Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee ignores equity concerns, potential for unintended economic consequences
by Rob Roper
With just a few days to go before crossover (the day the Senate has to pass its bills over to the House for consideration and vice versa), the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee finally took up discussion of the glaring defects – or, well, maybe one of them — in Act 18, the Clean Heat Standard, which they passed last year over the Governor’s veto.
Following some testimony on March 12 and 14, it looks like a majority of the committee is now open to the idea of delaying the June 1, 2024, deadline currently in the law for hiring the Default Delivery Agent (DDA), the non-government entity that will be primarily responsible for performing the “clean heat measures” that are the primary function of the program. The logic behind the proposed delay was so incontrovertible it was able to penetrate even the skulls of, it appears, maybe four of the five committee members. As explained by Peter Walke of Efficiency Vermont (VEIC), a candidate to be the DDA, before the PUC can hire a DDA, the PUC has to answer,
“What is the DDA going to be responsible for? How many should there be? Should there be one statewide, should there be multiple across different geographies? What should those things look like? Those are complex processes in and of themselves, and they are components of the overall effort. So, the details really matter because at the end of the day you are not asking a state agency to be the DDA, you are asking private entities to come in and bid on being the DDA.”
And, to get those answers as well as what does a clean heat credit cost, who owns it, how is that ownership transferred and tracked, etc. – which the PUC has not even begun to seriously look into — with time left over to get meaningful public feedback, put out a request for bids to be the DDA, evaluate those bids, and make a hiring decision just isn’t feasible between now and June 1. Or as frustrated Ed McNamara of the PUC put it even more bluntly,
“In my mind, the June 2024 date, the PUC should have testified that’s unrealistic. We should have done that last year. I wasn’t here last year, but it’s unrealistic…. It’s not going to work. Even if we’re able to slap together an RFP, we’re going to say, ‘Does anybody want to be the DDA of a – we have no idea what you’re going to do, but please submit your bid!’ So, we’re trying to develop something that will actually work for the Clean Heat Standard.”
It was kind of humorous to watch the progression of tone, manner and stridency of argument evolve throughout the hearing as the bureaucrats clearly did not want to call out the lawmakers’ Emperor-Has-No-Clothes status with an outright rebuke that they (the senators) had fundamentally screwed up the law in a very obvious way. But subtlety did not carry the day! The point ultimately had to be made, so the testimony moved from things like, “We’re just sharing concerns we’ve heard from others…” and, “We’re neutral on the date, but if you’re worried there might be a problem…” To, “It’s unrealistic…. It’s not going to work” (McNamara, PUC). And, “June 1 doesn’t seem realistic – at all” (TJ Poor, DPS).
So, despite Senator Mark MacDonald (D-Orange) holding out and offering a rambling dissent — something about Pearl Harbor, VJ Day, and wondering why if it only took the USA three and a half years to succeed in killing over 3 million Japanese and reducing their country to radioactive rubble Vermont can’t save the planet in eighteen months – it looks like there will be an interim date change for the DDA.
But there was no discussion of moving back the overall January 2026 implementation date of the program, and this is still a problem.
As the PUC’s February 15 report states,
“… the schedule sets such an untenable pace that it will be extremely challenging for the Commission, the Equity Advisory Group, and the Technical Advisory Group to carry out their responsibilities in a manner that allows time for deliberative process, thoughtful input from all stakeholders, and sufficient public participation to design such a transformative, first-of-its-kind, highly complex, and technical program.”
This isn’t in reference to just the hiring of the DDA, it is in reference to an unrealistic timeline for developing the entire program. It goes on –
The Commission shares stakeholders’ serious concerns that any draft rule presented to the Legislature in January 2025 will suffer from the haste demanded by Act 18, which – following the months required to hire the necessary personnel and appoint the necessary committees – allots mere months to the creation of an unprecedented, complex program with the potential for unintended consequences that impact the lives of all Vermonters. In addition, the expedited timeline necessary to deliver a proposed Clean Heat Standard rule by January 15, 2025, is in direct tension with Vermont’s commitments to climate equity.
And it is these points that were entirely ignored, dismissed, disregarded by the Natural Resources & Energy Committee. When the Global Warming Solutions Act was passed (also over the Governor’s veto), equity and a “just transition” were touted as major selling points and guiding principles for how policy would be crafted and implemented. They even wrote it into the law:
Just Transitions Subcommittee [of the Climate Council]… shall focus on ensuring that strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to build resilience to adapt to the effects of climate change benefit and support all residents of the State fairly and equitably. This subcommittee shall ensure that strategies consider the disproportionate impact of climate change on rural, low income, and marginalized communities and that programs and incentives for building resilience are designed to be accessible to all Vermonters and do not unfairly burden any locations groups, communities, geographic, or economic sectors. This subcommittee may adopt a measurement tool to assess the equitability of programs and strategies considered by the Council. [Emphasis added]
That was the sales pitch. Ensuring a just and equitable transition is precisely what the PUC is saying the current timeline for the Clean Heat Standard does not accommodate. But now Senators Bray, White, Watson, McCormack and MacDonald say, Meh. Who cares?
The Just Transitions Subcommittee met on February 29, two weeks after the PUC check back report came out calling attention to the threats to a just transition under the Clean Heat Standard. The committee didn’t mention let alone discuss the report. They will meet again next week on March 24. We’ll be watching to see if they are actually doing their job or just collecting their per diem checks.
Share Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics
Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics including three years service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free market think tank.
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Commentary
Aside from the Natural Resources and Energy Committee’s failure to address the Just Transitions Subcommittee’s February 29 report, it did not consider the fact that the FY25 budget did not include funding to continue the the PUC’s study which will have to be extended to accommodate many unresolved complex and legal decisions.
The House Appropriations Committee closed the door on PUC’s requesting General Funds to continue the study. Now, the Senate Appropriations Committee must resolve the funding question.
The Committee should instead table the question until it is resolved that the Clean Heat Standard can actually work and that the 70 percent of Vermonters dependent on heating fuels can afford it.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee: please, do no harm.
Your third paragraph is the key question.
How can they not do harm? Housing is already scarce and unaffordable. Many are struggling to simply maintain their standard of living.
According to Vermont Digger in a Nov. 2023 article:
“About two-thirds of Vermont homestead taxpayers receive an income property tax credit, meaning their homestead property tax rates are based on income, rather than the value of their property.” Although it doesn’t state the actual number of households receiving the credit, we still don’t know what the education tax increase will be or the impact that will have on home ownership or the state’s ability to deal with the credit.
Add the cost of home heating to the overall tax burden in Vermont, the number of retirees on fixed incomes, young families trying to make ends meet, the rising cost of electricity and health care, and costs in general, makes me wonder who will stay in Vermont. Just the poor and homeless who can’t afford to move but will be housed and fed by the state? As the effects snowball, can municipalities survive? It seems pretty dire to me.
private insurance 4,400.00/// property taxes now 5,000.00///light bill 1,400.00///car and house insurance 2,400.00/// water bill 450.00/// that killed one social security check/// waiting for my 20 percent increase in my property tax ///////////
I believe senator McDonald should be appointed to explain this complete law and how it’s going to work. My wager would be that he hasn’t a clue about any of it along with many more. There are a few key players pushing this boondoggle and that would suggest some connections to the pot of gold found in the bank accounts of the big climate religion Gods scheming to ram this through. Some of us are scheming to get to hell out of here and leave the misery to those who still believe that progressive politics and insane policies are good for Vermont. I have seen enough!
Senator MacDonald is old, confused and out of touch with his constituents and Vermont..
He needs to go…
I personally don’t want to sit in my house with multiple blankets during the winter to stay warm as he said to do as a result of the clean heat standards increase in the cost of fossil fuels for heating our homes.
Oh, really?, Senator?
What were witnessing here is the complete failure of this crowd to actually execute their way out of a paper bag. They can’t because they don’t know how. In the private sector if you wished to launch a product (the clean heat std.) you would walk the project from point to point executing along the way making sure that the product would be successful and make the company money. This gang is only content with virtue signaling how much they “care” about eliminating the evil hydrocarbon that runs the world. Unfortunately “good intensions” mean jack spit when it comes to delivering on what your “feelings” dictate. These people are LAZY and if they really meant to push this dream forward they would have executed. But alas it is really only about a paycheck and the next election. It reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker from the 60’s …… Too Bad Ignorance Isn’t Painful.
I suspect the Act 18, Clean Heat Standard, isn’t purposed to actually ‘work’, i.e., make our lives better and protect the environment. And I also suspect that our legislators know this already. The true purpose of the legislation is to control the electorate while generating crony profits for a chosen few. It’s classic racketeering.
Several years ago (2012), for example, VPIRG Board President Duane Peterson and its Clean Energy Program director James Moore, pushed legislation that subsidized the fledgling solar industry. They then created a solar start-up company called SunCommon, and because they were some of the first players in the subsidized industry, SunCommon became profitable. Then Peterson and Moore sold the company for $40 Million.
Consider Pfizer, Moderna, and other big pharma companies giving kick-backs to Tony Fauci when Covid came on the scene. They all made millions of dollars (some made billions) to push a vaccine we have learned is not only ineffective, but dangerous.
How does this happen when we have regulatory agencies established to protect the public?
I give you VIPRG. I give you Anthony Fauci’s NIAID department that facilitated the creation of Covid. I give you Vermont’s Public Utilities Commission that oversaw the SunCommon deal and resists purchasing more Hydro-Quebec electricity at 1/3rd the cost most Vermonters pay for their power.
How incestuous are these regulatory agencies? Well, Board President Duane Peterson and its Clean Energy Program director James Moore engineered their personal profit-making scheme under the guise of the non-profit, VPIRG. And while most people don’t know this, the NIH Ethics Director overseeing Anthony Fauci’s scheming was none other than Christine Grady – Fauci’s wife. And who is one of the most influential of Vermont’s PUC commissioners? Margaret Cheney, wife of Senator Peter Welch, has already been criticized for regulating industries that contributed to Senator Welch’s political campaign.
The tell-tale sign of political corruption is when critics (i.e., Republicans) are characterized as a danger to society for resisting climate change arguments. That those who refused to take the Covid vaccine posed a danger to everyone. And that those of us who lobby for buying more electricity from Hydro Quebec at 1/3rd the current GMP cost for most Vermonters, are… what did Senator Mark MacDonald (D-Orange) say… ‘whacko!’.
These folks are crooks, folks. Pure and simple. Their motives are as old as time – power and money. And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the largest and most expensive culprit of all of these offenders – Vermont’s public education monopoly.
Rob, “ Just Transition” in this case the word “ just” does not mean justice/ fairness. Just means just go get Vermonters to turn out their pockets and give over their property, pay high green energy rates, be you tax payers or consumers of green energy products to arrive at 1 better yet 2 Billion dollars by 2026 by whatever means is necessary that is according to the sub text of the Paris agreement and more importantly to the new E.S.G. stock/funds trading guidelines. That is why the 2026 due date will not be discussed by Dome people. The financial market needs that 2026 date commitment to make book. Dome people’s concentration is on the S & P and little else including the practicals of how to run this scheme now that they actually have to make book. McGraw Hill who owns S & P was purchased outright by Platinum Equity for 4.5 Billion, making McGraw Hill, not only one of the largest and leading text book publishers to school children including to our Vermonters, as the perfect messengers to the Next Gen Go Greenies taught throughout school systems. More perfect ? McGraw’s the S & P is the reporting agency (creators and publishers) of all financial market trends. It’s not show and tell its tell and sell. Further, overlord owner Platinum has fully endorsed and agreed to throttle E.S.G ( environmental, social, governance) monthly reporting for Platinum’s entire 25 Billion dollar portfolio. These are the book markers our Dome people got us involved with. Dome people did this without our knowledge, understanding, any vetted and agreed to procedures, metrics, time lines, plans, or abilities ( think block chain) nor posted the direct costs for their own live or die 2030 agenda. Below link is what the global sustainable finance market is looking like per S & P. Fine print probably reads Vermont tax payers aka consumers are unwittingly posted for a payment schedule of 1 Billion American Dollars ( or equivalent crypto currency and green energy tax credits )with a due date certain of 2026. But Rob, we will always have Paris. Link https://www.spglobal.com/esg/topics/sustainable-finance
‘Just Transition’ *is* intended by the legislature to mean just that. A transition that is ‘justified’. It’s a classic example of Orwellian ‘Newspeak’. The practice is also referred to as ‘sophistry’, reasoning that seems plausible on a superficial level but is actually unsound, or reasoning that is used to deceive. Politicians have become expert sophists. There is no justification for the ‘Global Warming Solutions Act’. Just saying so doesn’t make it so.
Consider the ‘Affordable Care Act’, or the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’, in the same context of the Vermont legislatures ‘Just Transitions Subcommittee’, or one of Vermont’s most egregiously misleading euphemisms, the ‘Reproductive Liberty Amendment’.
This morning, in fact, Vermont Public (its name being yet another sophistic euphemism) broadcast a Planet Money episode on ‘Industrial Policy’.
‘A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics’
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/23/1197958331/reka-juhasz-industrial-policy-inflation-reduction-act
‘Industrial Policy’ is a euphemism for Marxist economic theory. And what almost always results from the practice is the crony profiteering now obvious in Bidenomics, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute for Health, etc..
Locally, Vermont’s non-profit lobbying organization (VIPRG), our Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and the Vermont Agency of Education public-school monopoly, demonstrate the dystopian effects of this anti free market governance. That Rob and Libby are digging deep into the Vermont Climate Cartel and its fraudulent framework of ‘Climanomics’ is just more evidence of this ongoing tyranny. And make no mistake. Be it ‘Bidenomics’, ‘Climanomics’, or ‘Industrial Policy’, these are the Marxist wolves in sheep’s clothing.
‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ This is classic fascism – a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls and economic (if not violent) suppression of the opposition.
One question remains, however – a problem I’ve been contemplating here in Vermont now for several decades without being able to conceive of a tangible next step, let alone a solution. How do we re-instate the free-market attributes and the ‘self-determination’ espoused by Aristotle, Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Ronald Coase, Milton Friedman, JFK, Arthur Laffer, and many others?
I suppose the first thing to do is convince VDC readers to actually read Rob’s articles and Libby’s elaboration in order to understand what free markets aren’t. To see the antitheses of free-market economics, look no further than our State and Federal governments.
Praemonitus praemunitus. Forewarned is forearmed.
Rob, P.S. The S & P just purchased for an undisclosed amount The Climate Service. The S & P therefore makes and controls and remains undisputed for all the data in finance stock trades bond crypto, climate risk , E.S.G. and all the rest of the all of it that now is one global app in an agreed metric. Financial markets moves at the speed of light while little Vermont is struggling hard to even get broadband and cell phone connections to her people.
I am providing the background to the S & P’s Climate Service deal so you can plainly see how Vermont Dome activities are data and market driven and non reflective or conductive of we the people: “ In 2021, following an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, The Climate Service co-founder and CEO, James McMahon, told WRAL TechWire that the company was seeing “an uptick in demand across all sectors.
McMahon noted that the company’s platform, which it calls Climanomics®, provides companies a mechanism to meet the requirements of the executive order that pertains to financial-related climate risk. “That’s exactly what our platform does,” said McMahon.
The company, co-founded by McMahon, began in 2017. The company developed the application for physical climate risk analytics, which it provides to corporate entities, government departments, and investors, the outputs of which are “aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD),” according to the company’s statement.” – Full article here https://wraltechwire.com/2022/01/04/durhams-the-climate-service-acquired-by-sp-global/
If anyone is keeping score, how many more are going to step down, retire, or bail out running for cover? They papered themselves into a corner based on fraud and money laundering. All the lawfare warfare they ramrodded through since 2020, and even before, is failing and they know it. Expect more meltdowns under the Golden Thunder Dome – the house of cards is violently shaking and falling. Declared and decreed.
the only choice is to put govie and his group of thugs in jail for mass murder with the covid kill shot/// the information was known about the danger of this three years ago/// when the state was shut down all of these thugs still got their pay checks/// bribery and black mail are a dirty business///