The Vermont National Guard has received $5 million grant for the solar energy project in New England. The grant has been awarded from the Department of Defense appropriations bill. The solar photovoltaic array project is still in the design phase and will be installed at the Vermont Air Guard’s facilities at the Burlington Airport to generate a significant amount of the facility’s electric power.
“This project will not only help the Vermont National Guard reduce its electric bill and carbon footprint, but will be a major step forward in moving our state toward a greener economy which relies more and more on sustainable energy,” Sanders said. “There is little doubt in my mind that in the years to come the energy mix in this state will be very different than it is today – with a far greater reliance on sustainable energy. I hope that this project becomes a model for what can be done and a catalyst for further action,” Senator Bernie Sanders added.
Sanders thanked Major General Michael Dubie, the Vermont adjutant general, for the guard’s support of the project and for its “willingness to help make the Vermont National Guard a leader in this state in sustainable energy.”
“As President Obama has made clear, and as many political leaders have stressed for decades, we must fundamentally transform our energy system. We need to move aggressively to energy efficiency so we use less fossil fuel, and we need to develop such sustainable energies as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and others,” Sanders said. “As we make that energy transition we will not only improve our geopolitical position in the world and reverse global warming, we also will create, over a period of time, millions of good-paying jobs throughout our country.”