Forward Movement: Sept. 2022
Welcome to Forward Movement!
This volunteer-crafted newsletter is designed to help 350VT nodes and our wider network stay in touch and share ideas; to keep us up-to-date about 350VT's ongoing campaigns and climate-justice news; and to connect us with allied groups around Vermont. We hope that it will both inform and inspire, bringing us closer together around the work of climate justice.
The newsletter is one of several initiatives from 350VT’s new Communications Team; stay tuned for others, like the upcoming launch of our podcast, Envisioning Vermont: Climate, Justice, and the State of our Future, hosted by 350VT volunteer Siddhesh Mukerji!
Are you interested in doing communications work for 350VT? Fill out our interest form below!
BREAKING NEWS
350VT member Catherine Bock has filed a legal challenge to a Vermont Gas Systems biofuel project proposal, creating a promising opportunity for our network to bring public attention to VGS's greenwashing tactics. This project, currently awaiting a verdict from the Public Utilities Commission, would give VGS renewable energy credits for landfill methane produced in central New York, supporting a 90%-fossil-gas industry without effectively reducing Vermont's carbon emissions or tangibly benefitting Vermonters in any way. You can help by submitting a public comment, writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, talking to your neighbors about the issue, or organizing or attending a protest. Get looped in here.
Each newsletter will feature news from a few of our local nodes. 350VT nodes take action in their own communities and build the people power needed to embolden state decision makers.
We currently have nine nodes: Addison County, Bennington, Burlington, Brattleboro, Earth Matters (Manchester), Families RiseUp Central Vermont, Mountain Valley (Chester/Rockingham), Rutland, and White River (Bethel/Randolph/Royalton). Sign up below to get involved with a node or help start a new one in your area.
Addison County
The Addison County node is working on a “Listening Project” to collect stories and opinions about climate change from community members in the area. Node member Richard Butz writes that the project’s goal is “to provide a more comfortable way for people to voice their ideas on the impacts of pending climate change legislation on their lives, and for them to feel part of the process.” The group is using Front Porch Forum, drop boxes at local meeting places, and informal in-person gatherings to better understand Vermonters’ concerns about the future of our state.
Earth Matters (Manchester)
In Manchester, 350VT node members are using regenerative agriculture techniques in three plots at the Manchester Community Garden to grow produce for the local Food Cup board. The node is also promoting the Homegrown National Park movement, a biodiversity initiative that encourages homeowners to swap lawns for pollinator gardens with native keystone species.
Brattleboro Sustainability Hack Potluck
What sustainability practices have you made a part of your life? What do you wish you could do? Those two questions were the focus of 350Brattleboro’s community potluck in July, at which about 40 people gathered to feed each other and share “sustainability hacks” and dreams for the future. “Using the word ‘wish’ engages people’s imaginations in a way they might not otherwise,” said Becky Jones, a member of 350Bratt’s core team.
Reports of sustainability in practice featured a range of solutions implemented at the individual level—drying clothes on the line, a “relocalizing” summer of limiting travel to a hundred-mile radius, and composting human waste. People’s wishes tended toward systemic change: eliminating fossil-fuel subsidies, legalizing eco-sanitation, and implementing laws that force corporations to take responsibility for the packaging, etc., they produce.
Systemic change may seem daunting compared to shifts we can make at an individual level, but part of 350VT’s work is to build a network of individuals and communities that can bring about change to our systems.
Just Transition Campaign Update
Our Just Transition Campaign team leads 350VT’s work to achieve our ultimate goal: To create a just energy transition in Vermont. What does that mean?
First, we’re informed by you. Everyone participating in 350VT has a voice. We want this team to represent our larger community. We also want to help inform and mobilize people to take action on statewide issues.
Right now, we’re reviewing our campaign goals, strategy, and timeline to make sure we’re heading in the right direction. We’re also planning for our October 1 Organizing Summit to position our movement to create the change we want and need. (More info under Stay Informed, below.)
Our main questions are:
What is the change we want to see in Vermont?
Who has the power to give it to us and how do we get them to give it to us?
What are our opportunities? Our resources? How can we put them to work?
Please join us on October 1 and bring your ideas, questions, and experience. If you can’t show up in person, feel free to contact Vanessa at vanessa@350vt.org.
Motivated by her own experience as a legally blind person living in rural Ferrisburgh, 350VT summer fellow Una Fonte designed and conducted a transportation access survey that accumulated 320 responses. At a transportation roundtable on August 10, survey respondents gathered on Zoom to discuss obstacles and potential solutions, including ebike funding, creative carshare initiatives, and more interconnected public transit systems. VT House Transportation Committee Chair Diane Lanpher and Climate Council Cross-Sector Mitigation Team member Gina Campoli participated in the discussion and shared their own transportation priorities. Una has headed off to college, but her project will continue to inspire 350VT’s work.
Have ideas about how Vermonters can get from place to place without relying on single-occupancy vehicles? Join 350VT’s transportation policy working group by emailing vanessa@350vt.org.
350VT operates on the principle that how we work for change is an essential part of bringing about the changes we want to see. Our organizing is inspired by activist thinkers like adrienne maree brown, and principles like emergence.
In her book Emergent Strategy, brown explores how, like the fractal structure of a fern or a snowflake, “what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.”
Brown draws on the visionary fiction of Octavia Butler and the organizing wisdom of Grace Lee Boggs, who said, “Transform yourself to transform the world.” brown explains, “This doesn’t mean to get lost in the self, but rather to see our own lives and work and relationships as a front line, a first place we can practice justice, liberation, and alignment with each other and the planet.”
Powering Our Movement!
At 350VT we are building a people-powered and people-led movement for a Just Transition off of carbon-based fuels in the Green Mountain State. Providing the necessary infrastructure that makes this work possible takes grassroots money — and that’s why we are creating the 350Vermont Fundraising Team! A group of staff, board members, and other members of our movement coming together to help raise the necessary funds to build collective power! Interested in joining? Indicate your interest in helping with fundraising using this form!
Questions or thoughts on fundraising? Contact Carter, our Lead Fundraiser, at carter@350vt.org.
ANNOUNCEMENT: 350VT’s 2022 Organizing Summit is coming up! Please sign up to attend the 2022 Organizing Summit on October 1st! We will come together to discuss and align our campaign goals for the coming legislative session. This is an important gathering and we encourage *everyone* involved in our network to attend!!
Friday, Sept. 30, 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Brattleboro Critical Mass Bicycle Ride | Pliny Park, Brattleboro
Critical Mass rides have a unique way of energizing folks around bike mobility, transportation solutions, and amplifying our collective ability and power to begin reclaiming our streets and communities. We need this, and we need YOU! Masks and physical distancing recommended. Kids and families welcome. Hosted by VBike and 350 Brattleboro. Questions? Email brattleboro@350vt.org
Node Meetings!
In addition to the events above, most nodes meet once or twice a month. To be connected with a node near you or start a node fill out our interest form!
PS> 350Vermont is looking for a new office space! We’re a small nonprofit focused on climate justice. We’re looking for a small suite, ideally in/near downtown Burlington or close to a bus line, and our max budget is $800 a month. Natural light, outdoor space, and ADA accessibility are ideal. We’re open to having our own space, or sharing a welcoming, down-to-earth space with another group. Please contact lily@350vt.org if you’re interested in sharing space with us or if you know of a possible opening in the area. Thank you!
Sept. 8 & 12, 7 p.m.| Old North End (Burlington) Mutual Aid Info Sessions | Online
Email onemutualaid@gmail.com or message them on their instagram account if you’re interested in learning more and getting involved helping neighbors in Burlington!
Sept. 8, 8:30 a.m. | FERC New England Winter Gas Electric Forum | Doubletree by Hilton, South Burlington
We'll be joining Sierra Club to tell FERC and ISO-New England to put more renewables in the New England grid! *Note that FERC and ISO-NE have not allocated time for public comment during this forum. Despite their effort to shut out community voices, we will not go unheard.
Sept. 24, 3-6:30 p.m. | Milk With Dignity Benefit Concert |Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro
Come celebrate five years since a groundbreaking agreement between Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry’s launched the dairy industry’s first worker-driven social responsibility program, Milk With Dignity.
Oct. 28th 8:30am-2:15pm | Youth Environmental Summit | Barre Civic Arena, Barre
YES is an annual event for students in grades 6-12 who want to learn about environmental issues and find ways to take action.
Agency of Natural Resources Public Input Sessions on Clean Car and Clean Truck Rules
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is hosting a series of public events in September focusing on the rules and policies proposed to further advance the electrification of our transportation and the programs needed to make this transition successful for all Vermonters. These events are a great chance for Vermonters to weigh in on how Vermont can make the transition to cleaner and electric vehicles and provide public comment on the proposed rules. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about existing state programs to help Vermonter’s transition to cleaner vehicle choices. See the schedule and RSVP.
Save Telephone Gap Campaign
The Save Public Forests Coalition—a group including members of Standing Trees, Extinction Rebellion VT, and 350VT, among others—has come together to challenge a proposed logging project in the Telephone Gap area of the Green Mountain National Forest between Brandon and Rutland. This US Forest Service project would target nearly 11,000 acres of public forest, including a substantial number of mature and old growth trees—vital elements of a healthy forest ecosystem.
The group is currently organizing citizens to submit comments to the Forest Service during its upcoming public comment period, and increasing awareness about the importance of mature and old growth forests in the effort to address the effects of climate change.
To get involved in the campaign, please contact Cheryl Joy Lipton: cheryljoyl@yahoo.com.
“I’d rather lose having tried than not try."
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