Letter from ANR Secretary George Crombie to Teachers:

State of Vermont

AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Office of the Secretary
103 South Main Street , Center Bldg.
Waterbury, VT 05671-0301
Phone: 802-241-3600
Fax: 802-244-1102

September 1, 2008

Dear Teacher/Educator,

As Vermonters, we can take pride in the environmental heritage that is ours. George Perkins Marsh, a nineteenth century Vermonter and founder of the science of ecology, is probably best remembered for the contribution of his book, Man and Nature: Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. How appropriate, therefore, that we update Marsh’s original thesis by taking a hard look now at how climate is being modified by human action. Climate science makes it clearer all the time that the time for action is now. Thus, I hope you will consider accepting The Vermont School Carbon Challenge.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Vermont Department of Education, and Carbonrally.com have created a fun and effective way to take action, to monitor progress, and to work both cooperatively and competitively to make the world a better place. The Web site for The Vermont School Carbon Challenge offers an explanation of the challenge, what’s in it for your school to accept that challenge, and many tools and resources that should help guarantee success in reducing your school’s carbon footprint, thereby limiting the effects of climate change in Vermont.

Global climate change may be the most far-reaching and challenging environmental problem this and future generations have ever faced. To successfully mitigate the many potential consequences of climate change, we must become informed – and we must commit, each of us, to reduce our personal contribution of greenhouse gases.

George Perkins Marsh sounded a wake-up call to the nation about the need for strategic management of the country's natural resources for the benefit of both current and future generations. By recognizing humankind’s capacity for compromising nature’s ability to regulate climate, we too can act in a way that honors and respects the needs of both current and future generations.

Please accept my thanks for making space in your curriculum to explore climate change, for improving environmental literacy, and for your critical role in empowering young Vermonters to take positive action to reduce their generation of greenhouse gases.

Sincerely,

George Crombie
Secretary

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