Blog

Taking stock of where Vermont stands on climate and energy heading into 2025

November 12, 2024

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020 from 5:30 – 7:30 at the Garage Cultural Center, 58 State St, Montpelier, VT


For our next Leveraging Change Speaker Series, the topic will be the proposed Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), which was identified as a top priority for many network members at our 2019 Energy Action Network Summit in September. This conversation will be an exploration of how emissions reduction mandates like the GWSA have driven action and emissions reductions in other states, including Massachusetts and Maine.

The event will feature a panel discussion of speakers familiar with the passage and implementation of these laws in neighboring states. Rep. Tim Briglin, Chair of the House Energy and Technology Committee, will moderate. Panelists will be:

  • David Cash, Dean and Associate Professor, McCormack Graduate School, UMass Boston
  • Ken Colburn, Principal and US Program Director, The Regulatory Assistance Project
  • Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director, Conservation Law Foundation – Vermont

We hope network members and public partners will join us to talk more about next steps for this policy.

Let us know you’ll be there using RSVP form on the right (below on mobile devices)!

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Rep. Tim Briglin

TIM BRIGLIN of Thetford, Orange County, Democrat, was born in Greenwich, NY. He is married to Laurel and they have two young boys. Representative Briglin graduated with honors from Cornell University in 1988 with a degree in History and Government. In 1995, Tim received an MBA from Stanford University. Tim is a managing partner at Tuckerman Capital, a firm he co-founded in 2001 to invest in and grow small manufacturing businesses. Tuckerman Capital has invested in 18 companies across the U.S. Before starting Tuckerman, Tim was a partner at Green Mountain Partners of Quechee, prior to which he worked in corporate finance at Morgan Stanley in New York. In the early-1990s, he worked in Washington, DC for Senator Patrick Leahy as his legislative assistant on budget, tax, and economic issues. Tim has been involved in Vermont politics for over 20 years working on multiple Leahy, Welch, Markowitz, and Obama campaigns. Tim was on the Vermont delegation to the 2008 and 2012 Democratic National Conventions and has been the Treasurer of the VT Democratic Party. He served for ten years on the Thetford Academy board of trustees, including three years as the president. Currently, Tim is a director of the Vermont Economic Progress Council, Vermont Parks Forever, Mascoma Savings Bank, and Vital Communities’ Corporate Council. Tim was first elected to the General Assembly in 2014.


David Cash

David Cash has spent his career trying to understand and better harness knowledge to solve pressing policy challenges. He earned a PhD in public policy from Harvard University, concentrating in environment and natural resources. He also completed an MAT in science education from Lewis & Clark College and a BS in biology from Yale. Spending the past decade in Massachusetts state government in catalytic roles, Cash helped to transform the commonwealth’s energy and environmental policy and regulatory landscape. His job history includes senior positions at the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Public Utilities, and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. In these roles, he helped develop and implement nation-leading science-based environmental, climate, clean energy, water and waste management regulatory programs; innovative renewable energy and grid modernization efforts; and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative–the nation’s first CO2 cap-and-trade program.While working in state government positions, Cash extended his efforts internationally, participating in a U.S. State Department mission to India on clean energy and climate and via USAID collaborations with regulators and policymakers in Tanzania and Ghana. He is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the U.S. EPA, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Harvard University, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, Howard Hughes Foundation, Earthwatch, and the Environmental Leadership Program.


Ken Colburn

Kenneth (Ken) A. Colburn directs RAP’s U.S. program. He advises energy and environmental regulators on air quality and climate-related issues, including beneficial electrification and streamlining energy and environmental regulation. Mr. Colburn came to RAP in early 2011 from Symbiotic Strategies, where he led several state climate planning processes and provided strategic assistance to foundations, progressive companies, and nongovernmental organizations in their efforts to address climate and energy issues. Previously, Mr. Colburn was executive director of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and led the Air Resources Division of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). He helped position New Hampshire as a leader in reducing air pollution with the nation’s first “four-pollutant” law and the first greenhouse gas emissions reduction registry. Before joining NHDES, Mr. Colburn was vice president of energy and environmental policy at the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire (BIA), representing the state’s business community on environmental, energy, and telecommunications matters in legislative and regulatory forums. Mr. Colburn holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master’s degrees in business administration and education from the University of New Hampshire. He serves on the board of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, the National Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NRECA), and several non-profit organizations.

Jen Duggan

Jen Duggan is the Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont.  Throughout her career, Jen has worked to protect public health and ensure all communities have equal access to a clean and healthy environment.  Before joining CLF, Jen was the General Counsel for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Prior to her position with the Agency, Jen was Managing Attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project.  She managed the Coal-Free Waters Campaign and represented community groups and other organizations in permit proceedings, citizen enforcement actions, and federal and state rulemakings pertaining to coal plants, oil refineries, and other large sources of pollution.  Jen developed and co-counseled litigation requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit toxic discharges from coal plants for the first time; developed and co-counseled litigation requiring clean up of three coal ash landfills; and persuaded a state environmental agency to withdraw construction permits for two waste coal power plants. Jen earned her JD and Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School.  She interned for the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program in San Francisco and worked as a student clinician for the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School.