My name is Jennie Stephens, I am the Blittersdorf Professor of Sustainability, Science and Policy here at the University of Vermont.

When we think about the Vermont energy transition, we think about a lot of the innovations that are happening in Vermont. Not just the deployment of solar and wind, but also innovations in our organizations, in the policy, in the regulatory structure and in the economics. When we think about the potential and the current campaign for a carbon tax in Vermont, Vermont has the opportunity to be among the first states in the nation to institute a carbon tax and actually put a price on carbon, which is a critical piece of the renewable energy transition so that we are incentivizing and disincentivizing our fossil fuel reliance because right now, we are putting, emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at no cost.

Vermont is a really exciting and appropriate place for me to be doing my research because my research on the renewable energy transition focuses on both the technological changes and the innovations in social and institutional policy. And Vermont's commitment at the state level to the renewable energy transition through its ambitious renewable energy goals, and the innovative organizations and individuals and communities in Vermont that are pushing and facilitating change toward the renewable energy transition make Vermont just a really exciting place to do the kind of work that I do.