CLF is asking Vermont regulators to examine the Vermont Gas pipeline project in light of its soaring costs. Construction should be halted unless and until regulators approve the changed project. Soaring costs require reassessment. Recently Vermont Gas announced that the costs for its new gas pipeline will be 40% higher than they represented to regulators.…
Jul 14
2014
2014
Apr 3
2014
2014
Gender Justice, Environmental Justice
CLF is pleased to highlight the great work of our Vermont intern, Taylor L. Curtis, who is the lead and driving force behind a month-long symposium Sex, Gender, Expression and the First Amendment Project (SGE1) held at Vermont Law School from March 20–April 12 – exploring the intersection of free expression, sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender…
Apr 2
2014
2014
You’re Fired! – I Quit!
The owners of the troubled Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant chose to “quit” before they were “fired.” The recent regulatory decision by the Vermont Public Service Board highlights the long and troubled history that led most Vermonters to completely lose faith in the owner’s ability to responsibly manage the plant. In stark terms the Board…
Feb 26
2014
2014
Green Affordable Housing in Vermont
Putting the green in affordable housing may not be easy, but it is long overdue. For decades, manufactured homes have been an affordable home ownership option. Unfortunately, some manufactured homes are the equivalent of gas guzzlers. They burn through dollars and heating fuels like there’s no tomorrow. How affordable is a home when fuel bills…
Nov 20
2013
2013
Driving Climate Change
A version of this article appeared in the November 17, 2013 edition of the Sunday Rutland Herald / Times Argus. The biggest contribution to climate change in Vermont comes from how we get ourselves around. As a rural state we rely on cars — and they burn a lot of gasoline, producing significant greenhouse gas…
Oct 15
2013
2013
Getting Around in a Cleaner World
Windmills and solar panels are helping us move toward cleaner electricity. But what about transportation? In Vermont, transportation accounts for the lion’s share of our greenhouse gas emissions. We are a rural state, sure, but that doesn’t mean we get to drive around and pollute more than our neighbors in other states. Beginning this week the Vermont…
Sep 4
2013
2013
Such A Deal: New Pipelines for Tar Sands Oil Bad for the Environment And Will Raise Gas Prices
Anyone who follows CLF’s work knows about plans being pushed to move oil derived from tar sands in Canada through pipelines that would cut across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The purpose of the these pipelines is simple and clear: to allow this oil to reach the sea and foreign markets that can only be…
Jun 26
2013
2013
Sowing Seeds in the City
Vermont is known for its thriving bucolic landscapes, but even in downtown Burlington many people have dirt beneath their fingernails. The Conservation Law Foundation has long supported agriculture in Vermont by helping farmers understand the legal landscape and find funding to grow their operations. More recently, CLF has been playing a significant role in urban…
May 23
2013
2013
Vermont Gas Pipeline: A Bridge to Nowhere?
It is important to build bridges, but we need to make sure they get us where we need to go. The proposed expansion of the Vermont Gas pipeline may be more a minefield than a bridge, as one recent Vermont weekly and one recent national energy blog reported. The project will cut through valuable wetlands…
May 22
2013
2013
Vermont Supreme Court Reviews Vermont Yankee
Can the Vermont Public Service Board determine the meaning of its own orders? The answer would seem to be “Of Course!” But that is the question that Vermont Yankee’s owners are putting before the Vermont Supreme Court. In two orders the Vermont Public Service Board issued a strong rebuke to Entergy. The Board refused to…