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Updated: 2026-10-01 02:27
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What is Vermont Conservation Voters?
Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) is a Vermont-focused environmental advocacy and electoral organization. It works on two connected fronts: helping elect candidates it considers pro-environment and pro-democracy, then tracking how officeholders vote on environmental priorities and publishing a scorecard to hold them accountable.
Its main activities, based on the site, include:
- Endorsements and electoral work: backing candidates for public office, including a full slate of statewide candidates in a recent cycle.
- Accountability: producing an Environmental Scorecard that scores lawmakers on priority votes.
- Advocacy: campaigning for environmental laws, guided by an annual Environmental Common Agenda of legislative priorities developed with other major environmental groups.
- Public communication: the Democracy Dispatch podcast, released weekly during the legislative session, covering State House developments, legislator interviews and policy debates.
The issues it names are air, water, wildlife, land, communities and democracy, with recent session coverage touching climate action, housing, clean water and transportation.
If you're deciding whether to follow or use VCV, the practical test is your goal. For election guidance, its endorsement list is the relevant page. For judging a sitting legislator's record, the scorecard is more useful than the endorsements. For staying current during the session, the podcast and news updates are the quickest route.
How does VCV decide which candidates to endorse?
Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) treats endorsements as an extension of its accountability work: it backs candidates who support pro-environment and pro-democracy positions, then tracks how elected officials vote on priority issues. The site describes endorsements as going to candidates who “vote for the environment,” alongside its Environmental Scorecard and Common Agenda. It does not publish a detailed endorsement rubric on the page provided, so the exact questionnaire, vote thresholds, or incumbent review process should be confirmed directly with VCV.
What the page does make clear
- Endorsements are tied to a broader strategy of electing candidates and then holding them accountable.
- The group works with major environmental groups to identify pressing issues, publishes an Environmental Common Agenda of legislative priorities, and scores lawmakers on those votes.
- Endorsements are made at the statewide level and, based on the news items, as a full slate rather than isolated picks.
- The 2026 primary results were framed as showing strong support for “climate and democracy champions,” indicating that democracy positions count alongside environmental ones.
Practical example
A voter in a competitive Vermont district could use VCV’s Environmental Scorecard to see how an incumbent voted on priority bills, then check whether that incumbent received a VCV endorsement. If the incumbent is new, the voter would need to look for a candidate questionnaire or public statement, since the page does not spell out how challengers are evaluated.
Decision criterion
If you want to know why a specific candidate was endorsed, treat the Common Agenda and Scorecard as the best available clues, but ask VCV directly about its candidate questionnaire and any incumbents it declined to endorse. For broader context on Vermont environmental politics, VPIRG is a useful companion source.
How can I find out how my Vermont lawmakers voted on environmental bills?
Vermont Conservation Voters publishes an Environmental Scorecard that tracks and scores lawmakers' votes on priority environmental bills. That is the most direct route to seeing how your Vermont representatives and senator voted.
Start with the scorecard:
- It is built around the group's Environmental Common Agenda, a list of legislative priorities assembled each year with other major environmental organizations.
- Lawmakers receive scores based on their votes on those priority issues, so you can compare your own legislators against each other and against the chamber as a whole.
- The scorecard is designed both to inform voters and to hold elected officials accountable, so it covers recorded votes rather than general positions.
A practical next step: identify your two representatives and your senator, then look up each one's score. If a score seems surprising, check the underlying bill list — a low score may reflect missed votes as much as opposing votes, and a high score may rest on a small number of bills in a short session.
For context beyond the numbers, VCV's Democracy Dispatch podcast runs weekly during the legislative session, with interviews and discussion of policy debates affecting air, water, open space and democracy. That can help you understand why a particular vote mattered before you contact a lawmaker's office.
If you want a second source, the Vermont Legislature's own website records roll-call votes and bill histories, which lets you verify a scorecard entry against the raw record. Combining the scorecard's interpretation with the official vote tally gives you both the summary and the detail.
What does the VCV Environmental Scorecard measure?
The VCV Environmental Scorecard measures how Vermont legislators voted on the priority environmental bills that VCV and partner environmental groups identified for that legislative session. In practice, it turns a lawmaker’s voting record into a comparative accountability tool: if you want to know whether a representative or senator voted the way environmental advocates wanted on the session’s key air, water, wildlife, land, community and democracy issues, the Scorecard is the place to look.
VCV describes the process in two steps on its site: it works with major environmental groups to select the most pressing issues, publishes an Environmental Common Agenda of Legislative Priorities, and then produces the Scorecard to hold lawmakers accountable for votes on those priority issues. So the Scorecard is not a general environmental rating based on vague impressions; it is tied to a defined agenda and a specific set of recorded votes.
What it is useful for
- Voter shorthand: Before an election, you can compare candidates’ or incumbents’ records rather than relying on campaign statements.
- Legislative accountability: It creates a public record that lawmakers know will be published, which can influence how they vote on contested bills.
- Advocacy context: It pairs with VCV’s endorsement work, so you can see whether endorsed candidates actually voted in line with the Common Agenda.
What it does not do
The Scorecard measures votes, not overall character, constituent service or every environmental position a lawmaker takes. A single score can miss nuance: a legislator might vote against a priority bill for procedural or district-specific reasons, or support a compromise that advocates scored differently. It is also session-specific, so scores from different years are not always directly comparable if the priority issues changed.
A practical next step
If you are researching a Vermont legislator, start with the current Environmental Common Agenda to see which issues counted, then check that lawmaker’s Scorecard results alongside VCV’s endorsement decisions and its Democracy Dispatch podcast for the reasoning behind the priorities. For broader Vermont environmental context, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group VPIRG and the Vermont Natural Resources Council Vermont Natural Resources Council publish related advocacy and policy material.
How can I listen to the Democracy Dispatch podcast?
You can listen to the Democracy Dispatch podcast directly through VCV's website or by subscribing on a major podcast platform. VCV lists Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and Podchaser as listening options, and each episode page also has a player.
Best route by habit
| If you usually… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Already use a podcast app | Search "Democracy Dispatch" in that app and subscribe so new episodes download automatically |
| Just want one episode now | Open the latest episode on Vermont Conservation Voters and press play in the browser |
| Want to skim before committing | Read the episode description first; it summarizes the week's State House news and guests |
Timing to know: new episodes drop every Monday during the Vermont Legislative session, so subscribing is more useful than checking back manually. The show is hosted by VCV's Justin Marsh with team members and guests, covering legislative action plus interviews with legislators and environmental allies.
A practical example: if you follow a specific bill, subscribe in your podcast app, then use the episode titles and descriptions to jump to the week it was debated rather than listening in order.
If a listed platform doesn't work: Google Podcasts has been discontinued, so if that link fails, use Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or the on-site player instead.
What are VCV's legislative priorities for the current Vermont session?
VCV's legislative priorities are published each year as an Environmental Common Agenda of Legislative Priorities, developed with other major Vermont environmental groups. The site frames the current session's agenda around climate action, housing, clean water, and transportation, with democracy treated as a core issue alongside air, water, wildlife, land, and communities. Lawmakers' votes on those priority issues are then tracked in an annual Environmental Scorecard.
H3 How to use this
- Read the Common Agenda first for the priority list, then the Scorecard to see how specific legislators voted on it — the pairing is what makes VCV's priorities actionable rather than just a statement.
- For week-by-week context during the session, the Democracy Dispatch podcast posts every Monday while the Legislature is in session, with the season finale recapping the year's priorities and debates.
- If you want to influence the agenda rather than just follow it, VCV's own framing points to three levers: endorsements and candidate support, direct advocacy campaigns, and public accountability through scoring.
H3 A practical scenario Say you're a constituent deciding how to vote in a legislative race, or a local group preparing testimony. The Scorecard tells you how an incumbent actually voted on the priority issues; the Common Agenda tells you what this session's fights are. Used together, they let you ask a candidate a specific question — "you voted against X on the priority list, what changed?" — instead of a vague one about the environment.
H3 Criterion for judging fit VCV is a political and accountability organization, not a land trust or a science body. If you want election endorsements, voting records, and policy advocacy, it's aimed at you. If you want trail maps, easements, or species data, you'll want a different kind of organization. For the broader Vermont environmental coalition's positions, VPIRG is a frequent partner on the fall canvass and legislative work.
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