Vermont Governor Phil Scott says he will veto the just passed Affordable Heat Act.
On Thursday the Vermont Senate passed the bill on a 20 to 10 vote and sent it to the governor’s office. A day later Governor Scott issued a statement that he intends to veto S.5 and is asking Vermonters to urge their representatives to sustain it.
Scott says while he agrees greenhouse gas reductions are necessary, “the right approach is to help people make the transition, not financially punish those who cannot afford to do so.”
The Affordable Heat Act would require the state to slash its emissions more than 25 percent in the next two years, and by 80 percent by 2050. Scott, a Republican, says that the overseeing authority, the Public Utility Commission, would be given too much power without sufficient oversight or transparency.
The current legislature has a supermajority of Democrats.