The Beacon Blog: Between the Lines
Building a Local Economy: Community-Based Climate Solutions
By Hannah Ziomek, Staff Editor for the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law
May 3, 2024
“You can’t find proper solutions to the climate crisis without addressing environmental justice.” These are the words of Chris Wood, outgoing executive director of Building a Local Economy (BALE), a nonprofit organization right here in South Royalton. I sat down with Chris recently to talk about what BALE does and how community work can help with the fight against climate change and economic inequality. BALE’s mission is to engage with the community about the reasons for our failing climate and extreme economic inequality through intelligent programming that explores systemic issues; to build a base of transformative leaders and increase that base through connecting with those aware of the challenges we face; and build new projects, that sustain a “new, resilient, community-driven experience of the world and our place in it.”
The way Chris sees it, building local capacity is the mechanism we can use to help each other in the climate crisis. However, legally, the state of Vermont, as many other states do, puts barriers up to self-sustaining, climate-friendly, community models. Last year, BALE hosted a programming series about this issue, Hoodwinked in the Greenwashed Mountains, which highlighted false solutions that the state of Vermont and environmental groups in the state of Vermont were putting forward. One of these false solutions is a relevant subject matter of current proposed legislation.
Vermont lawmakers are moving forward with this type of legislation which highlights false solutions, and if it passes, the state of Vermont will be committing to requiring utilities to provide 100% renewable energy. An estimated 50% of Vermont’s energy sourcing comes from hydropower company, HydroQuebec, the largest power utility in Canada. Hydropower is a renewable source of energy that uses the natural flow of moving water to generate electricity. However, the fact that Vermont considers HydroQuebec a true renewable energy source is one of the false environmental solutions that Chris refers to. Although many New England states use power from the company, Vermont is the only one which considers that energy renewable, and allows it to fall within the state renewable energy standard.
This power sourcing to Vermont raises climate concerns, as well as major environmental justice concerns. HydroQuebec floods major quantities of forest lands, releasing large amounts of carbon and methane into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, in greater amounts than some non-renewable energy sources. These emissions contribute to the climate change impacts that state renewable energy standards are supposed to be avoiding. Impacts of climate change are starting to be seen in Vermont at the local level, with devastating floods impacting communities, and causing economic strife over this past summer.
However, as Chris explained to me, the mega-dams built by HydroQuebec also cause environmental injustices to indigenous communities in the area. The company has wiped out indigenous villages and communities to build the dams and flooded their land. For those that do remain in the area, the decaying material sickens the communities, which can lead to long-term health impacts. So, this hydropower is not only the source of greenhouse gas emissions, but the source of environmental injustices to native communities. BALE has partnered with 350VT to inform the public about these issues, rally more people for resistance, and put more pressure on the Vermont legislature, as they consider their new renewable energy standard.
As Chris told me at the beginning of our talk, in community “we still need to speak truth,” and that is what BALE has been all about. Being transparent about the actions of large corporations and the government structures and laws that support them, is a valuable community tool, especially in the fight against environmental injustices. In Vermont, there is a tendency to greenwash, and believe that we are ahead of the game, when in reality, discriminatory practices and false solutions are still built into legislation. Maintaining strong community resiliency not only helps in times of crisis but helps strengthen effective communication and relationship building that fosters the trust and transparency needed to form resistance movements. Community-based solutions can help to truly create a Green Vermont.