Please name three specific pieces of legislation that are important to you and why.
- Launch a VT version of Green New Deal, best opportunity to unite organized Labor and the environmental movement
- Require Efficiency Vermont to adopt a secondary mission with oversight for grey water policy statewide.
- Have UVM and VSU system partner with industry to foster a handful of green sector champions to create transformational businesses based in VT.
How would you preserve the environment while ensuring a supply of affordable housing?
- MAKE GOOD DESIGN PAY. Reward developers through use of the tax code who encourage ecological design elements in their work projects.
- Update building code to favor land use approaches which are both sustainable and affordable.
- Support density incentives where appropriate in community centers villages and towns.
What’s your plan to save the water quality of Lake Champlain and our many tributaries?
- Invest in sewer and septic infrastructure.
- Incentivize developers and property owners to use technology to advance water quality.
- Consider granting personhood rights to the lake and other natural resources as a matter of law.
Are you in favor of putting a price on carbon?
Yes, only through creating a market for carbon as part of a larger cap and trade system will Vermonters start to address the actual costs of climate concerns, land use and transportation policy.
If elected, what will be your top 3 legislative priorities?
- Healthcare Reform
- Creating a Prescription Drug Benefit
- Universal Basic Income
- Managing the opiate epidemic
What are the first three actions you would take to address climate change?
- Introduce legislation to use economic development funds to move industry and academia toward creation of an industrial sector Green champion with idea of owning transformative sector of green economy across fifty to hundred year time horizon.
- Introduce cap and trade system to place a price on carbon.
- Support a Green New Deal proposal to focus on infrastructure needs and transition to a greener and more just economy.
What would you do in support of the Global Warming Solutions Act?
YES, I will cosponsor GWSA– GWSA is important as it supports policing the fuel and energy architecture here in Vermont, as we bridge toward greater reliance on renewable energy sources.
What steps would you take to protect the natural environment in Chittenden County and Vermont?
I would expand the scope of Efficiency Vermont to include oversight for water, water policy and water issues. Give them primary jurisdiction for water efficiency concerns and make them co-primary with ANR depending on which parts of the water architecture we are considering. This should start to focus municipal policy on sewage overspill amongst other concerns.
Would you support H.175, which would expand Vermont’s “bottle bill” to cover additional containers, like bottled water and wine bottles?
Yes, I will support H.175. Expansion of the bottle bill is critical to getting material out of the waste stream. Opportunities to expand beyond beverage bottles should be considered, posthaste.
Would you support S.234, which makes changes to Act 250?
Yes, it is critical that land use policy be in the center of nature resources management. Placing development interests in community centers while focusing on greater conservation opportunities is most appropriate.
Would you support H.715, the clean fuel standard?
Yes, not only would I be willing to support the clean fuel standard, but I would be willing to co-sponsor the bill when it comes back up next year and act in a leadership role should it be appropriate.