MY POLICY PRIORITIES

Tempered with the knowledge that the things we each need to do to address climate change impacts each of us unequally — with the heaviest burdens often on those who can least bear them — I am committed to ensuring South Burlington fulfills its pledge to meet or exceed the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals set out in the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference Paris Agreement, and that it does so equitably and fairly.   Meeting these goals will require significant effort and investment by the community.

Some ask why South Burlington should do so much when other jurisdictions and countries seem to be doing less and our share is so relatively small?  The answer is that climate change is a problem caused by all of us, and therefore requires everyone to solve.  If no one acts until everyone acts we seal an unlivable future for our children.

I am a proven leader in the fight against Climate Change.  As Chair and member of the Energy Committee I was instrumental in the City Council enacting its 2021 Climate Change Resolution and adopting the 2021 Climate Action Plan Task Force Charter.  As vice-Chair and member of the Climate Action Task Force I am proud to have helped craft the City’s first Climate Action Plan, which if fully implemented will put South Burlington on the path to meet its climate goals.

On behalf of the Climate Action Task Force, I was a driving force behind South Burlington’s adoption of an ordinance requiring that all new construction use renewable fuels for hot water, and primarily use renewable fuels for heating, presenting to the City Council on 8/8/2022.

As a member of the Energy Committee, I was also a driving force behind the adoption of Solar Ready requirements (presentation here) for new commercial buildings in South Burlington, and – because to meet its renewable energy goals the State of Vermont will need to add at least 500MW of solar photovoltaic power by 2025 – am now working as a member of the planning commission to ensure that commercial buildings are required to fill that Solar Ready space with actual solar panels.

On behalf of the Climate Action Task Force, I also advocated for putting on the March ballot a proposal to change our City’s charter to allow the City to begin to have a meaningful conversation about how to shift the carbon footprint of our existing building stock.  Presentation here. The council decided to not move forward at this time because, among other things, there is optimism that the State will pass the Clean Heat Standard, hopefully accomplishing the goal of moving our existing building stock away from fossil fuels.

Other actions we can and should take immediately are phasing out of small gas engines, incentivizing electric bikes, improving public transit, ensuring that contractors understand how to install – and homeowners understand how to maintain – heat pumps and educating renters and homeowners about the free weatherization services provided to all low and moderate income folks by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (the CVOEO).

South Burlington’s remaining meadows, forests, grasslands, farmlands and wetlands sequester carbon, provide a buffer against flooding, filter pollutants before they can enter Lake Champlain, provide habitat for pollinators, insects and wildlife, clean and cool our air and nourish our souls. These natural areas also provide important recreational opportunities and can support local food production.

I was instrumental to the successful effort to conserve the important natural resources located on the Southwest corner of Dorset St and Nowland Farm Rd in the face of a proposed massive housing development in that area, and I was active during the interim zoning process in advocating for expanded protection of natural resources (see letters from 5/16/21, 10/20/21 and 12/7/21).

I am pleased that the land development regulations identify, and now protect, important habitat blocks and connectors, provide for expanded buffers around wetlands, streams and rivers and increase the acreage zoned as natural resource protection.  I am committed to ensuring that these protections continue, and to identifying whether other areas in the City deserve protection through future revisions to our land development regulations or through public and/or private conservation funding.