Vt. lawmakers propose creating climate change mitigation fund

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont lawmakers want to spend more money on climate change mitigation by creating new funding.

A bill introduced in the House would create a climate infrastructure fund overseen by the state treasurer. The money would be used for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions but increase mitigation, resilience, and adaptation to climate change.

Rep. Kari Dolan, D-Waitsfield, one of the bill’s sponsors, says the idea is to maximize the state’s leverage of federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act.

“This is an exciting time to see those federal dollars on the table and how we can potentially leverage the expertise, knowledge, the skills, the experience of our state resources to basically compete for a share of those federal resources,” she said.

It has yet to be determined where the state’s share of funding would come from.

The bill is currently in the House Committee on Energy and the Environment.

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