vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

1.09.2007

Local warming

The Statehouse turns to all things global warming tomorrow. The House and Senate will hear from local and national speakers on the subject Wednesday and Thursday this week, Tuesday-Thursday next week and Wednesday-Thursday the week after.

Read Candy Page's preview in today's FREE PRESS. Take a gander, too, at the comments her story has accumulated on the comment section to the right of the web version of the story.

Four House and four Senate committees (Ag, Econ Development/Commerce, Transportation and Natural Resources) will be spending a chunk of their time the next three weeks learning, talking and thinking about climate change.

This week the speakers will be Bill McKibben, the Middlebury writer/global warming activist, Alan Betts, president of Vermont Academy of Science & Engineering, and Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute (a nonprofit that fosters "the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.")

We will, of course, have coverage. So make sure your subscription is up-to-date.

Both House Speaker Gaye Symington and Senate Pro Tem Peter Shumlin maintain Vermont can become a leader in the industry of global warming. Gov. Jim Douglas wants Vermont to become a leader in the budding environmental industry, a similar but slightly different take.

Is it time well-spent? Who else should they be hearing from? Do you buy the notion that Vermont is in a good position to take advantage of the economic opportunities that a changing climate presents?

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 2:57 PM |

Comments:

"Both House Speaker Gaye Symington and Senate Pro Tem Peter Shumlin maintain Vermont can become a leader in the industry of global warming."

Why? Statements like this have never made sense to me. Are we overflowing with genius engineers? Access to freeflowing venture capital? Why would anyone move here to do an alternative energy startup?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:12 AM, January 10, 2007

Simple. You provide tax incentives for people to install RE equipment.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:48 PM, January 10, 2007

Like the incentives that have been in place nationally since the Carter administration?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:17 PM, January 10, 2007

Re: first anonymous' statement...for VT to be a place where genius engineers come and stay (instead of just to ski), we have to be more business friendly.

While there is no debate on the warmer temperatures, there is debate on all of the causes of it. We had a warmer trend in the beginning of the 1900s. We still need to do all we can to be responsible stewards of this earth we call home. It is just that this is one of those issues used to pull liberal heartstrings while leaving part of the science picture out.

Whether or not man is the sole cause of global warming, does not change my desire to be responsible.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:19 PM, January 15, 2007

"for VT to be a place where genius engineers come and stay (instead of just to ski), we have to be more business friendly."

That's the point though, beyond the fact that we're not business friendly in general, I have no idea why these people would think that we're particularly attractive to those looking to do alt energy startups. The closest VC money's all in Boston, and they're going to tell you to set up shop around 128.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:46 PM, January 16, 2007