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by Guy Page
Like expectant southern belle debutantes, would-be bills for the 2025 Legislature are being lined up and given a final once-over by their sponsors. Is everything just right? Will there be people in the crowd designated and ready to ooh and ah at their introduction?
New bills, like teenage debutantes, only have one chance to make a first impression at the coming out party, scheduled for the legislature’s website on January 8. Bills coming from the ‘best families’ (i.e. most influential interest groups) will have special attention paid to them by their handlers, who are often current or former committee chairs fine-tuning first drafts submitted by friendly interest groups.
One such influential special interest is the Energy Action Network, perhaps the State House’s most aggressive pursuer of renewable energy spending in Vermont, and no wonder – its hundreds of members are a who’s who of Vermont not-for-profit climate change organizations and businesses directly or indirectly invested in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable electricity.
Rather than take voters’ cue to slow down on expensive energy policy, EAN urges the Legislature to stay the course with the fossil-fuel to electricity transition at home and on the roads. “These [heat pump and weatherizing] programs have been effective and, more importantly, are key to ensuring a just and equitable transition.”
But – in an obvious nod to concerned voters tossing out a score of legislators in November, in part due to their support for the EAN-backed Clean Heat Standard – the interest group argues that the extreme weather, fossil-fuel reliant Vermonters are paying too much for the status quo.
In its “Taking stock of where Vermont stands on climate and energy heading into 2025” blog post of November 2024, EAN claims the Big Switch will be cheaper for homeowners – longterm. But it says little about how much it will cost to ‘get there’ to heat pumps and their low monthly heating bills.
Nor does it address consumer cost concerns about their future’s electricity supply/demand disparity. When demand, characterized by an energy-hogging AI-intensive world also reliant on electricity to stay warm and connected to the world by road, collides with an electric grid bereft of reliable, energy-dense fossil fuels to make electricity, will there be enough? Or will forced conservation and brownouts be the new order the day?
In their November, 2024 ‘look ahead’ report, EAN expresses grave concern about the double whammy of extreme weather damage (climate change caused, it says) and the current unaffordability of energy. For both it blames overuse on fossil fuels.
Specifically, the Green Mountain State is the fifth-worst state in the nation as measured by disaster relief funds per capita ($684). Climate change is blamed as culprit #1 for flooding. Also, it claims Vermonters pay the third-highest amount of household income in the country for energy – $7000. In other words, EAN seems to say, the status quo is so bad, what have you got to lose? In response, critics of EAN’s energy plan say fossil fuel costs were low under Trump ’45 and will likely drop under Trump ’47, and that in any case Vermont’s carbon-reduction efforts will do little to reduce weather-related disasters. In fact, they argue, it would be wiser to reallocate carbon reduction money to disaster mitigation.
As reported recently in VTDigger and later today in the Vermont Daily Chronicle, some of the legislature’s re-elected climate hawks appear to be at least talking compromise in the face of the political reality of a lost supermajority and a popular governor preferring Vermont take a more leisurely pace to carbon emissions reduction. For example:
“I think voters asked us to focus on their wellbeing over the allure of being some kind of national leader in an abstract sense,” – Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale.
“Staying focused on affordability, I think, is key. If we can figure out a policy that helps make energy more affordable for Vermonters and oh, by the way, it’ll also help the climate — amazing.” – Sen. Anne Watson (D-Washington), a leading candidate to replace longtime Sen. Natural Resources and Energy Chair Chris Bray, who was voted out on November. 5.
Tune in to Common Sense Radio at 11 AM today on WDEV, and Friday at Four today at 4 PM on VDC’s X, Facebook, and YouTube platforms, for more discussion about upcoming legislation.
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Categories: Energy, News Analysis
EAN may be a major influencer of policy but their leader does not register as a lobbyist. I heard that a complaint was filed about that, but haven’t heard that anything came of it. In Clean Heat Standard meetings at the PUC’s Technical Advisory Group, he distances himself from EAN and says he is there as a member of the Climate Council even though the council has never anointed him to speak for them.
Vermont’s legislators follow what special interest tells them, and they swallow it hook line, and sinker, the question is why ?? Most legislators do not work for or listen to the people if they did the state wouldn’t be in the dismal state that it’s in !!
Vermont’s climate crusaders, turn a blind eye to the real culprits throughout the world and expect that little Vermont will turn anything green, that’s like spitting into the ocean like it will make a difference……………….. wake up people.
Always follow the money. That’s why.
Credit where due, Ram Hinsdale hits the nail on the head with this observation: “I think voters asked us to focus on their wellbeing over the allure of being some kind of national leader in an abstract sense.” Question is will she follow through on this.
As for Watson….“Staying focused on affordability, I think, is key. If we can figure out a policy that helps make energy more affordable for Vermonters and oh, by the way, it’ll also help the climate — amazing.” Weasel words. Watson thinks the Clean Heat Standard AS IT PASSED was affordable and helps the climate. It’s neither, but she’s a zealot and does not care for facts on this subject. The committee on committees should not make her chair of energy & natural resources. That’s doubling down on the CHS and the rest of the nonsense. Bring in someone fresh who’s not a nut. (Of course the catch 22 is you have to be a nut to want to be on that committee….)
Vermont legislators better get with the program of boosting all energy production or be left behind. Even Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s most likely next Prime Minister will dump the carbon narrative and ramp up production of natural gas and their other abundant energy resources. With President elect Trump doing the same Vermont will be the loser by sticking with Act 18.
There has been a common thread in this whole drama. They haven’t built a constituent consensus, they can’t convince us so they’ll use their majority and force us…for our own long term good. This ruling rather than representing appears to be the prevailing ethos in Montpelier. As constituents we need to be let them know whether they’ve convinced us of their initiatives or not. We need to build convient channels ourselves to keep them aware of what we want.
Go out and look at the members of the Energy Action Network (EAN). One of these members is RAD.
Link the https://radmovement.org/about/#vision
Mission: We believe we can achieve a society where people earn a livable wage and have access to affordable health care, and where a progressive and equitable tax system supports an economy that protects the environment and human rights. We believe Vermont and New Hampshire can lead our country in a new direction towards happy, healthy, and just communities for everyone.
I will not the key words: progressive and equitable tax system, human rights, leading country in a new direction. Another webpage states that they are increasing democracy.
These are all ket terms aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda and are representative of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset.
The legislature will continue with this ridiculous idea that Vermont can lead the way to a new world order. Vermonters hit back with taking away their supermajority. It will take Vermont until 2026 to bring back a sane legislature that looks out for Vermonters.
BLACKMAIL, BRIBERY, EMBEZZLEMENT, EXTORTION, AND RACKETERRING ARE A DIRTY BUSINESS. Nothing to see in Vermont folks just go back to sleep.
Back to: Its difficult to make a man understand something his paycheck depends on him not understanding… a paraphrase to Upton Sinclair in his bid for a political seat in his state… until we get money/lobbyists and special interests and the UN Agenda 2030+++++ put of our larder… this is what we can expect… more of the same.
Q: the definition of insanity… doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.
We have WEAK people guiding us. We have NO strongly ethical and moral leaders now. By definition, you must be weak to be a ‘made’ man in politics even here in VT… we have weak willed, craven and depraved, and virtue signalling wannabes (I wish I were…)….
We are training and grooming weak willed people to go along to get along… in our education system.
We don’t want to enter politics because its corrupt.
We hunker down in our cabins in the hills and throw another log on the fire… and let the world go by…
Or we would if the world would leave us alone and let us.
We were doing fine until money entered the picture…
Qui bono? Or…who cares?