Do you find it almost impossible to keep up with conservation happenings, policy and news? I know that I do, so I’m hoping that this section of Cornwall’s Get Wild blog can give you a quick way to be informed about what is happening in our local area, as well as state-wide. Although some of these topics are complex, I’ll do my best to keep the posts like the perfect scoop of ice cream--short and sweet (and informative). I’m a retired science librarian, so I enjoy researching topics both every-day and esoteric. I’ll include links if you want to read more. So, to start off, I’m going to focus on the picture at the county level and Addison County’s Climate Action Plan, which was released June 14th by the Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County (CEAC). And state-wide, I’ll mention several important bills passed in the most recent legislative session. Let me know if there are topics that you’d like me to “take a scoop” of!
What is the Addison County Climate Action Plan (CAP)? Essentially the CAP is a blueprint. It outlines practical steps that can be followed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it seeks to identify opportunities for “green jobs,” and it is meant to build on work that is already happening in Addison County. Its initial goal is “to reduce community-wide GHG emissions by 50% below 2017 levels by 2030 in alignment with both the State of Vermont and Paris Climate Agreement emissions reduction goals". In other words, and to simplify, in eight years, the goal is to halve the level of emissions. The plan focuses on three main areas: buildings and energy; transportation and equipment, and agriculture and forestry. Some of the recommended strategies are:
switching from fossil fuels to electricity,
increasing local production of energy,
switching vehicles and equipment to zero-carbon, and
reducing greenhouse emissions from livestock operations.
And here is the Executive Summary: https://middleburyclimateeconomyinitiative.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/cap-summary-final-option-2.pdf
Here is the complete plan: https://middleburyclimateeconomyinitiative.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/ceac-climate-action-plan-for-addison-county-final-061422.pdf
And good news! Our town of Cornwall is already on its way towards these goals with the plan to install solar panels to power both the Town Hall as well as the Town Garage.
And what is changing at the state level? This past spring, several important bills were passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Scott.
Encouraging the enrollment of old forests into Vermont’s Current Use program, Bill H.697: This bill creates a new subcategory of “reserve forestland” within the State’s Vermont’s Use Value Appraisal (“current use”) program. The legislation builds on the Ecologically Significant Treatment Area category of Current Use by letting parcels that have ecologically significant features and steep slopes to be enrolled and managed as old forests. These old forests do not need to be harvested in order to stay in Current Use, resulting in less pressure on landowners to log their land.
Full bill: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2022/H.697
Best management practices for neonicotinoid insecticides, H.626: The use of neonicotinoid insecticides has been documented to change the behavior of bees, by impacting their ability to forage for nectar, by changing how they learn and remember where flowers are located, and by impairing their ability to find their way home to their nest or hive. This class of insecticides is already banned in Europe. This bill requires Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets to adopt best management practices by rule for neonicotinoid treated seeds, as well as requires the Agency to monitor pollinator health.
Full bill: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2022/H.626
Keywords: neonics, neonicotinoids, Vermont, bees, pollinators, H.697, H.626, old growth, Addison County, Climate Action Plan, greenhouse gas, clean energy
