by Guy Page

Lynn Caulfield, a Monkton resident running in a Republican House primary, says Vermont just can’t afford to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, she said in her response to a VDC candidate questionnaire.

State law requires Vermont to follow California emissions guidelines, which would ban the sale of new fossil-fuel burning cars and light trucks by 2035.

Caulfield, Chenin Hill and Renee McGuinness are seeking the Republican nomination in the two-seat Addison Four District in next Tuesday’s statewide primary election. Her responses to the VDC candidate questionnaire appear below.

VDC has emailed candidate questionnaires to all candidates of both parties listed on the Secretary of State primary election filing page. All questionnaire responses from candidates of both parties will be published ASAP before the August 13 primary.

The Monkton/Starksboro/Lincoln/Bristol district is among six House and Senate districts with contested GOP primaries.  Candidates for the other GOP legislative contested primaries appear below.

Lt. Governor: Greg Thayer of Rutland, John Rodgers of Glover.

Addison-4 (House, 2 seats): Chanin Hill, Bristol; Lynn Caulfield, Monkton; and Renee McGuinness, Monkton.

Caledonia-1 (House, one seat): Shawn Hanover, Barnet; Debra Lynn Powers, Waterford.

Caledonia-3 (House, two seats): Beth Quimby, Lyndon; John Simons, Sheffield; Martha Feltus, Lyndon.

Rutland-Bennington (House, one seat): Chris Pritchard, Pawlet; Ron LaCoste, Wells.

Orleans County Senate (one seat): Aimee Conrad Bellevance, Samuel Douglas.

Windsor County (three seats: Andrea Murray, Jack Williams, Jonathan Gleason, Robert Ruhlin.

All statewide and legislative candidates appearing on the August 13 primary can be seen here. More information on them can be found at the Secretary of State’s website.

The winners of the Addison-4 GOP primary will face the winners of a contested Democratic primary. The scramble for House seats in both primaries was precipitated by the decision of incumbent Rep. Caleb Elder (D-Starksboro) to run for the Senate – turning that primary, also, into a contest. Both incumbents, Chris Bray and Ruth Hardy, are seeking re-election.

Yesterday, VDC published the questionnaire response from McGuinness. Today, we publish Caulfield’s.

1. Housing: People who are able to work should be encouraged to earn a living and not just be given housing without working per ” Housing First” policy. Working, if able, increases one’s self respect and respect for what one owns. The adage of not just giving a person a fish, but rather giving them a fish pole and teaching them how to fish applies perfectly. 

2. “Climate Change”: This is critical to all other issues of flood management and infrastructure that is affected by flooding. We must work to educate, expose, and eliminate geothermal engineering and weather manipulation that is destroying our atmosphere, our soil, and our environment. See oga.org ( our geoengineering age) and geoengineeringwatch.org See Vermont Daily Chronicle 8.6.2024.

3. Vermont can’t afford to ban non-EV’s by 2035. Vermont’s power grid can’t maintain the power surge for an All-State EV ownership and we certainly can’t afford more taxation on the grid and energy. 

4. Education: Our problems with the educational system is not about money, it is about social engineering in the public schools. We need to return to reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need to teach our children how to think critically not what to think. Giving children a real education will improve test scores. School choice and vouchers should be incorporated, but in the meantime parents have the beneficial and rich opportunity to home educate. In the early 1980’s, my husband and I created CHEV, Christian Home Educators of Vermont. ( yes I am old!) There is an increasing number of home schooling families all over our state. There is a network of support and encouragement for all. We don’t need to replace Marxist DEI indoctrination with anything.  We are all one race created equal in God’s image.

5. Non-citizens should not be allowed to vote. Voter ID should be required for all registered voters to exercise their privilege and responsibility of voting.

6. Conservation, development: We all have a responsibility to be good stewards of our beautiful Vermont environment. Land conservation must not be so stringent and extreme as to hinder the building of affordable housing. Act 250 must be rehabilitated so our children and grandchildren can afford to live here and not continue to leave in droves. We should utilize our sustainable resources like timber to build more housing by harvesting responsibly and keeping the jobs in Vermont for Vermonters. We should utilize local farmers to supply healthy food for our schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.

7. We must protect our unalienable rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion,  peaceable assembly, and the right to keep and bear arms.

8. I embrace the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. 

I am more of a patriot than a politician. My Uncle Buster died in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. It was the day after Christmas 1944. He was a mere 19 years old. He gave his all. Freedom isn’t free and I will do all I can as long as I live to make sure he didn’t die in vain.