Members Appointed by the House of Representatives

Richard Cowart is a Principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a Vermont-based, global non- profit that advises governments on energy regulation, electricity markets, and climate policy (1999- present). Over the past decade he built and directed RAP’s European program in Brussels, Berlin, and Warsaw. He has advised governments across the US and Europe, in China, Brazil, and several other nations.

Liz Miller is VP of Sustainable Supply & Resilient Systems at Green Mountain Power and lives in Burlington. Previously, she worked as a lawyer and advisor specializing in executive and organizational management and corporate governance. Liz served as Chief of Staff to former Governor Shumlin and as Commissioner of the Vermont Public Service Department, where she led the State’s energy and telecommunications policy. Earlier in her career, she founded and ran a small law firm.

Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux is a Professor of Climatology in the Department of Geography at the University of Vermont. She uses a variety of mixed methods from remotely sensed data to statistics and historical content analysis, to explore the influence of atmospheric processes on fluvial processes and vegetated landscapes. Her work spans a number of climate hazards and severe weather, with a special focus on flooding and droughts.

Johanna Miller is the Energy & Climate Program Director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Johanna also serves as the coordinator of the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network, the statewide network of over 120 all-volunteer town energy committees and the partners who support them. In these roles, Johanna works from the grassroots to the Legislature to help advance clean energy and climate action programs and policies.

Paula Melton is a Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting member and serves on that body's Finance Committee. As Editorial Director at BuildingGreen, she manages publications and develops content related to environmental justice; climate change mitigation and adaptation in the built environment; and green building certifications, standards, and public policy. She has an MFA in poetry writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has been researching and writing about health, sustainability, and related topics for more than 25 years.

David Deen, Westminster served as the River Steward for the Connecticut River Conservancy (nee Connecticut River Watershed Council) responsible for public education and advocacy on issues in the VT/NH reach of the river since 1998, including regulatory affairs, river cleanup, barrier removal, hydro relicensing, and published articles and made presentations to citizens about the river. He now serves as an honorary trustee for the Conservancy.

Bram Kleppner is CEO of Danforth Pewter, with manufacturing in Middlebury and retail stores in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Virginia. Danforth has committed to getting to zero fossil fuel use, and to that end has built a solar farm, installed heat pumps, and put in an electric car charging station at the flagship store in Middlebury.