Contact: Lauren Hierl, Political Director, Vermont Conservation Voters, lauren@vermontconservationvoters.org

Montpelier, VT – Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) announced its endorsement of Sue Minter for Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont.  The decision to endorse Minter was unanimously supported by VCV’s Board of Directors.

The endorsement marks a reversal of an initial decision to not endorse a candidate in the primary.  According to VCV Political Director Lauren Hierl, “During much of this campaign season, there wasn’t much daylight between Sue Minter and Matt Dunne on environmental positions.  However, given the urgency of action on climate change, we are concerned that Matt’s change in position on renewable energy siting would undermine Act 174, the renewable energy siting bill that was a priority of the environmental community this past legislative session.”

“VCV worked hard alongside many other environmental groups to enact thoughtful legislation that moves forward with our commitment to renewable energy, while strengthening the role of communities and regions in energy siting decisions and ensuring our environmental resources, such as water quality and forest health, are protected,” Hierl explained.   “It is important that Act 174 be given a chance to work.”

In making the endorsement, VCV made it clear that they were endorsing not only the candidate with the strongest position on climate change, but a candidate who has a long track record of safeguarding Vermont’s natural resources and building strong communities.

“Sue Minter’s long commitment to a healthy environment – from being central in setting up Boston’s first recycling program decades ago, to efforts to protect water quality and promote walking and bicycling while at the Agency of Transportation – demonstrates that Sue is the environmental leader Vermont needs,” said Hierl.

A few highlights of Minter’s environmental record include her work on the Waterbury Planning Commission to revitalize its downtown. She served as a member of the White House Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, where she co-chaired the Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Resilience. As Secretary of Transportation, Minter led an effort that’s underway to pursue expanding the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to the transportation sector. She also actively engaged in development and early implementation of the Vermont Clean Water Act of 2015 to clean up Lake Champlain and waters across the state.

“Sue Minter knows that a healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand-in-hand, and VCV is confident that she will bring her deeply-held environmental values into her work in the Governor’s office. We are pleased to endorse Sue Minter as Democratic nominee for Governor today,” added Hierl.