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Vermont Daily: Wednesday, October 15 Edition

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Vermont media buzz about Biden computer = crickets

by Guy Page

4 PM, October 15, 2020 – At 5 AM on October 14, the New York Post published a story with this lead paragraph:

“Hunter Biden introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company, according to emails obtained by the Post.”

If the story is true, then Joe Biden has been lying to the American public by vehemently denying any involvement in any such influence-peddling efforts by his son. In support of its story, the Post printed screenshots of the emails, reportedly recovered from a laptop computer owned by Hunter Biden which had been left at a computer repair store and apparently forgotten. The computer was recovered by the FBI, the Post coverage said. A copy of the hard drive found its way into the hands of presidential advisor Rudy Giuliani, who then took it to the Post. 

After the story broke, Facebook and Twitter both blocked attempts to report this story by the Post, today’s paper said. Twitter froze the accounts of President Trump and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, according to a White House and media reports. 

Here in Vermont, the media has been virtually silent on this potentially explosive news story. As of 11 AM this morning, 30 hours after the Post story hit the web, Vermont Daily’s perusal of printed and online news found no “local angle” stories on Hunter Biden’s computer emails nor on the social media suppression. It’s already the second day of the 24-hour news cycle, and we have found no stories soliciting comments from the governor, Democratic elected officials, or the Man On The Street – nothing. MORE…..

Carbon tax looms in guvs’ ‘decarbonization’ request

By Guy Page

October 15, 2020 – Yesterday, five of six New England governors – including Gov. Phil Scott – called for a “decarbonized grid” for New England electricity transmission. Ratepayers will soon know if they want a regional carbon tax, as suggested in March by the president of New England’s power transmission grid operator.

Gov. Scott and the governors of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – but not New Hampshire – demand that ISO-New England, the regional power grid operator, help them create “a decarbonized grid,” according to a joint statement released yesterday.

Gordon van Welie

The five governors say the grid must be “capable of supporting the accelerated adoption of more sustainable electric, heating, and transportation solutions.” They offer no specific solutions. They decry the current  “market design that is misaligned with our States’ clean energy mandates and thereby fails to recognize the full value of our States’ ratepayer-funded investments in clean energy resources.”

Translated into layman’s language, the governors don’t like that ISO only buys the lowest-cost power available. Carbon-cutting renewable power rarely fits that description. Power plants burning energy-dense natural gas can sell wholesale power for 2-3 cents/kilowatt-hour. By contrast, power from proposed New England offshore wind projects would sell at an estimated wholesale cost of about 20 cents/kilowatt-hour. ISO’s lowest-cost purchasing policy may be welcome to ratepayers but it’s troublesome to states with laws requiring steep carbon reduction.

The same state legislatures that passed the reduction mandates lack the will to enforce them. In their own states, they won’t ban cheap fossil-fuel power, mandate renewable power, or levy a carbon tax on life-essential electricity. Instead the states want ISO-New England to solve their carbon-reduction problems for them, by taxing carbon.

To which ISO-New England CEO Gordon van Welie in effect told the New England states March 6 (see pages 14-16), ‘no problem. But we need your consensus.’ Speaking at a media briefing, van Welie said carbon pricing is “the simplest, easiest and most efficient way” to create wholesale price parity between cheap fossil fuel electricity and “clean energy” power. MORE…

Governor extends State of Emergency until November 15

PRESS RELEASE – Governor Phil Scott today announced that the State of Emergency has been extended to November 15, 2020 to ensure the state can continue to suppress the spread of COVID-19.

The executive order has been extended with no additional changes and can be viewed at https://governor.vermont.gov/content/addendum-6-amended-and-restated-executive-order-01-20.

“Vermont has led the nation in responding to this virus. We’ve worked together to keep each other safe and prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, allowing us to methodically reopen our economy and keep it open while many other states have had to take steps backward,” said Governor Scott. “But we cannot become complacent. While our success has allowed us to do more, we must keep making smart choices. This means staying six feet apart and wearing a mask (even around friends), avoiding crowds, following travel guidance and washing our hands. We can continue to move forward if we stay vigilant.”

In addition to helping the state manage the public health risks, the State of Emergency keeps numerous supports in place to mitigate economic hardship resulting from the pandemic. These protections include expanded housing and meal delivery systems, expanded eligibility for unemployment insurance, resources for businesses and federal emergency funding.

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