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A question every Vermonter should demand every candidate answer RIGHT NOW.
by Rob Roper
For going on half a decade, beginning with the lead up to passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) in 2020, the Democrat/Progressive majority’s Voldemort number – that which shall not be named – is what these greenhouse gas reduction policies will cost Vermonters. They have already spent millions of our taxpayer dollars on newly hired bureaucrats, highly paid consultants, per diem reimbursements for scores of volunteer advisory group members to consider many aspects of these policies – except what the friggin’ things will cost you and me.
Some brave Harry Potters of the accounting world have tried to come up with cost estimates for one component of the GWSA, the “Clean Heat Standard” (CHS) carbon tax on home heating fuels (Act 18) that will pay for the programs necessary to meet the mandates for the housing sector. Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, Julie Moore, determined that if implemented it would cost Vermonters who heat with oil, propane, kerosene, or natural gas around 70 cents more per gallon. The Ethan Allen Institute did a more in-depth analysis that pegged it as closer to $4 more per gallon.
Most recently, the firm NV5, commissioned by the Department of Public Services which is one of the agencies that will oversee the CHS, released its initial draft potential study of the Clean Heat Standard and determined it would cost $17 billion over twenty-five years, which translates into an initial price per gallon impact of over $3. (The final draft of the report is due at the end of August.)
But pay no attention to those bean counters behind the curtain! says Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover), who spearheaded passage of the Clean Heat Carbon Tax in the House. Such attempts at fiscal responsibility/transparency she said at a town hall meeting in her district are “irresponsible” and “political.” The proper thing to do at this point is, “Let’s get some baseline information here,” before worrying about what the program will cost.
Okay. Two things about that….
First, you’ve been working on this program for at least three years in the legislature and the lobbyists for longer than that and you’re claiming you still don’t have enough baseline information to come up with even a ballpark cost estimate? That’s absurd. Or you’re totally incompetent. Or maybe absurdly incompetent.
Second, you most certainly do have baseline information. Plenty of it! It’s all in the Climate Action Plan, and you’ve had that monstrosity in hand since 2021. The “baseline information” is that in order to meet the home heating mandates of the GWSA – according to your own experts — you have to, among other things, weatherize 120,000 homes, install 177,000 heat pumps, 137,500 heat pump water heaters, and 15,000 advanced wood heating system, and switch 21,000 homes to biofuels by 2030. Each of these nearly half a million actions has a Googlable, estimateable price attached to it. We know how many gallons of home heating fuel we use every year. After that, it’s not hard math!
Will it give an pinpoint accurate, down to the penny invoice of what a twenty-five year program will be? No. Nothing will. But it’s more than enough information to figure out if it’s a ballpark Vermonters can afford to play in. And any moron can see that we’re not talking about millions of dollars here, or tens, or even hundreds of millions of dollars here. We are talking about BILLIONS of dollars. $17 billion? $15 billion? $20 billion? We may not know for sure. But — for sure – we know it is not affordable for people trying to heat their homes through Vermont winters.
Even Rep. Sibilia seems to recognize there must be an affordability red line that cannot be crossed. As she said at her forum, “Let’s say it [the cost estimate] comes in and it is $17 billion. I think the legislature will probably pay attention to that and wonder if that’s a good idea.”
While the words “probably” and “wonder” in that sentence concern me greatly, it raises a good and critical question for Rep. Sibilia and every candidate running for the Vermont House and Senate this November: How much of an estimated cost increase to the price of heating fuel will it take before are you an automatic NO VOTE for moving forward with the Clean Heat Standard in 2025?
Ten cents a gallon? Twenty? Seventy cents? Three dollars?
It’s worth remembering here that Rep. Jim Harrison (R-Chittenden) proposed an amendment to the Clean Heat Standard that would have capped any impact the program had on the price of heating fuels at no more than twenty cents per gallon. Sibilia and 100 more of her Democrat, Progressive and Independent colleagues rejected the amendment 43-101. Every Republican supported Harrison’s amendment. There just aren’t enough of Republicans at present to stop this stuff.
And, by the way, the answer to that question you should be looking for is 1¢. If the Clean Heat Standard adds one cent to the cost of Vermonters’ home heating bills, I promise to VOTE NO when the legislature will decide to move forward with the program OR NOT in January 2025. Any number higher than that, vote for the other person.
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
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Categories: Commentary, Energy, politics, State Government
looks like i had better get my 2026 wood supply brought in this winter//// because of fuel tank inspections i have not bought any fuel oil for the last four years /// i guess i am not smart enough to inspect my own tank///
off road diesel
There is compelling evidence that CO2 is not the boogie man that they all say it is.
This group of Government gangsters like to create a non existing problem and throw YOUR money at it while making the State of Vermont worse in its wake. It makes them feel good (virtue signaling) that they care.
https://thehighwire.com/editorial/new-peer-reviewed-study-co2-has-zero-impact-on-climate-change/
Nice Work Rob, you are definitely over the target.
You are correct. The Legislature is lying to us for their own profit. This will go to the Supreme Court or even further…. Do not comply.
Here is their racket; a must watch:
https://youtu.be/55n-Zdv_Bwc?si=DCL1_v5_rgDewjKW
As one who has criticized the climate scam for a long time now, let me offer a word of caution to my fellow critics. The fact is that free market capitalism often does create significant damage to the planet. But the overriding point to consider is that we must be reasonable when considering what is to be done when that happens? The answer to that question is … drum roll …. that free-market capitalism is the best system we’ve found to address these issues. Rarely, if ever, has ‘government’ solved a problem. Most of the time, government creates problems and makes them worse, because government relies on problems to justify its existence.
What I’m trying to say is that, while this climate scam is finally being exposed for what it is, we must understand that, with increasing technological power, we are increasingly capable of doing ever-greater damage to the environment. And with this increased technological power, we must continue to be increasingly, but reasonably, prudent.
Postscript: The next public alarm will be those concerning pandemics. The Covid issue was, for the most part, also a scam – a major and destructive scam. Today, Monkeypox is the up-and-coming existential boogieman. This is not to say we need not be prudent when dealing with diseases. But we must understand that government programs are likely corrupt by their nature, as was the case with climate change.
These “public servants” are the most disingenuous bunch of shysters that have ever walked the halls of the Golden Dome ! They need to be voted out of office and put on Amtrak trains headed back to where they came from .
Unfortunately, the “public servants” can’t be voted out due to the voter bloc of idgets currently residing in the VSR.
Illustrates the “TWILIGHT ZONE” exists behind the 115 State St closed doors. The breathing stench of one way liberalism air penetrates the brain (if any) to hallucinate weirdly. COGNITIVE TESTING and a VT Constitutional amendment be added making it a mandatory political requirement..
MVRA Make Vermont Real Again
Don’t know if this will get posted, but serious thinking about the mentality of some people, especially in politics, In VT they are mostly liberal. And I believe the root cause is sexual deprivation, frustration and have to take it out on someone. There I said it.
Tom: As I’ve pointed out before, check out the Milgram Experiments. For people who struggle to think well of themselves, pretending to help those in need is their personal social band-aid. They are the people Milgram defined as ‘the teachers’. They don’t see the harm they cause because they are so focused on their own insecurities. All that matters to them is that they advocate for those less fortunate than they are. As long as they act the part, do what they’re told, and tell everyone in their social circle that:
We Believe
Black Lives Matter
Women’s Rights = Human Rights
No Human is illegal
Science is Real
Love is Love
Diversity Makes us Stronger
Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere…
…. they’ve negated their insecurity and personal guilt, because, of course, it’s all about them and how they feel, despite the obvious harm they cause ‘the learners’ in the process. That’s why they blame anyone and everyone else for the world’s problems. It’s all about virtue signaling, not outcome.
‘If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.’ Henry David Thoreau
Again, with friends like these, who needs enemies.
Like everything progressive come up with, they always have the cart before the horse,
they are agenda-driven morons …………………a cancer within Vermont !!
Once they financially destroy the state, and that means you, maybe then you’ll realize
you were wrong when voting for these clowns year after year.
Wake up people, they don’t care, it’s all about an agenda.
There ceiling costs for carbon tax will ensure most Vermonters don’t have a ceiling over their heads. But oh well then they can create a socialistic Vermont run by elites . You will have nothing and be happy .F ….Y
typo :Their !