By Rob Roper
Lawmakers took the week off to return home for Town Meeting Week, in what is loosely the mid-point break in the legislative session. Though the meetings are predominantly about local and municipal issues, state representatives and senators are traditionally given time to speak about what they have been up to in the State House.
This year, it is not surprising that the controversial bill S.5, called the “Affordable Heat Act” by supporters and the “UnAffordable Heat Act” by detractors was a hot topic. Just days earlier, the bill passed the Senate 18-10, with every Republican voting against it and every Democrat but three voting for it. The two senators not voting are sponsors/supporters of the bill, giving the Democrats a two-thirds, veto-proof 20-10 majority should those numbers stand.
Knowing that voters overwhelmingly oppose a law that would make fossil-fuel-based home heating fuels (oil, propane, natural gas, and kerosene) more expensive by between $0.70 and $4.00 per gallon, Democrats armed their caucus members with six full pages of talking points, including sample questions and answers. These included the following on the cost:
They ask this: Is this a carbon tax?
Possible response: No. The Affordable Heat Act creates a structure that will support Vermonters in transitioning to more efficient, affordable and clean heating options.
They ask this: What is this going to cost?
Possible response: Two thorough studies on cost, benefits and recommended legislative action are required before implementation of the Affordable Heat Act. Heating with fossil fuels is expensive and clean heat is the most affordable heat.
So, how did the talking points stand up to citizens who have studied the issue?
One exchange took place at the Calais Town Meeting on March 7 between Rep. Marc Mihaly (D-Calais) and City Council member John Brabant, who is also the Regulatory Affairs Director for Vermonters for a Clean Environment.
Mihaly prefaced his remarks on S.5 by lamenting the “propaganda” citizens have been receiving in their mailboxes, which he said been paid for by the “oil companies.” He then said: “I personally support the Affordable Heat Act. If we get a chance to vote — it’s come out of the Senate — when it comes up to vote I will be supporting it.”
During the question and answer period of the meeting, Brabant called out Mihaly: “I just want to supply some clarification to S.5. … It’s the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association that has sent out postcards and published ads on TV. It’s not the big oil companies. These are the mom and pops all around the state that supply all of us with propane and heating oil, the stuff that gets us through the winter without freezing.”
“So you know,” Brabant went on, “in terms of ‘big oil,’ the biggest oil dealer in Vermont is called Global — they’re out of Burlington and have those big tanks by the lake — they support this bill. The reason is, the way it’s constructed currently it’s going to allow them to corner the market on these clean heat credits. And it’s going to squeeze the little independent fuel dealer out of business.”
He added: “After calling out S.5 as a tax that will be ultimately be paid by consumers on their heating bill, one last thing. The largest polluters in this state, the largest carbon emitters in this state, Vermont Gas Systems, they helped write the bill. They are owned by a Canadian power provider that owns Green Mountain Power as well. Green Mountain Power supports it; they were in the back room writing this bill. And the single largest stationary source of atmospheric carbon in Vermont bar none is Burlington Electric Department’s chip burner. They are adamant supporters. They all benefit supremely financially from this bill. This is an inside deal. Just want you to know.”
Mihaly responded by quickly changing the subject. “My friend John and I will not agree on most of this stuff, so I won’t belabor it.”
A similar exchange took place in Manchester, when Rep. Seth Bongartz (D-Manchester) gave his legislative update, which heavily featured the provided talking points.
“I won’t get into the details [surrounding S.5] except to say that everybody — I think it’s fair to say that 99 percent of people who’ve been involved in this all say that 10 years from now if we get this done all Vermonters will be far better off,” claimed Bongartz.
This claim is at odds with the overwhelming public opposition to S.5 expressed in phone calls, emails and letters to lawmakers in advance of the Senate vote last week.
Bongartz, like Mihaly, expressed that when the bill comes over to the House following Town Meeting break, he will be supporting it: “The question will be how do we affect the change.”
And like Mihaly, Bongartz received push-back from his constituents.
One voter expressed concern over the complicated nature of the bill and the credit system it sets up, as well as the estimated $0.70 cost it would add to each gallon of heating fuel.
Another was more blunt. After recounting his experience in the construction business installing renewable energy alternatives to fossil fuels, he told the assembly, “It won’t work. … They’ve wasted more time on this than you can ever imagine.”
The Senate-passed version of S.5 will now go to the House of Representatives for review by the eleven member Energy & Environment Committee: Rep. Amy Sheldon, Chair, Rep. Laura Sibilia, Vice Chair, Rep. Seth Bongartz, Ranking Member, Rep. Paul Clifford, Rep. Kate Logan, Rep. Kristi Morris, Rep. Avram Patt, Rep. Larry Satcowitz, Rep. Gabrielle Stebbins, Clerk, Rep. Brian Smith, Rep. Dara Torre.
If you have similar stories from your Town Meeting events, please let us know about them!
Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. © Copyright True North Reports 2023. All rights reserved.
Certainly Senators Bray, McCormick and “get a blanket for Christ’s sake” MacDonald don’t care about their constituents. And, I have a feeling that they may be serving the last term in the legislature they will ever see. Vermonters have long memories. The cost to Vermonters of keeping these flamers in Montpelier will be their downfall.
“Heating with fossil fuels is expensive…” Deliberately. And no mention of who is responsible for that? Fairy tale legislators are elected, are “hired,” by the state’s citizens to represent them. The reality is different. Before doing it, put what you propose doing – with full disclosure – to a vote.
The House Energy & Environment Committee – A stacked committee of flaming liberals. S.5 will fly out of this committee.
Each passing day, the fraud surrounding the Green New Deal, the Great Reset, the New World Order is crumbing into financial disaster for the West. First, FTX dissolves along with billions of dollars. Next, Silicon Valley Bank dissolves along with billions of dollars. Quickly followed by Signature Bank dissolving along with billions of dollars. Credit Suisse is teetering (Goldman Sachs sent a lifeline, but it dissolved into the quicksand of levereged debt.) The common threads linking these financial giants are the executives are woke stooges, heavily invested in crypto (electricity sucking behemouths), financing green energy and med tech start-ups, largest donors to Left-wing parties, and lots and lots of Chinese money. It won’t be long now that the schemes of the “climate change” “green energy” scammers will be completely destroyed and annihilated by their own greed and stupidity. Declare it and decree it.
From an editorial just out in The Wall St Journal….spot on:
“The closure of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in 2014 led emissions in the Green Mountain State to increase 16.3%, while wiping out 70% of Vermont’s in-state electricity generation capacity…. New England now depends on expensive imports of natural gas that are subject to supply bottlenecks because of the lack of pipelines. No wonder New Englanders pay nearly twice as much for electricity than the average American household….Constructing energy infrastructure to bring reliable natural gas to New England ought to be a top priority for state legislators. Yet leaders of New England states have doubled-down on their de-carbonization plans…There’s no good reason why they should be paying so much more for heat and electricity. And yet, thanks to decisions made by shortsighted politicians under the influence of activists pushing costly and inefficient renewables, the region is shivering without adequate energy infrastructure during a long, cold winter.”
Even our rino governor now admits we need a new reactor at Vernon. It’s a no brainer but since the legislature don’t run on brains we will never see that happen. They will just keep electrifying us to the point of not having enough and it costing more then NATURAL Fuels (oil/gas). Contrary to fiction oil/gas is not a result of decaying fossils but a natural process that regenerates more all the time.
Legislators today could not possibly care less what their constituents think. They run for office for the express purpose of forcing into law their own personal agenda regardless of what the folks they are supposed to represent feel. The last thing they should be called is representatives. Never in all of my years have I seen a time when the few, the elites, the arrogant, will so quickly set democracy aside and jam their beliefs down the throats of others. I am so disgusted with the idiots in Vermont who keep voting for this stupidity. Vermont is now nothing but a pathetic little socialist paradise.
This is the definition of Tyranny..(and why we have the 2A but we won’t get into that now)
The People- of which The Elected answer to- are clearly doing something against the Will of The People.
Who Works For Who in Vermont?
And I’d like to know WHY.
Are these elected shills being paid to cram this through?
Are they being threatened?
Are they being blackmailed?
How are they going to be rewarded for doing something that they public so clearly and abundantly opposes?
What exactly the reason that all these elected people are completely ignoring the will of the people of which they are supposed to be representing?
And what is the plan to deal with the flood of the lawsuits that will come from this?
I can imagine that poor elderly people will literally be found dead and frozen.. what are they going to do about that?
I agree with the construction worker- this is not going to work. None of it is working- this is why people are rejecting and and banks are now crashing- read my lips: None Of It Is Working.
So there will be a flood of lawsuits..
Again, what is the plan?
S.5, is nothing but a financial train wreck for Vermont, it may not be a train wreck
with toxic chemicals as in Ohio, but it will be just as deadly for most………………..
Wake up people, they don’t care !!