by John McClaughry
On November 17 the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, called LCAR, voted to approve the decision by the Scott administration to conform Vermont’s clean air rules to the latest version set by the California Air Resources Board. Vermont first signed on to the California rules in 1996. It signed on to amended rules in 2001 – as decreed by Gov. Howard Dean over the objections – twice – of LCAR.
The new California rules require an end to the sale or registration in Vermont of new internal combustion cars and pickup trucks in 2035, supposedly to save the planet from the approaching Al Gore’s Heat Death. If Vermont doesn’t sign on, exactly as the California bureaucrats prescribe, Vermont would have to comply with far less stringent requirements under the Federal rules.
The vote by LCAR was four to two to adopt the California rule. I was interested in who the four and the two were. When legislators vote upon a bill, the vote appears in the House or Senate Journal, and you can see who voted which way. Not so at LCAR. So here are the names. In favor of ending new internal combustion cars and trucks, four Democrats: Rep. Seth Bongartz (Manchester), Rep. Carol Ode (Burlington), Sen. Ginny Lyons (Chittenden), and Sen. Chris Bray (Addison). The two “No” votes were cast by Republicans Rep. Mark Higley (Lowell) and Sen. Joe Benning (Caledonia). So now you know.
The author, a Kirby resident, is founder and vice-president of the Ethan Allen Institute. To read all EAI news and commentary, go to www.ethanallen.org.
Categories: Legislation
do not think government should be telling a citizen what kind of car they can buy,how to heat their home or that a homeowner cannot do a short term rental. we need a return to something of a free market where buyer and seller decide what is fair.
The liberals are the enemies of freedom and independence. Every vote they make is a vote toward more and more government control. They are your enemies, not your representatives, treat them accordingly
Circumference of earth is 24.901 miles, total area of Vermont 9,616 square miles and these morons believe they can affect the atmosphere and weather patterns of the earth from Vermont. This means these people are either very corrupt or so stupid they have to work overtime to keep it up. And apparently no one has told them that the earth rotates as it travels around the sun. Our weather is based on the location of Vermont during the earths trip around the sun. We know it as the winter’s low sun making it cold here as the sun is less visible to this section of earth during the winter months. If the earth did warm a few degrees, wouldn’t that mean that we need less fuel to heat the northern climates? Montpelier and the climate cult are void of any thinking skills. And in reality, corruption has a lot to do with those who will make tons of money off the useful idiots who worship and support the climate cult.
wonder how those electric cars would operate regarding the article about the 8000 customers without power from past weekend storm? Just asking….
So if I read the article correctly, only the rich will be able to afford our guaranteed “Freedom of movement”? And you know it’s only a matter of time before they outlaw gas and oil sales, right?
Here’s how it works: Their belief system states that if we let something stand without complaint, no matter what the science says or how stupid said proposal is, then we’re giving our tacit consent to the action and they’re free to move on to the next step toward totalitarianism.
And it doesn’t have to be obvious. Let’s say no one complains about a Simpsons episode where a bomb brings down the twin towers. According to them, we didn’t complain about said episode, so we gave our consent. Yeah, it’s all kinds of messed up, but it totally accurately represents their beliefs.
And if we don’t complain about rigged and or stolen elections? Then we approve and there will be more, at least until we come to our senses and vote overwhelmingly for GOP candidates.
Yes, it does all sound silly, but plug this knowledge into what you think you know from listening to the MSM. All of a sudden things make perfect sense.
Quite stupid and misguided but then that pretty much describes whatever our legislators do these days.
But I was thinking that this won’t have much of an effect here as it only applies to new vehicles. How many Vermonters will be able to afford a new vehicle by then anyway? I figure by then we will have many thousands of new homeless people having moved here for the “free stuff “ and housing we’re handing out. We’ll be following California’s lead and paying monthly stipends to trans people so we’ll be full to the gills with even more of those. We’ll be giving away down payments on homes to BIPOCS, “because racism “ so we’ll have lots more of those as well while long time “privileged “ white VT families rent apartments . We’ll probably have half the number of school kids we do now yet double the number of teachers, support staff and administrators so our school taxes will have soared.
We’ll have paid for our wealthy neighbors to install even more solar panels to lower THEIR electric bills while raising OURS to pay for it. And of course we’ll be driving our aging junker cars while paying for the wealthy to install EV chargers at THEIR homes. So really, most of us will be flat broke by then. Buying a new car or truck of any flavor will be impossible; we’ll just be trying to keep our old junkers going another decade.
12 years from now, only electric cars to be sold or registered in Vermont? We simply won’t have the infrastructure to support this. Our current electric infrastructure is woefully inadequate and outdated, with all those wires stringing along our urban and rural roads. We can’t even go through one winter storm without thousands of Vermonters losing power. This is nothing more than wishful thinking.
I think a lot of people will be buying cars and trucks just before the ban goes into effect. Unless of course, we follow what Ethan Allen would have done to these communists.