Last winter the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, an NLIHC state partner, and a number of its members signed onto the Climate Action Coalition's comprehensive set of climate action priorities, including the “Global Warming Solutions Act” (H. 688). This bill would cut carbon emissions, help rebuild Vermont’s economy, build healthy and resilient communities, promote the use of natural and working lands to capture and store carbon, and help communities adapt to the already changing climate. Governor Phil Scott vetoed the bill on September 16 and the House overrode his veto by a vote of 103 to 47. The Senate will vote this week whether to also override the veto and is expected to do so.
Housing and homeless advocates are supporting H. 688 because low-income and vulnerable Vermonters are disproportionately impacted and suffer the greatest consequences from the increasingly extreme weather. They live in the most risk-prone locationsand most vulnerable structures, and they are the slowest to recover from climate events.
Mobile home parks in Vermont were especially hard hit by Tropical Storm Irene, with some forced to close and many suffering lost homes. Tri-Park Mobile Home Cooperative in Brattleboro, with 333 lots, the largest in the state, is still working to address Irene's impacts nine years later. Another affordable housing development, Brattleboro Housing Partnership's Melrose Terrace, saw the relocation of 55 elderly and disabled households and the development of replacement housing at Red Clover Commons.
H. 688 would ensure that Vermont takes action to put in place a strategic plan to cut climate pollution, strengthen communities, and protect the health of Vermonters. The bill transforms existing emission-reduction goals into requirements and establishes a diverse Climate Council that will recommend climate and resilience solutions. These solutions must be equitable to ensure that rural and marginalized communities are not left behind as Vermont transitions to a carbon-free economy. Working with other state agencies, the Agency of Natural Resources would be required to identify and work collaboratively with legislators and others to advance the most strategic opportunities, putting rules and policies in place to achieve carbon reductions and build community resilience. The public would also have an important role to play in reviewing and shaping these climate solutions.
Before the veto of the bill, opponents were out in full force, making a barrage of calls to legislators claiming that climate action will kill jobs and hurt the economy. The Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition urged its members to counter these messages with talking points produced by the Climate Action Coalition. Advocates were encouraged to thank members for their initial support of the bill and to remind them that acting on climate change provides economic, environmental and equity benefits. Erhard Mahnke, the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition’s coordinator, also penned an op ed about the importance of enacting policies that address climate change to build more sustainable, resilient, and equitable communities.
“We are deepening our engagement in calls for climate action because we know that affordable housing is key to helping address our warming world,” wrote Mr. Mahnke “When our members build, they build to the highest energy efficiency standards. This not only helps lower our carbon footprint, it lowers the overall cost of the housing, making it more affordable for the low-income Vermonters they serve and more sustainable over the long term – all while creating good-paying jobs that boost our economy and keep our hard-earned dollars in state, instead of exporting them through the purchase of imported fossil fuels.”
“Vermont may be a small state but we have long had a big impact on important social and environmental issues. We are both fiscally prudent and forward looking. And we know that we must play our part in forestalling the disastrous effects of climate change. We can do so by keeping more energy dollars in state and putting Vermonters to work in the clean, 21st century economy. Let’s make sure that we live up to our vaunted environmental reputation by backing it up with policies and resources that will have a greater impact on one of the largest contributors to our state’s carbon footprint. As the last UN report warns, we only have eleven years to make a real difference.”