Op-Ed: We Need Answers to Create Good Climate Policy
By: ANR Secretary Julie Moore
Date: March 22, 2023
The Clean Heat Standard has been described as the most important piece of climate legislation being considered by the legislature this session. Supporters of the bill have sought to characterize anyone raising concerns as either “being in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry” or fear mongering in order to try to kill the bill.
Unfortunately, this political gesturing is drowning out important questions and pulling focus away from the work needed to address the uncertainty inherent in this significant and complex piece of policy. To move climate action forward, I feel it is important to be honest with Vermonters about what we know and what we don’t know.
One of the most difficult challenges necessary to meet our climate goals – reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the thermal sector – could be resolved by a Clean Heat Standard if it includes adequate planning and details. If implemented, the Clean Heat Standard would fundamentally change how we heat our homes and buildings. It seeks to shift roughly one out of every three Vermont homes off fossil fuel heat to heat pumps or advanced wood heat systems by 2030. The scale of this effort is massive, and the approach is largely untested in the heating sector.
The desire to meet the self-imposed deadlines created by the Global Warming Solutions Act cannot serve as an excuse for bypassing the technical analysis needed for a data-informed policy and understanding who will be asked to pay and how much.
For those wondering how the Clean Heat Standard may work, I am too. Here are a few important, unanswered questions:
- Where will the money come from to pay for weatherizing more than 80,000 Vermont homes and installing more than 120,000 heat pumps to meet the requirements of the Clean Heat Standard (fuel suppliers, individual homeowners, government)?
- What impact will the Clean Heat Standard have on the price of different types of heating fuel?
- How will the Clean Heat Standard impact the economy?
- How will the costs and savings from the Clean Heat Standard impact Vermont households who haven’t or are unable to make the switch to clean heat in the early years of the program?
- Nearly 20,000 Vermont households receive heating assistance through LIHEAP. Will LIHEAP be able to increase support for households that haven’t or can’t switch to clean heat switch?
- What residential electrical service upgrades and improvements to grid infrastructure are needed to support heat pumps and other clean heat measures?
- What impact will the Clean Heath Standard have on rates for natural gas and electricity?
- Will Vermont have the workforce needed to support implementation, including electricians, mechanical system installers, and home weatherization teams?
The answers to these questions are largely knowable. There are efforts underway to gain answers to some of these questions but rather than wait for the data, the legislature is determined to drive forward without these important details.
Together, with the right information and a good policy, we can create a path forward to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the thermal sector. We can make sure that no one is left out in the cold by having completed the work needed to understand exactly what this program entails.