Letter to the editor: Time is now for action on Affordable Heating Act

I read with dismay in the most recent edition of the Independent that the Affordable Heating Act, S.5, has been put on hold, and will become another study for the two years, of what to do to address climate change.

As to “playing a vital role in the health of the state’s agricultural industry” let’s put sympathy momentarily aside and have a cold, hard look at an underlying problem. 

All three of our school districts in Addison County, and the Hannaford Career Center, have many substantial buildings that need heat (and air conditioning) and are currently major consumers of fossil fuels.

Faced with widespread concerns about potential costs to Vermonters, authors of the proposed Affordable Heat Act have decided to pump the brakes on the sweeping bill.

A well-known saying on bicycle touring trips is, “Drink before you’re thirsty, eat before you’re hungry, and shift before you have to.” 

It’s not that Mr. Fossil Fuels hasn’t provided me with a comfortable and delightful life; he has.

I wish to comment on the informative op ed by Howard Jennings on Feb. 16th, 2023 about the effort to sequester carbon in old and mature forests in Vermont and nationwide.

The same climate change that is dramatically shortening the season for outdoor skating across the north — including places like the Rideau Canal Skateway — is also opening up new habitat for Burmese pythons to move northward.

I have examined the findings of the 2022 report from the International Panel on Climate Change and other authoritative research, and what I have found is downright terrifying for our young people’s future. 

According to the Low Carbon Diet Program, a group of five- to eight households agree to meet consistently once a week over a month for an hour to motivate each other to take energy saving actions listed in the “Low Carbon Diet” workbook by David Gershon o … (read more)

Do you remember when Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” came out? I saw it in a crowded movie theater almost 20 years ago. Recently I wondered how our local climate data in Vermont look now compared to then. Quick answer: things have gotten worse. 

Founded by students in 2003, the Knoll, Middlebury College’s educational garden, has become a vitally important center of climate justice, resiliency, education and community nourishment.

If you believe in climate change as I do, I refer you to the New Yorker publication “The Fragile Earth.”

The town of Middlebury has made good progress reducing the carbon footprint of its municipal operations, but the community will need a major shift in strategy if it’s to reach its goal of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% (compared to what it generated during … (read more)

The CEAC, a “nonprofit organization working to promote a healthy, local economy while achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” laments that in spite of its efforts, emissions are rising.