Environmental Protection & PreservationEnvironmental Protection & Preservationhttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2013-04-04T14:01:12ZSquarespaceVermont leads nation in collecting discarded mercury thermostatshttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2013/4/4/vermont-leads-nation-in-collecting-discarded-mercury-thermos.htmlVCF Staff2013-04-04T13:54:45Z2013-04-04T13:54:45ZAs mercury-added thermostats come out of service, manufacturers and states are piloting programs to collect them and avoid mercury from being disposed of in harmful ways. A report by the Natural Resources Defence Council and others showed that Vermont had the highest per capita mercury thermostat collection rate in the country in 2011.
]]>Vermont surpasses 200 businesses recognized for green practiceshttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2013/1/20/vermont-surpasses-200-businesses-recognized-for-green-practi.htmlVCF Staff2013-01-20T15:06:00Z2013-01-20T15:06:00ZOver 200 Vermont businesses have been recognized by the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership (VBEP) for their environmental stewardship efforts. The VBEP is a state program that provides assistance to businesses desiring to “green up” their operations and recognizes businesses of all sizes for meeting a set of environmental standards.
]]>Elevated E. coli returns to some rivershttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/8/1/elevated-e-coli-returns-to-some-rivers.htmlVCF Staff2012-08-01T14:57:00Z2012-08-01T14:57:00ZAfter showing signs of improvement earlier in the month, E. coli levels were on the rise last week in some area waterways. A volunteer group's latest survey showed E. coli numbers that exceeded governmental safe-swimming standards at nine of 16 tested sites.
]]>Vermont first state in nation to ban fracking for oil and gashttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/5/4/vermont-first-state-in-nation-to-ban-fracking-for-oil-and-ga.htmlVCF Staff2012-05-04T18:41:00Z2012-05-04T18:41:00ZWith a 103-36 vote in the House of Representatives, Vermont on Friday became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing to extract oil or natural gas. The bill passed the Senate earlier this week.
]]>Resilience: A Report on the Health of Vermont's Environmenthttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/4/27/resilience-a-report-on-the-health-of-vermonts-environment.htmlVCF Staff2012-04-27T19:09:12Z2012-04-27T19:09:12ZEach year between 1994 and 2003, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources published a report describing key indicators of the health of our water, air, forests, and wildlife. This year, due to the questions and devastation that resulted from Tropical Storm Irene, they begin again.
]]>Vermont House supports Working Lands Billhttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/3/31/vermont-house-supports-working-lands-bill.htmlVCF Staff2012-03-31T20:21:00Z2012-03-31T20:21:00ZThe Vermont House of Representatives gave initial approval for the Working Lands Enterprise Investment bill (H.496) on Thursday afternoon with a 131-5 vote. The bill includes a little more than a $2 million appropriation for a new fund to be directed toward economic development investment in agricultural and forest products enterprises.
]]>Vermont Senate panel considers ban on frackinghttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/3/30/vermont-senate-panel-considers-ban-on-fracking.htmlVCF Staff2012-03-30T20:21:00Z2012-03-30T20:21:00ZA bill that originally would have banned the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing passed by the Vermont House as a three-year moratorium. Now the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy says she wants to put the teeth back in the bill and switch it back once again to an all-out ban.
]]>Lakeshore residents tackle water quality monitoringhttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/2/29/lakeshore-residents-tackle-water-quality-monitoring.htmlVCF Staff2012-02-29T14:00:19Z2012-02-29T14:00:19ZAbout 100 Vermonters have pledged that, every week from Memorial Day until Labor Day, they’ll take their boats out into the water, take samples, study the water clarity, take notes, freeze one sample, then give all the material to Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation scientists to analyze.
]]>Vermont Land Trust keeps 1,241 acres of county land open in 2011http://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2012/1/3/vermont-land-trust-keeps-1241-acres-of-county-land-open-in-2.htmlVCF Staff2012-01-03T16:40:36Z2012-01-03T16:40:36ZBy the end of this year, there will be 7,747 more acres of land in Vermont that will never be developed. That’s the total acreage of new Vermont Land Trust conservation easement projects across the state, which includes 1,241 in Addison County.
]]>New EPA rule on cross-state air pollution should help Vermonthttp://www.understandingvt.org/environmental-protection/2011/7/20/new-epa-rule-on-cross-state-air-pollution-should-help-vermon.htmlVCF Staff2011-07-20T19:21:29Z2011-07-20T19:21:29ZU.S. Senator Patrick Leahy hails a new rule targeting cross-state air pollution that has been in the works for more than 20 years. Leahy said the recent release of the rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “goes directly to the distant sources of pollution that have long bedeviled clean air strategies in Vermont, New England and other areas of the country."