But it’s not too late
by Guy Page
Senate Pro Tem Phil Baruth on Tuesday chastised Republicans for not doing enough to fight climate change, and for the press for not framing the issue as ‘Democrats fight climate change, Republican don’t.’
in 2010, as a college prof and independent journalist (“Vermont Daily Briefing” and VPR commentator), Baruth signed an influential letter calling for the shutdown of Vermont’s largest ever zero-carbon emitting power plant. This plant produced a third of Vermont’s electricity with zero emissions.
In 2010, Vermont was living the zero-carbon emissions dream, at least in its electricity usage. Between hydro power from Quebec and the 300-plus MW of this instate, carbon-free, extremely low-cost power plant, Vermont had the lowest carbon footprint in the U.S. for electricity production.
Now almost half of our electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels.
The letter noted that the Legislature had the power of regulatory life and death over the plant. The letter, signed by then-journalist Baruth and many others, said “we want the legislature to use that power to close the plant in 2012.”
That plant, of course, was Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. The Democrat-controlled, climate change hair-on-fire 2011 Vermont Senate couldn’t do enough to force the closure of its largest, more affordable, most reliable source of carbon-free electricity production in the history of the state. Never mind that VY was affordable, it was (unlike wind/solar) already there, and we needed it.
Today, Baruth’s home in Burlington is powered by a wood-chip burning plant, the source of more carbon emissions than any power plant in the state. Yet we haven’t heard Baruth squawk about McNeil. Because, well, it’s affordable, it’s there and we (Burlington residents anyway) need it.
Republicans, most of them anyway, supported VY because it made clean, affordable, reliable electricity, the way former Democratic Gov. Thomas Salmon said it would. But okay, get over it, some might say. VY is a cold hole in the ground. Time to get with the Clean Heating Standard program and build more solar panels and wind turbines and install more heat pumps. And while we’re at it, soak ratepayers for up to $1 billion to renovate the state’s power grid.
But if the epic climate fail that was the forced closure of VY taught us anything, it taught us to follow the money. The biggest backers of closing VY was the renewable power lobby. The biggest backer of the Clean Heat Standard is – you guessed it – the same folks on the board of VPIRG. These are the same people whose companies now stand to reap big contracts for the solar arrays and wind farms built over the objections of the communities due to mandates they pushed through the Legislature.
Why not instead…..
Admit that hydro power from Quebec really is renewable, carbon-free electricity? Why not welcome more of it to Vermont? They have it, we need it, make it happen, Phils (Scott and Baruth). It’s cheap and grid upgrades will be minimal, compared to the distributed power nightmare redo.
Write a good enough contract with HQ and you could probably fund much or all of the intended electrification and home insulation by adding a cent or two per kilowatt.
Welcome the purchase of more zero-carbon nuclear power from the two remaining nuclear plants in New England, Seabrook (NH) and Millstone (CT)?
Allow Vermonters to choose how they heat their homes and get to work? Cars and furnaces are already far more efficient. Natural gas, a low-carbon emitter, has effectively replaced oil as the home heating fuel of choice (or would if lawmakers and regulators would get out of its way).
Improving technology and national regulatory changes have already greatly reduced our state’s carbon footprint.
In other words, Sen. Baruth – ‘fess up that you and your colleagues were too picky about your flavor of low-carbon electricity. Politely say ‘no’ to the board of VPIRG and yes to Vermonters who just want clean, reliable, affordable power.
Editor Guy Page was the communications director for the Vermont Energy Partnership, which supported the relicensing of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.