A Vermonster Lead on Climate Legislation

Your family has to live through about 180 winters in this state for you to be considered a "Vermonter," so I can't rightly say "I'm proud to be a Vermonter." But a Vermont Public Radio broadcast I heard on the way in this morning reminded me why I'm so glad to live here.

Vermont's US Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy are cosponsoring a bill by Barbara Boxer that challenges the EPA's ruling last month to deny California the authority to regulate it's own greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. If passed, the bill would allow other states -- Vermont among them -- to adopt California's standards which would impose stricter guidelines for automobile fuel efficiency than the federal government does currently. On the same day the bill was introduced, VT Governor Jim Douglas (above right, with Sanders) testified before the Senate concerning the potential negative impacts of global warming on the Vermont economy.

You can read the legislation here (PDF).