EAN New Faces + Advanced Clean Cars II Research Brief

 
Total Energy News January 2022
Your Update on Vermont and National Energy News
Greetings!
We hope your 2022 is off to a great start. We are excited to introduce some new faces to our Staff and Board here at EAN. 
The latest addition to our staff team is Matt Voss, our new Communications & Events Associate. Matt joins us to assist with social media, website changes, some Network Action Team coordination, and these newsletters! After studying at UVM and engaging with various other environmental causes in the area, he’s excited to work hard to help improve EAN’s communications efforts – reach out to him with any ideas you have in this regard!
We also welcome several new faces to our Board. Dr. Tara Kulkarni served as a leader of EAN’s Vermont Energy Future Initiative and is an associate professor at Norwich University in Civil and Environmental Engineering and as Director of the Center for Global Resilience and Security (CGRS).
Sue Minter, Executive Director of Capstone Community Action, is also joining EAN’s Board. Sue previously served as Secretary of VTrans and as co-chair on a sub-committee on President Obama’s White House Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.
Jordan Giaconia joins our Advisory Board from Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR). Jordan serves as one of the co-leaders of EAN’s VT Clean Transportation Equity Network Action Team, helping lead the shift in that group given recent changes with the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI-P).
Gabrielle Stebbins also joins our Advisory Board as a Managing Consultant at Energy Futures Group. Furthermore, Gabrielle serves as a co-chair of EAN’s Climate Workforce Network Action Team, amid a call for workforce growth in the state of Vermont as a whole.
Finally, Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur joins the Advisory Board as a Consulting Director at VEIC. She also leads VEIC’s clean transportation team, setting its strategic direction and policy proposals, mostly focused on electrification recently with cars and buses.
We are grateful for these additions to the EAN team and look forward to working with them — and you — as we continue to grow our Network and further develop our Network Action Teams.

Sincerely,
Jared, Cara, Mei and Matt
News from the World
U.S. emissions surged in 2021, putting the nation further off track from its climate targets

A jump in coal-fired power was a driver of the increase, according to a new report from the Rhodium Group.

Washington Post
Infrastructure law may help Colorado tackle poverty and climate change


Colorado goes beyond weatherization to also include beneficial electrification of low-income homes.

NPR
Oregon has a plan to cap emissions from all fossil fuels


An informative interview with the Director of Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality about OR’s Climate Protection Program.

OPB
Data Download – Advanced Clean Cars II
Vermont’s Climate Action Plan recommends adopting the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, which are in development by the California Air Resources Board, as a policy measure that could lead to a reduction in transportation emissions. In this research brief, we analyze what ACC II might mean for Vermont. The goal of ACC II is to reduce criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions of new light- and medium-duty vehicles, while increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles. This research brief explores the implications of adopting ACC II in Vermont, with a specific focus on:
  • The number of new plug-in electric vehicles (“EVs”) that will be available for sale as a result of ACC II.
  • The accompanying GHG emissions reductions from these vehicles.
  • What this means for meeting Vermont’s overall emissions reduction requirements.
Network Action Team Update – Clean Heat Standard
Since releasing the Clean Heat Standard white paper, EAN has seen growing interest in the work of the Clean Heat Standard working group. A new two-page overview of the CHS has also been released and can be found on our website here. Furthermore, the Vermont House Energy & Technology Committee’s webpage is here, where you can see previous and upcoming testimony from several EAN members on the Clean Heat Standard. Finally, to learn more about the CHS working group, see here.
Events and Opportunities
DeltaClimeVT seeks entrepreneurs
The DeltaClimeVT climate economy business accelerator is seeking innovative, early-stage, energy companies focused on increasing adoption of clean energy, smart building and electric vehicle technologies that enable accelerated integration of distributed energy resources without the need for costly infrastructure upgrades. Entrepreneurs will work directly with Vermont utilities to contribute to Vermont’s 90/50 and Burlington’s Net Zero by 2030 goals.  To learn more about DeltaClimeVT Energy 2022 and apply, visit deltaclimevt.com. Application period ends January 31, 2022
Let’s Talk Transportation Innovation Act: VBSR Webinar
February 2, 12-1:00pm: Join VBSR, Sierra Club, and Representative Becca White to hear about the merits of clean transportation and get a walkthrough of the TIA and about some of the key provisions that would impact Vermont businesses. Register now
Weatherization at Scale Network Action Team
The Weatherization at Scale Network Action Team has been working for over a year to significantly scale up weatherization, especially for low- and moderate- income Vermonters. You are welcome to attend the monthly coalition meetings if you would like to learn more about the progress of the full coalition workgroups.
Second Mondays of each month, 2-3pm
EAN Climate Workforce Network Action Team
The next coalition meeting of the new EAN Climate Workforce Network Action Team will be February 14th at noon. Alternatively, join one of the three workgroups forming and meeting in the next week: Weatherization Workforce, Communication & Outreach, or Data & Analysis. Reach out to Cara (cara@eanvt.org) to be added to the email list for any of these. Please consider joining this work aiming to build Vermont’s Climate Workforce.
Second Mondays of each month, noon-1:30pm
Vermont Climate Council Meetings
All Vermont Climate Council meetings and subcommittee meetings are open to the public, with all details on the Climate Council website.
The Vermont Total Energy Ticker
After decades, Biden plans to make mobile homes greener, sparking a fierce debate.

For the first time since 1994, the government must update energy efficiency standards for manufactured houses.

Washington Post
VT aims to weatherize 90,000 homes this decade. Can it find enough workers to finish the job?

An in depth article about Vermont’s efforts to scale up weatherization and what that means for our workforce needs.

Energy News Network
Which pieces of the Climate Action Plan will lawmakers take up this session?

Environmental justice, weatherization, the Clean Heat Standard, electrification, and more are getting attention from legislators.

VTDigger
Have an upcoming event or news story to share? Let us know.