The Climate Economy Programs are designed to help communities build and implement priority actions that increase economic vitality and affordability in a time of climate change.
Over 120 Marshfield and Plainfield residents came together through the Model Communities program to consider the future of their two towns and how they can collectively rally to maintain the vibrancy of both places while also tackling climate change. From this process, the residents created Revitalizing All Marshfield and Plainfield,” or RAMP, consisting of four…
Since 2017, VCRD has convened the Climate Economy Action Team (CEAT), a group of business and non-profit leaders dedicated to advancing distributed clean energy generation, energy efficiency, and climate solutions entrepreneurship. We are working together to help start new Vermont businesses, expand innovation and the profitability of existing businesses, and reduce Vermont’s carbon impact while…
Middlebury was the second community to participate in VCRD's Climate Economy Model Community Program (CEMCP). CEMCP is community-driven process with local leaders, VCRD, Green Mountain Power, and Efficiency Vermont to cultivate economic development, innovation, and affordability in the face of climate change. Read the Greater Middlebury Report and Action Plan. Through the process, community members…
The Vermont Council on Rural Development is a nonprofit that has been instrumental in helping communities articulate community goals and find ways to marshall community resources to achieve them.
By Paul Costello, and printed in multiple media outlets, including The Bennington Banner: https://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories/paul-costello-what-is-the-climate-change-story-we-tell-our-children,577259 I’ve been wrestling with a sentence that typifies the mission of our times, and have come to this: “We need to end the fundamental threat that climate change presents to our ability to provide for our children.” We can accomplish this…
As seen in the Caledonian Record, April 30, 2019: https://www.caledonianrecord.com/opinion/columns/david-snedeker-invest-in-weatherization/article_5124474b-a682-535d-a43f-7be3213af1f4.html One of the smartest investments Vermont can make as a state is in the weatherization of our homes and businesses. Our old housing and building stock means that too much of Vermonters’ hard earned money ends up going up the chimney or out the door.…
As seen in the vtdigger.org: https://vtdigger.org/2019/02/20/paul-costello-addressing-climate-change-boosting-vermonts-economy/ Carbon tax. Cap and Trade. Carbon Markets. Depending on our point of view, these concepts might make us nervous about raising the cost of living when we are already struggling to pay our bills. Or we may feel passionately about the necessity of pricing carbon for the future of…
As seen in the Stowe Reporter: https://www.stowetoday.com/stowe_reporter/opinion/opinion_columns/electric-vehicles-weatherization-can-save-thousands/article_ca39627e-2574-11e9-8077-27779dc5907d.html?fbclid=IwAR0x5fWtwRlciIRiBnud22vhqhMd5ybWjkR2QOOQGMJuPL6USPhiJiMSVr0 As with most adages, there’s truth to one we hear a lot: Vermont can be an expensive place to live. After we pay the rent or mortgage, taxes, health care, transportation and heating, there’s often not much left over. It’s a fact of our rural economy. But that’s…
The Vermont Climate Economy Action Team (CEAT) today announced their 2019 agenda for advancing economic progress and making Vermont more affordable by helping Vermonters use energy more efficiently and meet their heating and transportation needs with renewable energy sources. “While the national economy is bustling, many areas of Vermont are searching for new approaches to…
In a time when the political climate in Washington lends itself to chaos and uncertainty that undermines environmental and economic efforts, it is more important now than ever that Vermont takes the lead on these issues and strengthens our commitment to our ambitious and necessary energy and emission goals toward a low-carbon economy. While the…