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Those of us who live in Central Vermont know for sure that climate change is happening. Just look at the flooding that has taken place in Barre, Montpelier, Plainfield, Waterbury, and the appropriately named “Mad River” Valley! Flooding that in some places exceeded the 500-year flood districts—and all in the two years since our last elections! Numerous “emergencies” have been declared, but what has our legislature done in response? Mostly, they’ve agreed to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles so as to lower our carbon footprint. But how does that really help those whose homes have been flooded?
The Democrat supermajority in Montpelier is infatuated with the idea that climate change is caused entirely by human behavior—namely, by the discharge of greenhouse gases—and that if Vermont can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, it can stop climate change and lead the rest of the nation in doing so as well. Thus, they have passed the “Global Warming Solutions Act,” mandating measurable reductions in Vermont’s carbon emissions, authorizing anybody at all to sue the state if we do not meet those mandates, and suggesting, in fact, that li’l ol’ Vermont has the “solution” to global warming.
Now, they have followed up with the so-called “Affordable Heat Act,” which establishes a complex system of “tradeable credits” designed to raise the price of fossil-based heating fuels, and use the money from sale of these credits to insulate homes for low income people, install heat pumps, and in other ways convert Vermont’s heating system to methods that the legislature, in its unquestionable wisdom, has decided are good for the people.
Having ordained from on high what is good for us, the legislature now has to figure out exactly what it is that they have created, so they have farmed out the task to a consulting firm called NV5. NV5 issued a preliminary report in August estimating the cost of implementing a program such as this at $17.3 Billion between 2026 and 2050, paid for by adding more than $3.00 per gallon extra to the price of heating fuel such as oil, propane, natural gas, and kerosene!
But wait! That was only a preliminary report. The final report was issued last week, and the new cost is “only” $9.6 Billion, resulting in a cost increase of $4.03 per gallon of #2 fuel oil! Pardon me if I ask how one can show a cost reduction of 46% between an August preliminary report and a final report in September? And how does a reduced total cost result in an increased cost per gallon? Is there a slight “error” in here someplace? How reliable can such a report be? Is it a report that we can safely and reliably use to create one of the largest and most significant programs this state has ever known (and the first one of its kind in the country?) And what does that program actually look like, since the report estimates its cost but doesn’t say anything about its actual design?
So I say STOP! There is one more vote to be taken before this takes effect! Now that we have some estimates—reliable or otherwise—of the total cost of this “affordable” package, the legislature has to vote one more time whether to “pull the trigger” to set the plan in action. This vote will probably take place early in the coming legislative session, and every candidate for the legislature should be asked whether he or she will vote YES or NO to authorize the Affordable Heat Act to go forward. Let me be clear: IF I AM ELECTED TO THE SENATE, I WILL VOTE NO!
Here’s what I think Vermont should so about climate change:
First, amend the Global Warming Solutions Act to change the mandates back to goals; Second, eliminate the extremely foolish provision that allows any person off the street to
sue the State of Vermont for not meeting the mandates/goals;
Third, kill the Affordable Heat Act—it’s anything but affordable, and when you think that
#2 heating oil sells for about $3.85 a gallon now, and that adding another $4.00 to it brings the price to $7.85 per gallon, I can easily see more Vermonters packing up and heading to Florida;
Fourth, recognize that Vermont cannot stop or reverse climate change, but we can deal with its effects. We can buy out areas that have flooded repeatedly; we can dredge waterways in places where it is appropriate; we can assist with making existing buildings flood-resistant; and we can regulate, or perhaps even prohibit, construction of new building in flood-prone areas. In short, what money we have, whether from FEMA or otherwise, should be used to help Vermonters deal with the inevitable consequences of climate change and not for the purpose of leading the nation in some “mission impossible.”
Koch can be reached by email at KochforVermont@gmail.com, and his website is www.DonaldKochforVT.org .
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Categories: Elections, Uncategorized
As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, *climate change* has been a constant throughout our planetary history. This can be proven, and has been, by looking at ice core samples from Greenland, among other places.
As recently as the 1970s, we were being warned of the oncoming *global ice age*. Brrr….
So here’s my solution. There’s nothing we or anybody else can do about it. Drop all the silly goals, laws, and executive orders slash mandates masquerading as laws. Maybe we could save a few Benjamins in this way.
Now, am I for cleaning up the environment? Absolutely. How about we take that money and finally clean up all those Superfund sites from the 1970s, in particular the ones GE is responsible for in the Northeast due to their dumping PCBs everywhere? How about we finally stop chemtrailing our skies and polluting the air we breathe? Or even how about we retool toward zero-point energy? Plant more trees? Require, instead of EVs, gasoline engines to get a minimum of 50 MPG across the board? All worthy goals, no? And seemingly far more attainable than the pie in the sky “reducing CO2”.
Were you aware that the largest volcano ever to explode in recorded history happened in 2022 when the underwater Hunga Tonga blew its lid? Oh, and by the way, added more CO2 to the atmosphere than the entire world combined for a year? Ya think that might be responsible for just a tiny bit of our “climate change” here in Vermont?
So yeah, when someone explains to me how the glaciers melted, clearly from climate change, which, according to their theory, was caused by us filthy human over-consumers, then maybe I’ll listen.
Just in case anyone is unaware of what Vermont’s impact on climate is, here is the amount.
From the report which was generated for the Legislature:
Vermont’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions make up a very small percentage of the total emissions in the United States, accounting for about 0.1% in 2019. Vermont has the lowest total statewide GHG emissions in the country.
So, 1/10th of one percent of US emissions. Pretty small number.
Let’s be real. Vermont’s impact on global emissions is less than negligible. How about we spend money on the immediate danger by dealing with mitigating the effects on Vermont from more frequent heavy rain events, etc.
Thanks Mike! I agree!
If the Vermont Leftist Super-majority of Dems/Progs would use common sense, reason and facts, they would realize Vermont is already ahead on this subject.
Here are some facts that have been shared on the subject:
Vermonters have already reduced fuel consumption on their own over the years as they used 170 million gallons in 1971 and they now use 70 million gallons.
The energy consumption of Vermont is the lowest of all 50 states.
Since 1990 Vermont’s forests have removed more carbon dioxide than Vermonters have produced emissions.
Vermont covers an area of less than 10,000 square miles.
Vermont’s geographic area occupies 5/1000 of 1 percent of the planet’s surface.
Vermont has less than 1/100 of 1 percent of the world’s population as Vermont’s population is approximately 647,000 people with about 22% over 50.
On your idea about addressing the flooding issue in Vermont:
Let’s find out who is doing the cloud seeding/geoengineering in Vermont. Let’s write a VT Bill to prohibit this human interference.
LET’S VOTE OUT THE LEFTIST SUPER-MAJORITY IN VERMONT!
Vermont can save the world from its CO2 emissions……………is Pure BS !!
Are things changing as far as climate misalignment, that would be yes, but why is the real question, is it from human intervention, that would be yes again, but who are the real culprits, surely not ” Grandma’s ” heating oil usage, or driving her ” Subaru ” around to the store here in Vermont, but that’s who they want to blame and make her pay.
So if Vermont’s ” Climate Crusaders” cared they would go after the real polluters of the world, we all know who they are, and we also know they don’t care about what the USA thinks, and we don’t hold them accountable by any means, so Vermont’s gaggle of fools within the ” Super Majority ” figures it’s easier to punish ” Grandma ”
and her fuel oil…………….. how pathetic.
But what about the endless wars around the world for the past 50 years, blowing up everything in sight, what is that doing to the atmosphere ??, probably causing more harm than ” Grandma ” fuel oil, but don’t mention that, it’s not part of the agenda.
We have fools in charge, and the Vermont climate Crusaders, think Vermont is going to make any difference in the emission concerns, all this is, look at me we’re doing something for emissions…. Pure BS, until you fix the real offenders nothing will change, except you’ll be broke to support nonsense.
Wake up people, they don’t care, they have an agenda, no matter the cost to you !!
Its nice to read the comments of a rational person.
Nuclear war will be the “Climate Change” that will kill the human beings and every other living thing. The”planet” will survive.
Re: ” How can Vermont actually combat climate change?”
The answer is obvious. Vermont can’t ‘combat climate change’. But it can adapt to it… if it’s legislators and other ‘climate alarmists’ smarten up and realize that they are being gamed by special interest groups profiting from this unnecessary panic.
What is particularly troubling, and what Rob Roper has been trying to tell everyone, is that the amount of taxpayer money and resource proposed for investment through the oxymoronic Affordable Heat Act and the Clean Heat Standard strengthens the suspicion that some of our officials and legislators are affiliated with these special interest groups.
Suffice it to say, CO2 is not the primary problem. Water Vapor is a far more effective ‘greenhouse gas’ than CO2. Why aren’t we trying to be water vapor neutral? In fact, current CO2 levels (high as they are purported to be) are below our long-term geologic period averages. Some say CO2 levels are dangerously low. And the so-called Milankovitch cycles (the earth’s position in respect to the sun) have a profound effect on earth’s climate too.
Why are our legislators focusing only on the debatably ineffective strategy of limiting CO2 emissions by promoting investments in technologies that are arguably even more damaging to the environment, not to mention bankrupting us?
If our legislators were being honest with us, we’d hear from them.
Perhaps that we don’t hear from them should tell us something.
Fun facts: while Vermont (a small speck on the map) compared with China and India is being stifled economically by our own policy makers, China and India from 2019-2023 accounted for 64% of new coal powered projects in that time frame. In the year 2024 thus far they have accounted for 97% of the new coal powered projects worldwide.
Check those beans out. While our very own “representatives” are tossing us under the bus foreign entities are growing robustly with no stipulations. Makes one wonder where the hearts of our “representation” truly is.
No worries, the sky dusters blowing silver oxide (and God knows what else) all over our sky is the climate change the environmentals can believe in. Better living through chemistry! Reset through mass depopulation – but not before the healthcare industry can poke, prod, and stick you with impunity trying to cure the disease they sprayed on you for decades. As well as the controllers emptying your pockets saving the planet for them to enjoy.
“Human consequences.” As early as 1965, the National Science Foundation called for urgent social science research into the impacts of weather modification, stating, “If the developing techniques of weather and climate modification are to be used intelligently, the human consequences of deliberate or inadvertent intervention need to be anticipated before they are upon us.” But these issues continue to be under-explored. Compared to other forms of geoengineering that have received greater attention and generated more controversy—such as expanding research on solar geoengineering—policy discussions about the use (and misuse) of cloud seeding are lacking, even though it has been widely deployed.
Although “controlling the weather” sounds futuristic, cloud seeding has a long history going back to 1946, when General Electric research laboratories caused snow to fall near Mount Greylock in Massachusetts. Since 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors cloud seeding operations in the United States, has recorded over 50 projects. These programs receive significant governmental funding. Utah, which has one of the largest cloud-seeding programs in the United States, spends up to $700,000 annually. (Bizarrely, given Utah’s robust cloud seeding programs, the acting director of the state’s Department of Natural Resource recently seemed to pitch cloud seeding as a new thing to try to save the Great Salt Lake.) China, India, the Russian Federation, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States all have major ongoing research programs.(Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Always remember the Hypocritic Oath: A patient cured is a customer lost.
Climate Change is the euphonism given to us because the Commiecrats couldn’t decide to dupe us using the terms Global Warming or Global Cooling.
1960s: Oil will be gone in ten years.
1970s: Another Ice Age is coming.
1980s: Acid Rain will destroy all crops in ten years.
1990s: The Ozone layer will be gone in ten years.
2000s: The Ice Caps will melt in ten years.
All of this never happened but all resulted in MORE TAXES.
Climitard – ’klimit’tard/ A person that believes the climate can be changed by paying a CO2 tax to the government.
I appreciate the information regarding VT’s role in adding or not adding pollution and I agree with the sentiments regarding climate change. Getting back to the costs and effects of the Affordable Heat Act on our economy, I don’t believe that we will ever see it enacted. Like the 20% increase in school taxes, the AHA will be thrown overboard because it would be political suicide to impose those costs, especially considering that we would have to incur the same type of costs to control vehicle fuel. There will be “something” that will come out of all of the efforts to impose the AHA on VT but it won’t be the catastrophic costs predicted by NV5.
We need to make sure that people recognize who proposed and supported the AHA so that they will not be re-elected, and point out the amount of time and money that was wasted on such an outlandish idea.
Two years, $2 million spent on consultants and 30 experts steered by PUC has produced this terrible scheme.
The climate they want to change, is as follows.
Climate change from Republic to a Marxist, New World Order.
When you understand the true objective, everything fits perfectly. It’s a color revolution we are experiencing. otherwise known as subversion of a state. It is common knowledge within military’s, it is considered the highest art form of war, at least according to Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
This climate they are so desperately wanting to control has nothing to do with the weather nor the temperature of the planet, though I suspect things will get a bit warmer, politically before it all cools off.
This video explains everything, that is going on within the united state perfectly, yet it was made in the 1980’s. How could he predict the future? Well, he knows the plan, and he was hired to do it in other countries. This is standard military practice. One of the more enlightening videos I’ve ever seen. Enjoy.
Here’s a video you may enjoy…
https://choiceclips.whatfinger.com/2024/09/03/were-ready-for-em-top-10-memes-watch-maga/