2024 flooding in Plainfield, VT. Photo by Connor Spear.
On July 10-11th, 2024, exactly a year to day from the July 2023 floods, Vermont once again saw extensive flood damage. By sheer luck of geography and weather patterns, Woodstock was largely spared from damage. This does not come as much of a comfort, as we continue to watch central and northern Vermont recover. Our hearts go out to residents of Barre, Plainfield, Williamstown, Bolton, Stowe, Peacham, Burlington, and all other Vermonters impacted. Here in Woodstock, we know the pain and difficulty of flood recovery all too well. We also know that we will continue to experience intense storms in the future as global temperatures rise due to climate change.
This November will be a climate election like no other. The results will determine our future as a country and world, primarily because of how close to the 1.5 Degree Celsius threshold we now are. This 1.5-degree goal was set to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, such as droughts, heat waves, flooding, famine, and infectious diseases. Beyond warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, humans will struggle to adapt to these extreme conditions. Vermonters know how high these stakes are.
We have reached a climate crossroad. The next five or six years are crucial to deciding how many people and species will live or die. To reach the 1.5-degree Celsius target, a newly elected president would need to implement significant new climate policies beyond what the current administration has already achieved. A second Donald Trump presidency will almost certainly eliminate all hope of us reaching the 1.5 goal.
This April former President Donald Trump held a fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago with more than 20 fossil fuel executives from companies including Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum. At that dinner, he promised to reverse President Biden’s environmental policies and rules. He also vowed to help fossil fuel companies by auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, lifting the Biden administration’s ban on permits for new liquefied natural gas exports, and reversing the restrictions on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic. He made these promises while asking the fossil fuel execs in attendance for $1 billion in campaign donations.
In reference to energy, the GOP platform writes: “We will DRILL, BABY, DRILL.” The platform does not mention climate change. In Bill McKibben’s words: “If Trump and the GOP triumph, get ready for government of Big Oil by Big Oil for Big Oil until the earth shall perish, which shouldn’t take long.”
Still, there is good news, including this incredible fact: total emissions will decline no matter who is elected this November. This is primarily because market forces are driving the transition from fossil fuels to cheaper, cleaner energy. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, fossil fuel demand has peaked in the electricity sector. Solar and wind generation will increase at least threefold by the end of the decade, as the cost of renewable technologies has fallen dramatically.
The transition is happening, whether or not politicians are on board. It is just a matter of how quickly we act– every reduction in fossil fuel emissions now will count for future generations.
