Abagael Giles
Reporter, Environment & Climate ChangeAbagael is Vermont Public's climate and environment reporter, focusing on the energy transition and how the climate crisis is impacting Vermonters — and Vermont’s landscape.
Abagael joined Vermont Public in 2020. Previously, she was the assistant editor at Vermont Sports and Vermont Ski + Ride magazines. She covered dairy and agriculture for The Addison Independent and got her start covering land use, water and the Los Angeles Aqueduct for The Sheet: News, Views & Culture of the Eastern Sierra in Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
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Lawmakers in the Vermont House are poised to vote Wednesday on one of the biggest energy bills of the legislative session. Among other things, it would make every electric utility in Vermont purchase 100% of its power from renewable resources by 2035.
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Lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Friday morning to advance a bill that aims to make big oil companies pay for damage wrought by climate change in Vermont.
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Apple farmers testified to lawmakers this year that crop insurance often does not make them whole after extreme weather events. A bill that would provide assistance is up against the “crossover” deadline in the Vermont Statehouse.
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A controversial bill that would change the powers of the state Fish and Wildlife Board, create new setbacks for trapping near trails and ban hunting coyotes with hounds took a key step forward Tuesday.
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Almost 3,000 gallons of landfill leachate containing toxic chemicals spilled into a stormwater pond at Casella’s Coventry landfill late last month, the company reported.
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A transmission line that would have brought 1,200 megawatts of power back and forth between Quebec and New England would have brought in millions of dollars for Northeast Kingdom communities.
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Lawmakers have advanced a bill that would ban the use of seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides in Vermont by 2029 and most spraying in 2025.
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Lawmakers want to lean on Vermont’s natural landscape to make the state more flood resilient. A new bill ramps up environmental regulations on developments in wetlands and near rivers, and looks to beef up — or remove — dams.
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Lawmakers are hearing testimony this week on S.258, which would ban hunting coyotes with dogs and baiting coyotes. It would also shift who gets to weigh in on state regulations around hunting and fishing. The bill has many hunters and trappers in the state concerned — though groups that advocate for animal rights in the state say the changes are necessary.
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Vermont’s Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is in the midst of writing the first-ever comprehensive management plan for the Worcester Management Unit — and the process has proven controversial, both with lawmakers and with the public.