Governor Shumlin recently
announced the formation of the Vermont Climate Cabinet, a group of senior
administration officials who will coordinate and lead the state’s efforts to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. This is not the first
time there has been a move to address climate change on the state level. In
2005, then-Governor Jim Douglas formed the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change,
which issued a report, full of recommendations, in 2007. But even leaders in
that initiative say the results fell short.
Now, we look at a new effort
by state government to make a difference in climate change. We’re joined by
cabinet chair Deb Markowitz, who is the Secretary of the Agency of Natural
Resources, and Ernie Pomerleau, the former chair of Governor Douglas’
Commission on Climate Change and developer of the Ferrisburgh Solar Farm.
Also on the program, when the
gun goes off this Sunday, 3,600 runners will be at the starting line of the Key
Bank Vermont City Marathon in Burlington. An official marathon is 26.2 miles, and the
specificity of that distance is a fixation for those who’ve trained for it. Just
as each runner will have put in hundreds of miles of training over the last 5
months, the staff of RunVermont been logging long hours getting ready for race
weekend. We talk to Joe Connelly, the race’s technical coordinator, about this
year’s particular challenges – which arose when some of the race course
disappeared under floodwaters.