To net or not to net. That is (one) question currently under debate in Vermont following Gov. Phil Scott’s introduction of a suite of proposed changes to the state’s climate laws, now under consideration by the state Legislature.
Scott, a Republican, has proposed changing how the state counts greenhouse gas emissions in its official inventory—which the state’s legally binding emissions targets are based on—to include carbon sequestration by forests and farms. His proposal would also replace the state’s declining greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2025, 2030 and 2050 with a single target of achieving and thereafter remaining at “net-zero” emissions by 2035.
This proposal to switch from gross to net emissions accounting has raised serious questions because it could decelerate Vermont’s transition off fossil fuels and introduce uncertainty into the state’s calculated emissions.
To understand the impact of the proposal, one must understand how greenhouse gas emissions are currently tracked in Vermont, using what’s known as a “gross” approach. Under that accounting, only certain emissions from agriculture—such as methane from livestock—are included in the official inventory, which also includes emissions from sectors such as transportation, electricity and home-heating. Other, harder to track agricultural emissions and removals—and the entire “carbon flux” associated with forests—are not included in the official inventory, but rather as supplemental information.
It is difficult to separate the net accounting plan from the rest of Scott’s proposals. Those proposals would also remove the right of citizens to sue if the state is not taking sufficient action to meet, or has not met, one of the required emissions targets. Critics say this removes accountability, while Scott and Moore claim it removes the distraction of litigation.
Additionally, Scott has proposed changing the composition of the state’s Climate Council, an appointed mix of governmental and non-governmental experts in various aspects of climate science and policy, and reducing its authority to direct the adoption of climate policies via a Climate Action Plan. First released in 2021, the plan is set to be updated this year.