Democrat Assistant Majority Leader’s misleading, untrue spin about the Renewable Energy Standard
by Rob Roper
Every week the Vermont Natural Resources Council puts out a short “Climate Dispatch” video interviewing one or another special interest activist posing as a Representative of the public. This past week that Representative was Kathleen James (D-Manchester), the Assistant Majority Leader for the Democrats’ House Caucus, aka “The Whip,” who twists the arms to get the votes. James was featured to discuss the passage of the Renewable Energy Standard bill (H.289) out of the House on a 99-39 vote. Pretty much none of the spin this political huckster was selling regarding the substance of the bill is true.
Johanna Miller of VNRC opens the interview with, “Tell us about the priories the House has, and [Democrat] leadership has and why that matters to you and to Vermonters.”
James replies “As we all know, climate action is fundamentally, in my mind anyway, about the economy. It’s about protecting the environment and removing greenhouse gas emissions from our air. But at the very basic level, at the kitchen table level, climate action is about economic action. Whatever we can do to help Vermonters navigate the global energy shift is going to help folks in their pocketbooks. So, we’re excited about the bill.”
Regarding the three emphasized points in turn, no, no, and absolutely freakin’ not.
First, it’s “about the economy”: The fiscal note prepared by the JFO on the version of the bill passed by the House says it will result in a “slowing in the growth rate of the State’s gross domestic product (GDP).” So, no, it’s not about the economy. Not a stronger one anyway.
And if JFO analysis is too academic and theoretical for some, let’s not forget that on January 17th of this year Putney Paper announced that it was shutting down and laying off 127 Vermonters. The reason cited, according to the Brattleboro Reformer: “Over the past decade, the company said it has invested tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the mill, but the rising energy costs are ‘too insurmountable to sustain operations.’ (emphasis added).” So, Rep. James and her cronies may be excited about this bill, but Vermont’s employers – the people who make the economy work – are decidedly not.
If, Rep. James were really concerned about our economy she would have voted ‘no’ on the Renewable Energy Standard. She voted yes and was responsible for getting her party-mates to do the same — based on a lie.
“It’s going to help folks in their pocketbooks.” This is the most infuriating lie of the bunch. There is absolutely nothing in the Renewable Energy Standard that saves Vermonters money. The opposite is true. The bill basically forces Vermont electric utilities to purchase more expensive, less reliable, in-state “renewable” electricity, and/or pay fines (Renewable Energy Credits) for sourcing reliable, cheaper nuclear or natural gas generated electricity, with all the added costs of this being passed along to ratepayers in our electric bills. On top of this the bill adds two new electricity taxes, a gross receipts tax rate of 0.5 percent, and a tax rate on gross operating expenses of 0.320 percent.
The overall cost of H.289 to Vermonters is estimated to be somewhere between half a billion to $1 billion dollars extra over next decade, which will mean as much as an additional $192 tacked onto the average Vermonter’s annual electric bill. In fact, the JFO report notes the consequence of a “decline in consumption growth by households,” or, in other words, regular Vermonters’ purchasing power will take a hit as a result of this bill. So, how does any of this “help folks in their pocketbooks?” Well, apart from making them lighter to carry, it doesn’t. It hurts. She’s lying.
And lastly, “It’s about protecting the environment.” Yeah, sure it is. This bill would have zero impact on future climate trends or extreme weather events. But, by forcing utilities to buy more in-state renewable energy – wind and solar – that will consequently have to be developed on our ridgelines and in our fields, H.289 will actually lead to totally unnecessary ecological damage, harming wildlife habitats and spoiling the natural beauty of our state.
What the Renewable Energy Standard does (a better name would be, The You WILL Buy Your Electricity from Our Friends Standard) is put millions into the pockets of Democrat Party donors and activists (like the VNRC!) who are in the renewable energy business. In the econ-speak of the JFO, The Renewable Energy Standard takes your money – “a decline in consumption growth by households… slowing the growth rate of the State’s gross domestic product (GDP)” – and gives it to those wealthy, politically connected special interests via what is euphemistically described as “increased resource investment in Vermont.” That’s it. It’s not a win/win. It’s a lose/win wealth transfer up the income ladder. And every Vermonter who pays an electric bill is a loser under the Renewable Energy Standard. That’s the truth.
Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. This article reprinted with permission from Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics, robertroper.substack.com
Categories: Commentary
Nothing changes. Whoever is in power scratches the back of the chosen big business and vice versa. At least when it was the Republicans and Big Oil we had cheap and plentiful energy. All we get from the Demoncrats and the “renewable” crowd is brow beating and economic ruin.
Is it appropriate for the Vermont legislature (and its Natural Resources and Energy Subcommittee) to defer a significant portion of the responsibility to approve Vermont’s power projects and suppliers to out-of-state non-governmental organizations? Because that’s what H.289 does.
Hydro projects, for example, have to be approved by The Low Impact Hydropower Institute, an out-of-state 501 (c)3 non-profit with no accountability what-so-ever to Vermont voters and taxpayers.
Not only is Rob correct in his assessment of the veracity of the H.289 sponsors, these legislators don’t take any responsibility for implementing H.289’s due process. The Renewable Energy Standard is an exercise in incompetence if nothing else.
“Incompetence” is being far too kind. They know exactly what they’re doing.
…an “exercise in incompetence”, and another example of how demoprog legislators dance only to the tune of their contributor base since they have no fear of being defeated at the polls by the ignorant, virtue signaling Vermont voting majority.
*Sigh*.
It’s that last one that really irks me the most. The Climate Alarmists will accelerate their long-lasting damage (much of it permanent) to the precious and unique Vermont ecology. The ridgelines that will be peppered with the permanent installation of monstrous and outrageously expensive and unreliable wind turbines. The hundreds of thousands of acres of pasture – once a source of high quality food – that will be densely populated with heavy-metal-laiden solar panels from China. All in the name of saving the planet. The tens of thousands of EV cars (mostly made in China) that cannot be recycled or reused after their pathetically short lifespan in Vermont winters.
And they know full well that none of this will have an iota of positive impact on the environment, the weather or the climate – neither in Vermont nor anywhere else. On the contrary – all the side-effects are all detrimental. The child slave labor in the Congo. The coal-fired power stations powering the Chinese economy building the “green economy.” The excessive costs and taxes and fines and fees, burdening already-stretched Vermonters. The demographic decline from the young leaving in droves when they can’t find jobs and housing in the ensuing self-inflicted economic slump. Vermont’s future is indeed bleak.
What a despicable farce. Where is their shame?
Where is their shame?
If these legislative and NGO operatives ” know exactly what they’re doing”, there is no shame.
“In these Sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its Faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well administred; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years, and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government,”. – – Ben Franklin
We have arrived.
@H. Jay Eshelman : But they know it’s wrong. They should feel shame. If I do something detestable like rob a bank, or give my child a COVID clot-shot, I know it’s clearly wrong and I feel shame.
People who do things that they know to be morally wrong but feel not an iota of shame — there’s a word for them isn’t there? What is it now…. psychopath?
Disclaimer: I have neither robbed a bank nor given my child a COVID clot-shot.
From the Vermont Constitution :
Article 6. [Officers servants of the people]
“That all power being originally inherent in and co[n]sequently derived from the people, therefore, all officers of government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees and servants; and at all times, in a legal way, accountable to them ”
Article 7. [Government for the people; they may change it]
‘That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community, and not for the particular emolument or advantage of any single person, family, or set of persons, who are a part only of that community; and that the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right, to reform or alter government, in such manner as shall be, by that community, judged most conducive to the public weal’
Reliability and affordability is what the public wants . Renewable energy is neither.
It is a lie to say that renewables in Vermont will affect the climate.
Is pushing for absurd emissions goals a form of legislative transgression ?
Is pushing for a globalist agenda rather that a state agenda a transgression of articles 6 and 7 of the Vermont constitution ?
“Constitution Schmonstitution. Take it and like it; or don’t like it – Whateverrrrr…”
-Them
Does the additional $192/yr factor in the increased reliance on electricity (consumption) to heat homes with heat pumps and charge EV’s to get around? Baseline electric consumption is going to increase, a lot, especially in homes eligible for “incentives”.
No. It’s just the added impact of the res.
just stand in line and get the next covid kill shots and boosters/// it will make you a lot smarter//// has any one gone to jail yet//// it is for the common benefit for you to remain quiet//////////
climate change is their religion
Agenda-driven fools, I can remember when you could take a politician on their word,
no matter what party they supported, they worked for the people and decided what was best for the masses.
Now what we have are inept fools following an agenda, citizens’ concerns are not on their agenda, and we all see the unsupported nonsense and actions from Montpelier
power-hungry fools.
Wake up people, make your voices heard, you hired them now fire them !!
Seeing the photo of the Jezebels laughing is a moment captured that will serve as a point of reference for the judgement coming their way. I heard a sermon recently of the emperors, kings, judges, and clerics allowed to adorn themselves in their robes and jewels to parade and flaunt in their haughty, prideful ways. Then, suddenly in a blink of an eye, they are stripped, exposed, and destroyed. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Let it be so.
VT’s Constitution Article 6 is allowed to be egregiously ignored. What also is being ignored by Vermont dome people, they missed relevant recent major headlines along with the green equity energy memo supported by the UN and WEF.
The headlines and memo read that the Biden Admin, using our tax payer dollars, along with Microsoft Amazon Google ( using their combined market value of approx 8 Trillion dollars ) have been and are, right this very minute, investing tremendous amounts for carbon pollution- free electricity or CFE. This supports manufacturing electricity at a lower costs per kWh. As you know, those mentioned are all part of WEF and UN agenda. Further, Amazon, Google and Microsoft require and consume vast amounts of electricity for their enterprises. Green energy is no longer strictly sourced as ” renewable energy” . CFE inclusive green sources include nuclear ( uranium and thorium) and geothermal among others.
Why is that ? The reason that these leaders expanded from just renewables into a broadening of green to “carbon pollution-free ” is because they know that an a la carte addition to the green menu of sources is true, useful, equitable, intelligent, and profitable. How do they know that ? World over, it has been proven, renewables alone, sun and wind, can not necessarily supply the required consistent, non-variable, and reliable energy flow that electric grids require to meet the unending demand for electricity/energy/power. Now their CFE – carbon pollution-free electricity, includes power sources that meet the green standards, support the green industrial revolution, the environment, and are equitably inclusive in the global energy economy.
Those listed above, the world leading powers that be, know. The previous and very serious problem of nuclear waste water is now, year over year, successfully being solved in France by re cycling techniques. France perfects re cycling of nuclear waste water by extracting the core elements of uranium. They then provide those same extracted key elements, back into a re feed cycle in the manufacturing process. The nuclear waste water is further refined to extract medical grade isotopes. Further, France now manufactures enough electricity to export it. Annually, France realizes billions in revenue by exporting its electricity. Evolution not revolution is its success.
The latest 2030 memo makes it simple to see that the overall green ESG 2030 agenda is, at its core, a boundless financial market for carbon pollution-free electric energy of which Vermont is already engaged as is much of the rest of the world. Vermont does not need to limit itself by being unaffordable and can in fact distinguish itself as a leader in affordability for carbon pollution-free energy.
Back to our own Vermont story: Little Vermont’s rocketing demands for electricity, just for individual personal home use is dizzy making and costly. It now includes that we all have broadband, WiFi routers, smartphones, computers and peripherals, smart home sensors and devices, smart meters, thermostats, electric heat, heat pumps, water pumps, washer/ dyers, AC, refrigeration, cooking, lights, rechargeable batteries, tele-medicine, tele-health, online shopping, banking, insurance, financing, stock trading, communications, news, on line homework and classes, entertainment, and transportation such as Ev’s with their own charging stations. That makes for a huge overall personal increase in required costly electric power by every one of us.
Vermont electric companies maintain our “green” services, make upgrades, as they also make profits. Combine our home consumer demand with the tremendous electricity pull required to personally power each of us : server farms and cooling those server farms, AI , cloud computing, data, robots, imaging, blockchain, bitcoin / crypto digital currency mining, all part of Web3 , all are inter-reliant, and all are continuously consuming vast amounts of electricity in order to run the back end that supports our personal home use, all the time, albeit invisibly. Add in government and businesses load of electric consumption and costs atop. Electricity demand will be ever expanding and is what is driving the market. That the sourced standard of carbon pollution-free electricity or CFE, blends sources ( not just renewables) just became the direction.
According to Yale Connect, in 2021, 59% of Vermont’s green energy comes from hydro power, 8% from solar and some from wind. Years back, until 2014, Vermont was powered by Vermont Yankee nuclear electricity. With that, Vermont’s strong suit with its historically time tested hydro energy, combined with easy access to the already built carbon free electricity from nearby New England nuclear plants such as Seabrook, and its judicious trim of solar/wind renewable installs, glides Vermont right into the CFE standard and as a thought leader in environmentally friendly and very affordable energy solutions. Vermont then is the poster child.
By Vermont swimming with the current market of a carbon pollution- free energy in the CFE strategy ( not just renewable), the affect is designed to reduce the kWh costs for Vermont electric consumers because Vermont leaves the bleeding edge of just renewables. Same holds true for businesses. Carbon pollution-free electricity maintains Vermont as a ranking player in the green carbon credit offset and ESG markets while it sustains Vermont as a natural bio-diverse ecological treasure. Lucky Vermont, hydro + nuclear + renewables + carbon credit market + forest sequestration + pure clean soil + water resources- its all already here right in our own backyards and its done.
By Vermont’s embrace of implementing the accepted CFE standard, ” we ride the horse the direction it is going.” Vermont can realize low energy costs, and stop the energy affordability crisis. Energy can then be spent in maintaining old buildings and homes as we update and weatherize them, support attractive low energy costs for building appropriately efficient new homes and senior housing, make infrastructure updates, attract new families and businesses- all of that can simply happen because Vermont plays its already existing brand strengths, amplifies its relationships and its knowledgeable Vermonters while headlining Vermont’s reputation for being ingenious problem solvers.
CFE @Vermont equitably weights energy policy on actual affordability for all, while being green. It also maintains Vermont’s place for further development of carbon pollution-free energy solutions inside ESG. All the while we are supported 24/7 by carbon sequestration via our existing bio-diverse forests and landscapes. We just need to calculate that sequestration number and thankfully care for the forests to do that work for us.
Further, according to Vermont’s P.V.R, Land Records/Facts 2.5 million acres or 33 % of the land already is in current use. That means for the 2030 agenda, and the 30 x 30 initiative, we met and exceeded the 30 x 30 marker.
We really got this. Lets use it.
Your suggested solution might work, if the problem to be addressed was electrical power. It is not, and never has been the problem. This bill, H.289 is about legislative mandates to support legislative donors and their causes. Many articles have appeared here and other forums outlining the groups involved, the people involved and their relationships- business and otherwise. It simply boils down to legislative corruption, under the cloak of Climate Change™. Cui Bono is a latin term for: To Whom is it a benefit? That question has been answered ad nauseam since 2020, when under “covid rules” the GWSA veto was overridden by the previous super-majority legislature.
Until the eligible voter becomes so impoverished, tired of or realizes the abject corruption in these legislative antics, expect more of the same abuse by this and future elitist supermajority legislatures.
It has long been known by left-wing special interests that Vermont is a cheap place to get their laundry list of legislation passed. The demo-prog legislators do the bidding of the VNRC, VPIRG, CLF and other eco-lobbyists by imposing expensive, inconvenient and generally ineffective policies, even on individual homeowners (like their attempt to double the drink container deposit and expand it to more products). The lobbying organizations then put it in their promotional material that “your contribution went to strengthen Vermont’s ……. laws, see how effective we are at saving the planet?” And then their donors send them more money. It’s a vicious cycle. The social services expansion organizations like the Public Assets Institute use the same tactics. The way to end it is to stop voting for these jackass legislators and stop donating money to these groups that hate decent, productive, responsible people.
One of the biggest lies about feminism (there are many) is that women help and support each other. Women are, in fact, hard-wired to cut each other down in competition for men, even when there is no actual man in the offing, or when “male attention” is delivered symbolically in the form of kudos and kickbacks. This ancient instinct supersedes any fluffy, frilly, rosy social theories developed aeons after the fact. Vermont women, working women, single women, widows, elderly women, moms who are crying because Dad lost his job at the paper mill, disabled women, women drowning in debt, women working three or four jobs to pay their utility bills: All must be diminished, impoverished, made hungry or even homeless, etc., so that others may climb the International Climate Cult Ladder in a green cloud of envy and bitterness worse than any methane emitted by Vermont cows. All for a “Scooby Snack” in the form of an admiring glance from some handsome CLF lawyer. Ruh-roh!
Ellin, A perfect ending to a real-life tragedy. The audience is comprised of the progressive voters and old-time democrats, the new flatlander residents and assorted liberals who think very highly of themselves. So much so that they can impoverish many and destroy the state at the same time while gloating at each other without the least bit of shame. These are the worst people, the busy bodies and the controllers of other people. And these are the people that the majority of Vermonters have voted for and it says a lot about who the majority is.
I worked for the Center for Climate Strategies in Washington, D.C. for 4 years. We managed state level climate planning processes including economic analysis of policy measures. The Renewable Energy (or Portfolio) Standard proved to be a job and economy killer in every state except Florida, which had abundant sunshine and whose policy required the manufacture of the solar panels in-state. Even the state of New York proposed the elimination of their RPS in favor of a less prescriptive Clean Energy Standard, which embraced large hydro power and nuclear generation as alternatives. The only reason Vermont would choose the RES approach is to do what Rob says in this commentary – enrich those who support the party in power at the expense of Vermont ratepayers.
A successful legislator enacts programs that improve their constituents lives, usually lowering the cost of government and taxes would work. But the democrats seem to think that raising taxes for their pet projects or ideas is why they are there. Mostly they are just gullible and will attach their wagon to any snake oil (green energy) advocate. And some are crooked and receive some sort of hidden award. The solution is to find MAGA republicans (good luck) and elect them.