Environment & Climate

Our forests, farms, rivers, mountains, and working landscapes are central to who we are. They support our economy, our communities, and the character of Vermont itself.

Climate change is already affecting Vermont through stronger storms, flooding, infrastructure damage, and rising costs. We need to prepare communities for those impacts while continuing to reduce pollution and move toward cleaner energy.

But climate policy has to work for the people who live here too. We should pursue solutions that lower energy use, make homes more efficient, expand cleaner transportation options, and help families and businesses reduce costs over time. We should be careful about policies that simply shift new expenses onto people who have few alternatives.

Local communities should have a real say in shaping their own future. The people who live in a community understand its land, infrastructure, economy, and needs better than someone looking at it from afar. The state has an important role in setting strong environmental standards, but towns should have meaningful authority to decide how growth, conservation, and development fit together locally.

Protecting Vermont means planning growth thoughtfully, preserving working lands and natural areas, protecting clean water, and making sure development happens in ways that strengthen communities rather than undermine what makes them special.

We don’t have to choose between a healthy environment and a strong economy. Good policy should protect both, respect local decision-making, and help Vermont become more resilient for the generations that come after us.