vermont is is fairly unique even within New England And one of the challenges I see and one of the challenges I see in implementing the climate action plan is I think as a state we need to have a real honest conversation about the capacity of municipal governments to do what state policy says we need to do especially when the Those state policies rely upon action at the municipal level In Vermont municipal planning is optional Towns can choose to adopt plans. They can choose to follow the state's Policy goals they can choose to do zoning or not They can choose to do participate in the national flood insurance program. They can choose to adopt river corridor policy and You know, there's there's constant change in the towns and I'm increasingly seeing them I think starting to break at the both the political and operational capacity levels With regard to the to the climate action plan, I think we accomplished a lot in a really short period of time One of my concerns about the the plan actually stems from the global warming solutions Act, which actually It prioritizes greenhouse gas reduction, which is absolutely essential it has to be done but But Adaptation resilience are kind of on a second tier if I could if I could change something it would be to elevate that to share that be at the same level of priority as greenhouse gas reduction, but when we were working on the Plan this past summer our region of the state suffered its worst disaster since Irene and I Saw how we're we've really come a long way in terms of Responding and repairing physical infrastructure or especially public infrastructure roads and other things But we're still learning how to deal with individual assistance needs household needs Damage that happens to homes in our case this disaster. We had the it was a I believe is the record for four wettest summer months and Recreate our recorded climatological history While I was testifying before house natural resources on an issue we were we had just had that disaster and Coming up coming up towards us was a tropical or hurricane or tropical storm Fred and then we had Henri and Then we had Ida now. Luckily. We didn't get have a direct hit either Luckily, we didn't have a direct hit from any of those three, but any one Could have resulted a truly cataclysmic like Waverly, Tennessee type situation And I think a lot of the rest of the state was fundamentally unaware of what was going on But I think but we had a lot of Damage done to homes that people just had never experienced before and weren't expecting and I think at the individual level We still need we still have a good bit of work to do. That was a good kind of trial run for the state's new Individual assistance response format but within the climate council I serve on the just transition subcommittee and one of the things that Concerns me about our capacity to respond is the reliance really on almost the goodwill of communities to get people back on their feet and some of our Means that people have to access for individual assistance If you don't know who to report to If you don't know how to access like the Vermont disaster recovery fund if you don't have a co-ad this could be the organization Active and disaster If you don't have these other kinds of supporting structures there It's really difficult for individuals to get assistance and that's really uneven around the state Therefore we kind of have this patchwork quilt of equitable response So I think we have a good chance of fixing this, but I just hope we'll do it before we have another big natural disaster I think the way we came together for the pandemic was pretty remarkable, but We have work to do on the natural disaster side. That's it Thank You Chris and welcome senator Keshara. I'm in still. Thank you So we'll give you a moment to catch your breath and and Jared Maybe we turn to you if you could do the same offer us your reflection Great. Well, thank you Tara. Thank you, Alyssa and everyone who's been involved in organizing this great conference Including I need to give a shout out to our wonderful deputy director at Energy Action Network Kara Robichek who's also been involved. Unfortunately. She can't be here today But I mostly want to share some reflections in my role as a member of the of the Vermont climate council Where I serve with Julie and with Chris on the steering committee of the council and I also co-chair the science and data subcommittee and In a whether it's my work at the energy action network which does tracking and research and analysis for Vermont on Energy emissions the economy and equity or whether it's the work on the science and data subcommittee for the council I always try to start with the science and I feel like our climate scientists are on the world are being as clear as possible as as they can with us and We hear terms from the intergovernmental panel and climate change the IPCC That we are at a code red the last report They said look this this is really effectively our last warning We have less than a decade to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half if we are going to avoid the worst impacts of a destabilized climate and So I believe that what that means for us in Vermont I believe that what the Global Warming Solutions Act sets up is a legal Responsibility and I would argue as well a moral responsibility to do our part in that global effort to reduce Emissions in half over this decade And to reduce that pollution that's driving the climate crisis You know in terms of you know Chris brought up and I agree with you the importance of elevating Resilience and adaptation in the plan But I also think that an important part of resilience is the phrase when you're in a hole Stop digging and if we don't at the same time also reduce The pollution that is going to make climate destabilization Even worse and cause the need for even more of our response on the resilience and adaptation side We need to be thinking of these things as I know Chris believes as well Not as either or competing priorities But but both and in making sure that we're reducing pollution at the same time as we're advancing resilience and adaptation strategies The climate action plan that we all put together and passed on December 1st of last year When we added it all up all of the recommendations, I believe that it gave us a real chance to meet our legal and moral responsibilities to Reduce pollution by the amounts required in the Global Warming Solutions Act But unfortunately we're at a point now where the two most important recommendations when it came to Pollution reduction and that those were the transportation and climate initiative program and The clean heat standard by far the two largest pollution reduction recommendations in the plan Neither of them have have moved forward So as it stands now We're in a very tough spot the climate action plan is a shell of what it was intended to be and we are nowhere close to being on track to What the law requires and what I think Vermonters and especially future generations of Vermonters Expect of us and I'll just briefly talk about these numbers The Global Warming Solutions Act requires Vermont to reduce our emissions 40 percent by 2030 The clean heat standard that Did not pass because it was opposed by the governor and failed to the legislature failed to override that veto by one vote That would have got us a third of the needed reductions the transportation and climate initiative was designed to get 26 percent reductions in transportation sector emissions around 2030 And so those those were by far the two biggest pollution reduction strategies and because of Opposition including unfortunately from our governor those neither of those have moved forward and we as a state We as a climate council are in a position where We have to figure out a way forward because that that legal responsibility and that moral responsibility is not going away It's not enough to say no without a way forward You know I would say that there are some positive things coming out of the legislature this year The governor proposed in the legislature passed thankfully an important down payment on some additional climate action Including an additional 80 million dollars for weatherization, especially weatherizing The homes of low and moderate income Vermonters, which is important from a pollution reduction a resilience and energy equity lens But I think we also need to be honest and put that in context, you know the pathways that the council Commissioned by experts From Cadmus and the energy future groups energy futures group of what it would take to meet our legal requirements for emissions reduction those pathways pointed to the need to weatherize 90,000 additional homes of Vermonters by 2030 that 80 million dollars is an important step But we need to be clear at the an average of ten thousand dollars a home for comprehensive weatherization That's 8,000 homes. That's less than a tenth of what we need to do over this decade And it's a similar story, but even smaller numbers when it comes to electric vehicles We've got twelve million dollars that passed in the budget For EV incentives at three to four thousand dollars an incentive. That's three to four thousand additional electric vehicles over the next couple of years When the target is a hundred and twenty six thousand electric vehicles replacing fossil vehicles by 2030 So I think you know, it's important In a university setting As folks who are committed to to science and and the facts I Think I wish I could start with better news and on a brighter point But I think it's important to be very straightforward and honest that we're in a really tough spot right now We're nowhere near on track what we have to do from a legal and a moral perspective And it's it's time to step up be creative I think it will likely lead to you know because we've failed to take the the political action through the legislature and with the governor I think it is setting up a situation where what the Global Warming Solutions Act pointed to was rulemaking through agency of natural resources So I do not envy the job that is ahead of secretary more because of the position that we're in But I do know that as Vermonters who are all committed to our future work. We're going to work As collaboratively and it's in a committed way as we can to figure that out together including on the climate council Going forward. I Would also just say that I think resilience Is not just about I think as everybody here would agree environmental resilience or social resilience It's also about economic resilience And I think one of the most important things that has gotten missed from this conversation And that was a really important part of the climate action plan is that there was an economic analysis Conducted of the pathways for how we could reduce emissions by getting off of fossil fuels And what it showed was yes over the next 30 years We will have to make significant investments in weatherization in electrification and getting off of fossil fueled equipment like heating systems and vehicles But when we do and that investment the estimate was about 16 billion dollars over the next 30 years But at the same time that analysis looked at the avoided costs From the high cost very price volatile dependence. We have on gasoline diesel fuel oil propane fossil gas And the projected savings the net savings over that period were 22 billion dollars So we're talking that analysis suggested a six billion net savings from making this transition And it's because I think we we too often think of the fossil fuel status quo As though it's okay as though it's not costly as though it's not Creating a massive energy burden and inequities for vermoners And what the the goal is has to be not just to reduce emissions and pollution But help vermoners get on to energy sources that are lower cost and less price volatile and keep more of our money recirculating here in vermont and investing in our community. So Um That's enough for me and I look forward to doing that work with all of you going forward Thank you Jared And actually a lot of what you said is part of some of the questions that ala said I have but before we get to those We'd love to hear from you secretary moore. Sure. Thank you. Good morning It is a pleasure to be here in person with a number of you this morning and just share a few thoughts About the role of the agency of natural resources and climate action As many of you know a and r has three departments environmental conservation Fish and wildlife and forest and parks and all have a role to play both in greenhouse gas mitigation But also ensuring the resilience of the vermont landscape Um, I'll focus my remarks this morning on what I see is three of the foundational components of a and r's work in the climate space mitigating significant flood vulnerability ensuring ecological connectivity And the work we are currently engaged in to stand up a climate office that will coordinate the work of state government And fulfilling a number of the requirements Jared just spoke to from the global warming solutions act and supporting implementation of the climate action plan So I'll start with flooding, uh, which is as a surprise to know one is the most common recurring hazard in vermont And obviously the most well known example that chris spoke to was the widespread flood damage from tropical storm Irene I assume many recall that the state received as much as eight inches of rain in about 24 hours Which means almost every river and stream in vermont flooded and there was incredible damage 2400 roads 300 bridges a half dozen railroad lines and well over a thousand homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the storm Another interesting impact of the storm, um was Came out of some research done by the university of vermont, which found that over 560 mobile homes were damaged or destroyed And that's really striking because mobile homes make up only about seven percent of all the residential units in vermont But we're about 40 of the units that were affected by tropical storm Irene And I point this out Um because Irene really laid bare the disproportionate impact that flood events can have on mobile home communities But also that link between climate concerns and environmental justice concerns that jared also spoke to In the wake of such damage and recognizing that more frequent and intense storms are likely to be this new normal in a changing climate vermont has in my opinion moved decisively and consistently to increase the state's resilience We've worked to integrate the best available science into both our recovery efforts as well as forward-looking state policy A small sample of these works include Protecting and restoring literally thousands of acres of wetlands These are win-win-win projects that improve resilience create habitat And also improve water quality Efforts to rebuild roads and bridges to withstand future floods By taking steps including adopting state level codes and standards For resilient roads as well as a major planning initiative between the agency and the agency of transportation To look not at rivers and roads, but to bring those considerations together in our planning efforts And then investing more than 30 million dollars in helping move vulnerable vermont landowners And have them relocate from areas that have experienced repeated flood damage Shifting gears to speak a little bit about ecological connectivity As you might expect addressing The conservation challenges of climate change is this is core to the agency's work We know that species are going to move in response to climate change And to follow the presence of preferred or essential habitats But these changes are going to be unpredictable in terms of their scope and timing So therefore our overall our best strategy for adapting conservation to climate change is to foster an interconnected Landscape of high quality habitats and natural communities So that species have that ability to move and adapt in response to whatever changes may occur Tools we're using to support that strategy include the conservation of land and habitat This is obviously one of the most important steps the agency takes in helping maintain a resilient landscape for an uncertain future And every year we are purchasing and restoring land for long-term conservation Based on values including fish wildlife plants habitat natural communities and public enjoyment We've also been working with partners throughout new england in the eastern canadian provinces to try to ensure a well connected regional landscape So that wildlife can move within this broader landscape Context knowing that they don't know where the boundaries of vermont exist And then habitat management and in particular invasive species control work With land use planning and regulation to protect high quality natural communities and important wildlife habitat And maintain a constant vigilance for new Species that may tend to may intend to take up residence in vermont under our changing climate regime And then just close briefly with what i see is a fairly exciting new development And that's that the state's budget for the coming fiscal year will create an office of climate action at an r This office will coordinate the implementation of new and ongoing state-led climate initiatives as well as the monitoring assessment and tracking Of climate adaptation mitigation and resilience activities Necessary to evaluate progress over time and achieving the requirements of the global warming solutions act This organizational capacity will be important as vermont works to deploy the nearly 300 million dollars in climate action investments Over the next several years that were contained in last year's and this year's budget So it's a it's a really exciting and busy time at the agency of natural resources There's certainly a lot of challenges and hard work that lie ahead And I believe the agency is well positioned to take the money Thank you secretary moore Senator ramhansdale, it's your turn And I just want to kind of remind everybody that we're asking panelists to reflect on Their efforts in building vermont's resilience kind of starting from tropical storm iran So we're trying to look back a decade through the pandemic and as we're about to implement The climate action plan now. Thank you. And it's actually been a privilege to hear from others first Um, I was on a plane this week with somebody who said You know, I just moved here from washington dc last year because washington dc is getting so hot It just feels like every year it's hotter and hotter So I consider myself a climate migrant to vermont who just moved to the new north end of burlington I said, you know, that's really interesting. I once considered myself a climate migrant I grew up originally in los angeles and you know, my indian father Was constantly trying to figure out how to keep us close to the coast away from poor air quality I worked for the coalition for clean air in high school And I was very keenly aware that at some point when we lost the income to be able to live Where he wanted us to live the air was equivalent to smoking cigarettes And the water coming out of the tap was more likely to give us cancer and When I worked for the coalition for clean air I learned a very important lesson because we were working to transition Dry cleaning establishments if you can imagine Some of you can nerd out with me here that dry cleaning establishments are actually some of the most polluting and carcinogenic Facilities that exist in the country a majority of our brownfield sites And they also are bad for the respiratory health of the workers in the facilities And so we were trying to phase out perchloroethylene from dry cleaning And my role was to start building relationships with the korean immigrant community And translate materials into other languages And why was that because they owned two-thirds of the dry cleaning establishments in los angeles and saying We're going to transition away from this polluting toxic chemical But we're not going to talk to the people whose economic livelihood is most effective would have proved disastrous And again created and deepened that divide between the environmental and economic You know desires and outputs of our communities and that's essentially At the heart of trying to raise environmental justice as a core Principle and lens through which we look at our environmental work And it's what I fought for since I started in the legislature Well since before I started in the legislature, but about 14 years ago I want to take us a step before tropical storm Irene Because I actually felt like it was so obvious what was going to happen in tropical storm Irene to those most impacted And that it wasn't the impact only that was disproportionate But people's ability to experience resiliency. That's an incredible privilege And we have not lived up to that even to today people have trauma from tropical storm Irene that they are still living out They still feel like they never got help in the mobile home communities in low-income communities if they didn't speak english They were thoroughly left behind Some folks may remember different communities were affected in the spring of that year by the lake rise And so when lake shen played flooded areas You know right in in burlington along the wanoski river, etc I uh I noticed I was getting emails help save the carrots at the intervail Right like the carrots are about to drown because the the water level is rising help us pick carrots and carrots are important Value what our farmers do and our local food systems. There is a community called north cove That's a lot of uh legacy abanaki folks and low-income folks who live right near the mouth of wanoski river And I found the mayor um in the state house one day mayor kiss And I I was a new legislator and I said bob What's going to happen to that community their homes are starting to flood their basements are flooding You know the water starting to rise. He said oh, that's a good point. I hadn't thought of that And the next week they called me and they said so we dropped off a pile of sand and empty sand bags For that community I said you're kidding you had You know tens of people going down to the intervail to pick carrots and you couldn't figure out It's green up day You couldn't figure out a way to help people actually fill those bags of sand and pump out You know the water from their homes and actually help those folks Um, and I I was just so struck. I thought You know we lack the community resiliency and the focus on those most impacted to actually address what is coming if we have a true disaster And then tropical storm Irene hit and and as chris said it was so apt It was really up to the goodwill of a lot of people and a lot of communities And goodwill goes to where they know people are and they have socially embedded relationships And so I was on the housing committee, you know touring waterberry and seeing Scores of people coming out with with trash bags and you know drying out basements and And ripping things out to the studs and helping people start to rebuild their homes And then we went to ducksberry which has a lot of mobile homes And they said we feel like we've been watching planes fly overhead and everyone's forgotten about us We haven't seen any help. We haven't seen any volunteers We don't even know if people know we're here and that we're suffering And so I think we have to bring it back to resilience and who gets to experience resilience Because I've been doing this environmental justice work for long enough that we Um recently got a grant from the high meadows fund and it was uvm vermont law school And center for whole communities where I was working before I I became a state senator And we started traveling to newport and rutland and then doing digital conversations in the pandemic And those you know those conversations on zoom were so critical And what we would do is when we had those in person conversations We pay people 20 dollars and feed them and offer child care and when we started doing Zoom conversations people might think oh well now it's zoom so you can pay people less No, you have to pay people more because it's a pandemic and their time is extremely precious And they are in stress mode trying to figure out how to take care of their families So we paid people 50 dollars to talk to us on the phone. We got interpreters We talked to people with disabilities to talk to people in geographic isolation seniors You know people in mobile home communities people who don't speak english And we had these conversations where again people said We we would ask people what can you name the environmental concerns that you have in your community and people could go on and on right And we said you're an expert of your experience. They would say there's blight here. My kids can't play here This area floods this area has a lot of needles on the ground You know they they would name all of the issues that that they were experiencing and then we'd only ask a second question Where do you go to get help? for those issues Silence tears Frustration, I don't know. I don't understand this website I have to go comment to the agency of natural resources in the middle of the day if I care about this I feel like my kids are experiencing some kind of health issue from the water and I don't know what it is I don't know where to get help. I haven't known where to get help since tropical storm Irene So how we approach that relationship with the communities that are most impacted and most underserved Is where resilience truly lies You know some bills were mentioned I just want to mention three that were really important to me one which passed and i'm hoping the governor will sign I understand he hasn't Received it yet. It's probably just been signed in the legislature And that was a landmark environmental justice bill that I've been crafting for over a decade in the legislature s 148 It took 15 years to pass this bill and I just want to highlight that because we're actually one of the last states in the country Not to have an environmental justice framework Embedded in state government And be able to look at things through that lens And I've come to peace with that only because it's also taken the epa a long time to better approach What rural environmental injustice looks like so only last year did the epa mapping tool that helps you look at costs and benefits Start including flooding vulnerability in that mapping tool Which is a huge issue as you've heard that we need to be able to integrate So I am proud that the environmental justice bill has finally passed We do have a civil rights officer in agency of natural resources We need that person to be full time and they probably need more of a staff as well Because that's really critical to making sure that the who of emissions reductions the who of environmental protection The who of resiliency is those most impacted and otherwise most left behind to I think to that element of where are the communities most impacted and how do we build resiliency I did try to advance work on a civilian climate core And I think we need to remember how important that is i'm an oxfam climate change ambassador And sometimes we talk about international rural development in a way We don't talk about it when it's right here at home that relationships and first of all empowering and paying women As kind of keystone Connectors in their community is a really important way to make sure when a disaster strikes There's good communication networks and people don't get left behind when the immediacy of who speaks english Who has a disability who's a senior who's going to get left in their home When that comes to pass and we're we were lucky We had a slow moving disaster with the pandemic and we could find people before disaster truly struck We don't have that luxury in fast moving disasters like a chemical disaster or a natural disaster So we need I believe a civilian climate core that pays people to exist in their communities Like the green workforce the green city force in brooklyn that some of the national civilian climate core model is is Is built after there is a bit of a disagreement here I do agree a climate office is helpful and what I hope the climate office Folds in is another bill that I think was important that got passed over Which is having a planning office again in the state as some folks may know We had a robust planning office. It focused on land use and at some point we said we have that function elsewhere And you know about 20 or so years ago. We dissolved our planning office in the state So we have regional planning, but there's no overarching planning that ensures that they're all speaking the same language and That we go beyond the region to understand how the full state is planning I don't think you can have resilience without good planning and someone coordinating that at the state level And I it is frustrating to me. We're probably the only state in the country as far as I can see that doesn't have a statewide planning office So sorry to get too wonky You know on all of you. I think there are key investments we have to make But we still know that you know when you don't have home ownership, you can't get a solar panel And you know if you're more likely to forego heat And you know because you're a person of color because you're low income Because these programs don't speak to you because you don't know what weatherization means in your language You're not going to be able to experience the resiliency that is a privilege of all of those factors having the income Having access in your own language Feeling culturally like you can approach this and seeing it in your own community People can't look at an electric vehicle or a solar panel And trust it unless they see it on their neighbor's home or in their neighbor's driveway And we still haven't approached that for most low income communities in the state Thank you senator and thank you all of you for Explaining your role in Vermont's resilience building efforts I'd just like to maybe say two things in response to all of your comments One was just a conscious decision to build this conference framework. So we start with big picture Move down into the community level and then to the individual levels. So all of our sessions today You'll see those areas being targeted in terms of questions and discussion So thank you for helping us set the stage there And senator especially to your point about equity and the human Core of resilience work We're really excited that for the second time in a row We were able to host an entire track which is on human resilience Because we see that as fundamental to building any sort of resilience in the natural resource world Whether it's energy or Water and food and other essentials In terms of translations, I this is a little bit of a brag but through the center for global resilience and security Thanks to our wonderful mentor dr. Thomas. We are able to put together a language ambassadors program So we have students who are going to help translate the key summary from each Session in the in the conference as we've been doing with all of our online webinars through the last academic year Into as many languages as we can so last year we experimented with french german and chinese and and spanish and then This year, hopefully we'll we'll get to do more languages as our school becomes even more international So chris, maybe i'll start with you in terms of I could talk a lot Okay, I think you can hear me too. I I was excited Not in a good way, but When you were mentioning some of the geographic vulnerabilities and variation across the state So windup county your neck of the woods received all of that rainfall while the rest of the state did not And especially some of the issues that you brought up at the municipal level with Just the inconsistencies across municipalities and how much resources one has and ability to carry on the resilience work Because you sit at the head of this regional planning commission I'm curious to know how regional planning commissions are moving some of this work forward Especially as regional hubs and then are there lessons learned there that could be embedded Into the climate action plan as we kind of start looking at updates as we implement this version Sure, it's a good question Regional commissions when I first got here We really didn't have a big role in emergency planning as more around supporting these local emergency planning Committees, uh, which was actually supposed to be focused primarily on like hazardous materials and Communities and reporting Of where they're at, but then what happened with Irene was the state Was beyond its own capacity just to deal with state infrastructures So they brought any rpcs to help support the towns and this is a whole new relationship was born, uh, critically regional planning commissions were 95 funded by grants from the state. We don't have a Revenue generating mechanism So we can do basically what the state and state agencies ask us to do and Importantly we have have what's called the emergency management planning grant administered by vm. I think the funding originates at the federal level through fema 50% matching grant. I'm getting a little wonky here just because We don't have a lot of latitude about what all we can do But importantly we help the towns develop their local hazard mitigation plans we convene emergency planners Um, and the general public, uh throughout our regions And we work on a number of different initiatives some that originate at the state level Everything that we do is is is contractually based, but That relationship is growing. I think we're at but it's really kind of focused more on On the public side and I think that's because really that and I don't know to what extent we'll talk about this conference, but Nationally, you know the fema model is there's no there are no helicopters that come in and drop money in people's Hands and say here you have the resources to rebuild your lives The most you're going to get I think is I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong like $30,000 To replace your clothing and get food and find some lodging Unless you're here you're you know permanently displaced, but it's a system that's built on community networks And as we were just discussing if you're not Part of that community network if the community doesn't know that you exist Um, I remember during Irene when we would go I would I just happen to go around with fema looking at individual assistance needs and As we would go into some towns they were like well everybody's okay because they have a place to live live But they weren't thinking about the mold They weren't thinking about frankly at all about renters In the resort communities. They weren't thinking about the itinerant, you know the workers And much less far you know elsewhere in the state. I'm sure there were issues with the farm workers and other migrant workers that we have here, so I think our relationship is continuing to grow Also, the the challenges that the towns have worked with fema We actually have a couple of towns who sometimes will refuse or try to refuse To report damage information because they don't want to see fema come in Which can actually make a big difference in Trying to get bring that disaster declaration bell so that fema will So that triggers all the things that come with that But my biggest fear is Um The implementation of the national flood insurance program and the flood has bylaws at the local level there's a profoundly uneven And the the adoption rate of river corridor bylaws to try to protect Uh properties and disincentivize development in river corridors Where you have what's called fluvial erosion, which is a big word for the soil washes away of whatever sitting on Goes downstream That's almost gone to zero because the political will has just evaporated and frankly a lot of people just don't remember what happened So I hope that Thank you Thank you. I haven't lived in Vermont very long. So it is fascinating hearing About that and how the community works in such a capacity like that. So thank you again for Discussing that with us My next question that we have would be for secretary more Is the agency of natural resources prepared to implement this plan? And are there places where rulemaking is mr. Duvall noted? That may be used to meet the requirements for the global warming solutions act Sure, uh, so I mean the the plan itself It does not solely fall to the the agency of natural resources to implement many of the strategies And actions contained in the plan are really driven by incentives and education And require a strong partnership with our legislature There were a handful of specific rulemaking initiatives identified in the climate action plan We refer them as the california clean car and clean truck standards Some of you may know under the clean air act There are two two different sorts of types of vehicles that can be made available for sale in any given state They're either consistent with california emission requirements or they're consistent with federal what we sometimes refer to as cafe standards Vermont has a long history of signing on to the california clean car standards And this means that over the next 13 years there will be an increasing number of electric vehicles available made available for sale in vermont ultimately by the mid 2030s internal combustion engine passenger vehicles and light duty trucks will no longer be available for sale in vermont So this is a really significant market-based transition that will take place over the next 12 to 15 years We're in the process of drafting our rules We are walking shoulder in shoulder with the state of california and putting these rules in place But I expect you will you will see talk about them Over the coming weeks. We we need to have those rules in place by the end of this this calendar year There may be other rule makings that that ultimately the agency Needs to take up certainly that's going to be a consideration That the the council will need to wrestle with if it's In order to achieve the requirements of the global warming solutions active It'll ultimately be necessary to take what I would describe as a more command and control approach As opposed to the the incentive-based approach that the climate action plan currently envisions and The council will be continuing to meet over the weeks and months ahead and I know that will be an area of active discussion Thank you secretary more Okay Thank you senator ramhansdale The climate action plan has been developed with an equity lens And it has the six guiding principles and they include prioritizing the most impacted first And moving at the speed of trust Can you speak to this please is this really feasible does vermont have sufficient resources to implement These parts of the plan and and especially through this framework and and meet the timelines of the global warming solutions act That's a big question So I think Those principles are really noble. I think it's really valuable that they They ultimately underpin the work I think they're only as good as our ability to measure them and to hold ourselves accountable to them and that I think we have not yet lived up to I Am really grateful that in the environmental justice bill The initial resources set aside are for a mapping tool The environmental justice movement around the country has iterated and iterated and come back to We need to be able to see the disparity to tackle it and that is with both environmental costs and environmental benefits So california is probably furthest along on this road of not just saying okay Where is their traffic congestion? Where is their poor air quality? Where is their heat and flooding vulnerability? But also where are electric vehicle charging stations? Where is environmental infrastructure? Where are we investing our dollars and over and over again what I think you see in vermont Sometimes for better or worse, but you know if you're in a community that has a very professionalized staff They're good at raising their hands for resources You know they have political alignment to say we want to you know rebuild our downtown or get these dollars Then those are the places where investment happens And we can all name the parts of the state where we see disinvestment and blight And there isn't that same alignment to access those dollars and those dollars shouldn't just flow where there is political will So we need to start mapping And and holding ourselves accountable to where those dollars are flowing and where they are not flowing where we have high asthma rates Where we have more heat or flooding vulnerability This is all coming right. I mean You know india is 140 degrees Europe is experiencing a heat wave. We know that many counties in vermont are Seen as climate havens. So we're probably going to start to experience pressure From climate migrants who can afford to live here at the same time that we have a 23 Vacancy rate in the state because of the number of second homes That's the highest number of vacancies in the percentage of vacancies in the country. So where are people going to live? um, and then We know that burlington Has the same heat island effect that exists in urban areas like detroit and los angeles So we have enough paved surface in burlington that while other parts of of vermont are kind of climate havens and will experience less of that Volatility burlington is going to have people who perish If they don't have access to cooling mechanisms in the next major heat wave So we have to be thinking about these things for who's here and who's coming because we also have fresh water And that's a whole another conversation about resilience Thank you senator Um, mr. Duvall, um with the failed legislation legislation Sorry, legislation that you noted related to transportation in the clean heat standard What is the path forward as it makes me wonder what happens if there are no limited if there is no No data or limited data. Um, that becomes a barrier to implementing an action or when the science is challenged It's a great question. It's a really difficult question. Can folks hear should I turn this back on? Hopefully no feedback. Okay. Good. Um It's a great question. It's a really difficult question I mean I I try to be an Realist but an optimistic realist. Um, I'm hopeful that there is a way forward uh For the clean heat standard or a revised version of it. Um, I think that You know next year that that would that would be a a major step forward Would be the most significant climate policy from an emissions reduction perspective that verman has probably ever passed So But we don't have a lot of time. I mean every I think one of the things that gets missed when we we start with the science We start with the imperative of emissions reduction on the timeline that scientists tell us Cutting our emissions in half by 2030. We have we have a Target in 2030 for vermont that is almost twice as ambitious twice as difficult to achieve as the target by 2025 and so one of my big concerns is that As secretary more rightly noted as I noted We have a big infusion an important infusion Especially of federal dollars of arpa dollars that are going to go towards Investments in reducing emissions and hopefully doing so in a cost effective and equitable way The challenge is that that money has to be Um appropriate Tell me if I get this right appropriated by 2024 and expended by 2026 And so I think we face if we don't at this in the next year or two Advance the policy frameworks that can set the rules of the road send really clear market signals make sure That we are centering equity and making sure that this transition is prioritizing Low and moderate income vermaners first and foremost I think we run the risk of having those dollars Falling off a cliff at exactly the time we need to be ramping up our efforts to reduce emissions If we're going to have any chance of meeting that 2030 target um You know, I'm not a lawyer. So I don't know. I mean I I think there are different perspectives. I've heard some people say that they think vermont is not Doesn't need to worry about this until 2027 because there's a lag in emissions data And we're not going to know if we miss the 2025 target until 2027 Um, I hope that they were not serious when they when they said that in testimony um What we've seen in other states is that legal action Can take place Prospectively not just retrospectively so In massachusetts, which has a similar global warming solutions act framework The conservation law foundation looked at their plans realized they weren't going to add up to their to meet their requirements and proactively sued them and that went to the That case went to the supreme court of the state of massachusetts And then the state of massachusetts was under a court order to put together a plan to reduce emissions Which by the way was one of the reasons that governor charlie baker a moderate republican was the biggest champion of the transportation and climate initiative Who then said when he Backed away from that that the reason he had to back away from that is that other states in the region did not step up So I think that I don't know who will bring a case I would not be surprised if a case is brought because I I think any objective realistic Look at the plan shows it falling far short of adding up right now. I do not want that to happen I think we all worked in good faith to try to make sure that that wouldn't happen by crafting a climate action plan that Could add up But when you don't pass the biggest planks of that plan I think that that becomes more that that type of legal action becomes more likely The other option and again, I'll preface this by saying i'm not a lawyer Probably being in dangerous territory just thinking out loud But you know it was very clear in and I would have to go back and look at the exact language in the global warming solutions Act in the solutions act But it said that you know The a and r has the ability to advance via rulemaking the recommendations of the climate action plan And the way in the clean heat standard was unanimous. It was a consensus recommendation of the climate council The way it was written was to implement the clean heat standard. The first step we identified was legislative passage One vote short in the house 99 votes I don't know if that means that Because it was a recommendation by the council that a and r should look at advancing The clean heat standard through rulemaking Maybe that's an option that needs to be on the table. I just know that right now The plan doesn't add up and we're not on track to meet our legal or moral responsibilities to do our part to reduce emissions And I just want to say really briefly tarry you were saying, you know starting big picture and getting more local as we go down One of the things that I keep hearing that I just have to say I'm incredibly frustrated by Is is folks who will say why should vermont act? Why does what we do matter? We were small on the global scale And when you look at the numbers our per capita emissions are per capita contributions to climate pollution They're higher than any other state in new england People will say well, what about china? What about india? What about china in india the average per capita emissions in china are seven tons of perperson in india? They're only two tons of person And here they're about 15 tons of person and the people who are Experiencing the worst effects hit first and hardest from a destabilized climate our folks As senator rom-hinstale mentioned who have fewer resources and they're often folks who live on coastlines Or in vulnerable environments And so I think that can vermont solve the climate crisis on its own by reducing our own 10 million metric tons of uh carbon dioxide emissions or greenhouse gas emissions every year No, but we do have a responsibility to do our part. I I don't think that verminers are the type of people to Shirk our responsibility or shrink from a challenge and I it's just Morally unexcusable to me that Especially in a state where we have produced historically far more emissions than the places around the world That are going to deal with the hardest the the worst impacts of the climate crisis to say that that we shouldn't Step up and do our part. We have a major responsibility To do our part and go beyond that because we have more ability and resources to than some other places Thank you all once again for Your your remarks here for us In the in the name of time we're going to invite you all just to briefly Give us some closing remarks in a minute or less on everything you've spoken about here today I Want to thank all of you for for being here today Thank the panel for the excellent conversation Obviously, there there's no shortage of of work to do in this space To both drive down our greenhouse gas emissions as a state and improve the resilience of vermont to the changing climate It's a pleasure that so many are able to join in person. These are really important conversations and just wish you a great conference I'll go ahead. Um, I I should have started with this. I just want to say it's really wonderful to see julie and chris in part We have spent like Hundreds of hundreds of meetings on zoom together and this is the first time we've we've been next to each other in person So it's wonderful and it's wonderful to see everybody in person um I also want to just thank secretary more for her leadership and the work that the agency is doing on advanced clean cars And advanced clean trucks that that is a really significant component of the climate action plan And it's going to be a big win for pollution reduction and for consumer protection For vermoners and I think it's a really important step But I know it's a lot of hard work and I really admire the leadership you have shown and that the Staff of the agency of natural resources have have shown and i'm glad that that is a key component of the climate action plan That's moving forward Um, but if I wasn't it's as clear as I was hoping to be earlier It's not enough and we have a lot more work to do And I look forward to doing that work alongside the folks up here and all of you in this room. Thank you How many students and faculty do we have in here just kind of raise your hand good still a good number good um back in when I was at mississippi state end of the 80s and early 90s when I started my masters in public administration there I took a You know was You you take those classes right that kind of help direct your rest of your career and one of those was Social impact assessment of environmental problems looking at how do you do social impact assessments associated with nipa? And our focus was on this was a 1990 climate change and environmental justice Uh, and I went on to be a presidential management intern now They're called fellows at the osa environmental protection agency And while I was there during the transition from the bush administration to the first clinton administration And one of the things that happened under clinton was the well c 93 Uh, yeah clinton uh was the uh beginning of the creation of the office of environmental equity announced called environmental justice This is all to say faculty What you do what you teach is incredibly Important because it could really uh direct supplies Students if it's if you're passionate about something plan to work on it all of your lives Um, it can be You may need want to change paths from time to time about how do you get to what you were really really passionate about? but I've I would Really strongly encourage you to consider a life in public service. It's been incredibly rewarding for me Um, I used to be one of the younger people on these panels now. I think I'm one of the older ones um, and uh But I'll tell you with every gain that you make you have to defend it every year thereafter because You can't take anything for granted even the foundation of our own uh government so But I love I've loved working on these issues um, yeah, I grow weary sometimes but uh, you know climate change environmental justice directed My all of my work for all these years and uh would encourage anybody to pursue the same so The reason I do what I do is because I still think we see justice and equity as an afterthought And if we wait until those most comfortable feel the impacts of climate change it will be too late And so when we talk about this atlas of human suffering that the ipcc is trying to uh Sound the alarm around it's already being drawn It's already present and and you know that well because you're talking about resilience and you're talking about how to Uh help those most impacted in the next disaster that comes um, and it's it's on its way It's probably already here in this summer. We're probably going to experience some of that um, and so I just ask that when you do your work you try not to make justice and equity and afterthought Oh, yeah, we also have to think about this Because those are not only the people most impacted But I think the other important thing to recognize is those are the people who have some of the best answers, right? I will often say that you know Saka joya and harry at tubman were greater environmentalists than you know, john ewer and theodore roosevelt I mean they knew this country well. They knew this land well And we often forget that you know those who we think were helping the most with the environmental movement Are the ones who created the environmental movement in the first place That is our work is to remember that there is traditional indigenous knowledge ecological knowledge And unlock that before things are too late and we don't have those answers anymore and i'll end with saying, you know, we haven't I think talked enough about food systems Which are a huge emitter You know of of carbon, but also something that's going to be really important and critical to resilience When I was a new legislator, I was a vegan and you know, I just I thought that's me doing my part plant-based diet, etc A lot of immigrants and refugees in chitin county really want goat meat You know, it's a very popular meat around the world not so much in The united states and it was getting shipped frozen from australia for the most part some still is but You know, that's where the majority of our goat meat was coming from Meanwhile, we have goat dairy in vermont and a lot of the male Goats I hate to call them kids and then say they were being killed because that doesn't sound good But you know the young male goats were being killed and not used for anything particularly productive And so I worked with the vermont land trust and a couple really key advocates who did international rural development work to create pine island goat farm and have local goat slaughter available Refugee led in the community. And so, you know, sometimes we look at the problem Climate change is like a number one issue for vermonters But it's not what they vote on because they just don't think anybody has any good policy solutions And that's in many many ways because the solutions are The most effective solutions are the most local are the most systemic are when you talk to your neighbors and say What do you need to feel resiliency to have the food that you need to have the housing that you need? And then you create those solutions right here. So of course, hold us accountable to policy Please actually vote on climate if it's important to you But also remember that there are a lot of things you can do right in your own community That draw out local knowledge that don't treat people like victims and will help educate you on the best solutions For us to be able to move forward and save this planet Thank you so much panelists We're so grateful for all of you for taking time to join us today in this really important conversation And and what a wonderful conversation it was I think it's going to set the tone truly for all the remaining sessions that we have today and all the programming So let's give our panelists a big round of applause