At the State House, Mentoring Young Advocates
December 4, 2009
Three Vermont teens, with the help of VLS Schweitzer Fellow Lisa Campion, have taken up the charge to lobby the stat's legislature to pass H.97, the no idling bill currently under discussion in the capitol.
In the ornate State House hearing room, the three teenagers appeared confident and composed as they made their arguments for why Vermont legislators should pass H. 97. The "no-idling" bill, which would prohibit trucks and other large vehicles from idling for more than five minutes at a time, would reduce carbon emissions and end Vermont's dubious distinction of being the only New England state without such a law in place.
Yet while passing H.97 would be an important step in reducing carbon emissions, the young lobbyists suggested that Vermont go even further and follow Connecticut's lead of placing idling restrictions on all vehicles.
The three girls bolstered their presentation with a six-page report, "Vehicle Idling in Vermont," which spelled out the impacts of needless idling and examined the difficulty of changing motorists' behavior.
"Why do people idle?" posed 15-year-old Kathryn Tadio of Rutland County, who then proceeded to explain that most offenders are either in denial or they simply prefer the comfort of keeping the heat blasting on a cold winter day.
But the convenience comes at a price, her colleague, 17-year-old Kayla Ray said, noting that every hour of idling puts nearly 10 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. And Anya Rose, 16, offered various ways to educate the public about the dangers of needless idling.
Two legislators, including the bill's chief sponsor, Rep. David Sharpe, listened intently from the first row, while VLS student Lisa Campion, the girls' coach and mentor, looked on with obvious pride.
The girls are members of the Vermont 4-H Youth Environmental Council, a group that Campion recently organized in her role as a VLS Schweitzer Fellow.
"This is a way for me to take what I've learned and pass it on to youth," Campion, a 2L second-year JD student, says of her role in bringing the teenagers into the legislative fold. "Some of us in law school see these huge problems and we think it's daunting, there's nothing we can do."
As a teenager, Campion was a member of the 4-H Youth Conservation Council in her home state of Michigan, which she says helped develop her interest in environmental law. She imported the model to her adopted state of Vermont, working with the 4-H members and the University of Vermont Extension Service, as well as a group known as Idle-Free VT, to raise public awareness and promote passage of the legislation.
Seated in the audience for the presentation, Wayne Michaud, director of Idle-Free VT, praised the work of the 4-H members in promoting the campaign.
"It's just great," he said of the teenagers' undertaking. "It's very unexpected, and wonderful!"
The two lawmakers also credited the teenagers' efforts, and pledged to use their report as a vehicle to convince other lawmakers that the time had come to pass H.97.
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