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July 1, 2025 (Montpelier, VT) – State officials have released the newest Climate Action Plan, the roadmap for state agencies on how to implement Vermont’s law cutting climate- and health-damaging pollution. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has analyzed the plan and released the following statement in response:
“Vermont legislators and voters have repeatedly demanded immediate action to cut carbon pollution. The 2025 Climate Action Plan falls short of meeting those demands,” said Elena Mihaly, CLF Vice President for Vermont.
“The Council has worked hard to come to a consensus and deliver recommendations that include financial incentives to drive down emissions. But it has failed to put in place real, enforceable policies that demand major polluters do their part, too. The plan is a lynchpin to progress on cutting emissions—we can’t afford for it to be toothless.”
The most significant aspects of the new plan focus on paying to incentivize cutting carbon pollution, essentially offering a choice to receive financial incentives if people can and do change their behavior. An ideal version would combine those incentives with enforceable actions for the government. Those include state standards, laws, and policies that keep our decision makers responsible for pushing progress towards each benchmark and deadline to cut emissions.
Unfortunately, this weak approach to cutting carbon comes at a time when the Scott Administration is backing away from virtually every law and regulation limiting emissions that Vermonters have supported wholeheartedly over the last decade. Vermont families and businesses need solutions that will help make our air and water clean while getting them off price volatile fossil fuels.
“It is unfortunate to present a plan this lukewarm as Vermont struggles with climate change-driven heat waves,” Mihaly said.
CLF Experts are available for comment
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