Vermonters Take Action Against Climate Change

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Created on Monday, 08 February 2016 22:41

Written by Alexa Richard

LYNDON- If you live in Lyndon, you probably know just by looking outside that this has been a warm winter. It is early February, and there is barely any snow on the ground. Many people already know that this is because of el Niño, but there are things that Vermonters can do to help with the effects of climate change.

 Allan Betts, an action-based climatologist and expert in the study of climate change, says "we’ve known about this coming climate change for about 40 years now and we signed a global agreement, all the countries in the world, virtually, signed an agreement in 1992, 24 years ago that we would act and do something about it."

Betts says he believes that action needs to start on a local level, not just in Vermont and the United States, but across the globe as well. He also says that Vermonters should not simply worry about the climate, but try to take action instead, which would mean moving away from a fossil fuel economy. 

Betts says the three primary changes that need to be made in order to move away from a fossil fuel economy are as follows:

1. Continue rebuilding a new, renewable electrical system based on a smart grid, which has already been started in Vermont. This means more solar and wind farms, but it also means using storage systems to back up the solar collected. Go through all electrical usage to make our society more efficient. An example of this would be LED lights, which have become cheaper. 

2. Heating is another issue. Betts advises people to go through their homes and make more insulation systems, better windows and use state of the arts standards and build net-zero housing in the future. People can start using wood pellets, electric heat pumps or anything that will keep people away from using fossil fuel for heating houses.

3. Vermonters need to tackle the transportation issues, which Betts says "is not easy, where in Vermont people are driving long distances… and much of the commuting in Vermont is done with heavy vehicles involving trucks with one person in it, and that's incredibly inefficient." A change with this, he says, can happen over the course of five to ten years through following up with what else is happening in the world, and changing our mindsets. 

The problems with the climate have been going on for years, and Betts believes that now is a good time to take action and do something about it.

"The benefits from shifting away from fossil fuels are absolutely staggering later in this century," Betts says.

As for right now, Betts says, "what lies ahead for us, is more of the same, that is that we will see increases with big jumps every now and then, and continuing increases, and if we stay on a fossil fuel economy, which we’ve been on intensively for the last 50, 60, 70 years, basically since World War II. Then the temperatures this century, on a global scale, will go up."

Janel Hanrahan is an Associate Professor in the Atmospheric Science department at Lyndon State College, and she says that the change going on with the climate "is scary.”

“We have no idea really what's going to happen in terms of local weather,” she said. “And our kids and our grandkids are actually going to have to live through it."

Climate Issues in Vermont from NewsLINC on Vimeo.