Roper: Climate Action Plan wages war on rural Vermonters

By Rob Roper

Just before the Vermont Climate Council voted to pass its Climate Action Plan under the Global Warming Solutions Act, member Sean Brown, who is also Commissioner Department for Children and Families, issued this dire warning for rural Vermonters:

I have a growing concern of the impact of this plan … is disproportionately going to impact rural Vermonters in ways that they don’t understand yet. When you say ‘no net loss of open land or working land’ that hits rural Vermont. When you talk about ‘no new development’ and focusing it [development] in downtowns, that hits rural Vermont. Transportation changes in this plan are going to hit rural Vermonters hard. Every part of this plan is going to hit rural Vermont, which is already economically disadvantaged in many ways, and also some of the changes to the UVA we discussed earlier will impact a sector that is very vibrant in rural Vermont, which is forestry. If you take out large sections of forest and have them become wild, you’re impacting the economic viability of thousands of Vermonters. It’s impact on biomass, and the forest industry. It’s a growing concern on my part that this plan is going to impact rural Vermont in ways that they don’t understand.

Indeed, the Climate Action Plan is a full scale attack on the rural Vermont way of life, and on rural Vermonters’ ways of making a living. Brown’s is yet another red flag that Vermonters really don’t understand what this law really is, does, and will cost in terms of money and lost liberties to massive government control, micromanaging every facet of our lives.

Get educated, folks! And then get active. Time is running out to put the breaks on this Mack Truck.

Rob Roper is president of the Ethan Allen Institute. Reprinted with permission from the Ethan Allen Institute Blog.

Image courtesy of Public domain

10 thoughts on “Roper: Climate Action Plan wages war on rural Vermonters

  1. The GWSA action plan is an inane collection of feel-good platitudes.

    They mean nothing without spreadsheet of year by year turnkey capital cost, plus schedule of replacing short-life systems, such as EVs, 8 years, and heat pumps, 15 years.

    UNDERSTATING CO2 EMISSIONS PER KILOWATT-HOUR TO HYPE EVs AND HEAT PUMPS
    https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/some-ne-state-governments-play-deceptive-games-with-co2-emissions

    EVs

    GWSA Committee folks would have everyone drive UNAFFORDABLE, MATCHBOX-SIZE, NOT-VERY-USUFUL EVs, that would not reduce much CO2 compared with EFFICIENT gasoline vehicles.

    On a lifetime, A-to-Z basis, with travel at 105,600 miles over 10 years (10,560 miles/y), the CO2 emissions, based on the present New England grid CO2/kWh, would be:

    NISSAN Leaf S Plus, EV, compact SUV, no AWD, would emit 25.967 Mt, 246 g/mile
    TOYOTA Prius L Eco, 62 mpg, compact car, no AWD, would emit 26.490 Mt, 251 g/mile
    SUBARU Outback, 30 mpg, medium SUV, with AWD, would emit 43.015 Mt, 407 g/mile
    VT LDV mix, 22.7 mpg, many with AWD or 4WD, would emit 56.315 Mt, 533 g/mile

    The above shows,

    A NISSAN Leaf, a compact SUV, would have CO2 reduction of 30.3 Mt over 10 years (3 Mt/y), if compared with the GAS-GUZZLING VT LDV mix, which contains small and big vehicles.

    A NISSAN Leaf would have CO2 reduction of 16.3 Mt over 10 years (1.63 Mt/y), if compared with my EFFICIENT 30-mpg Subaru Outback, a vastly more useful vehicle

    NOTE: About 50% of EV users also have PV solar systems, and already drive high-mileage vehicles.
    Not much additional CO2 would be reduced, if they would replace a high-mileage vehicle for an EV

  2. The GWSA action plan is an inane collection of feel-good platitudes.

    They mean nothing without spreadsheet of year by year turnkey capital cost, plus schedule of replacing short-life systems, such as EVs, 8 years, and heat pumps, 15 years.

    HEAT PUMPS ARE MONEY LOSERS IN MY VERMONT HOUSE, AS THEY ARE IN ALMOST ALL NEW ENGLAND HOUSES
    https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/heat-pumps-are-money-losers-in-my-vermont-house-as-they-are-in

    I spent oodles of money to install 3 heat pumps for heating and cooling my house.

    Before HPs:

    I used 100 gal for domestic hot water + 250 gal for 2 stoves in basement + 850 gal for Viessmann furnace, for a total propane of 1,200 gal/y

    After HPs:

    I used 100 gal for DHW + 250 gal for 2 stoves in basement + 550 gal for Viessmann furnace + 2,489 kWh of electricity.

    My propane cost reduction for space heating was 850 – 550 = 300 gallon/y, at a cost of 2.339/gal = $702/y
    My displaced fuel was 100 x (1 – 550/850) = 35%, which is better than the Vermont average of 27.6%
    My purchased electricity cost increase was 2,489 kWh x 20 c/kWh = $498/y

    My energy cost savings due to the HPs were 702 – 498 = $204/y, on an investment of $24,000!!

    Amortizing Heat Pumps

    Amortizing the $24,000 turnkey capital cost at 3.5%/y for 15 years costs about $2,059/y.
    This is in addition to the amortizing of my existing propane system. I am losing money.

    • Comparison of CO2 Reduction in my House versus EAN Estimate

      CO2 Reduction due to HPs is minimal

      No HPs:
      CO2 of propane was 850 gal/y x 12.7 lb CO2/gal, from combustion = 4.897 Mt/y

      With HPs:
      The CO2 reduction is calculated in two ways using the:

      1) EAN method, based on commercial contracts, aka power purchase agreements, PPAs (market based)
      2) ISO-NE method, based on fuels combusted by power plants connected to the NE grid (location based)
      See Appendix for details.

      Market Based: Per state mandates, utilities have PPAs with Owners of low-CO2 power sources, such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, biomass, in-state and out-of-state. Utilities crow about being “low-CO2” by signing papers, i.e., without spending a dime.

      CO2 of propane was 550 gal/y x 12.7 lb CO2/gal, combustion only = 3.168 Mt/y
      CO2 of electricity was 2,489 kWh x 33.9 g/kWh = 0.084 Mt/y
      Total CO2 = 3.168 + 0.084 = 3.253 Mt/y
      CO2 reduction is 4.897 – 3.253 = 1.644 Mt/y, based on the 2018 VT-DPS “paper-based” value of 33.9 g CO2/kWh

      Location Based: CO2 of power sources connected to the NE grid

      CO2 of propane was 550 gal/y x 12.7 lb CO2/gal, combustion only = 3.168 Mt/y
      CO2 of electricity was 2,489 kWh x 317 g/kWh = 0.789 Mt/y
      Total CO2 = 3.168 + 0.789 = 3.897 Mt/y
      CO2 reduction is 4.897 – 3.897 = 0.939 Mt/y, based on the 2018 realistic ISO-NE value of 317 g CO2/kWh

      Cost of CO2 Reduction is (2059/y, amortizing – 204/y, energy cost savings + 200/y, service, parts, labor)/0.939 Mt/y, CO2 reduction = $2,188/Mt, which is outrageously expensive.

  3. The leftists in Vermont are so myopic. The New York Times reported this week, “the infrastructure bill is doomed to wet-firecracker status because the problem with our infrastructure is not a lack of spending. The problem lies with two core Democratic Party constituencies — crazy-eyed environmentalist jihadis and cement-in-the-gears public interest lawyers — who keep dragging out the approval process for anyone who wants to build any public project more ambitious than a dog run.” Not that I believe much written in that paper but the point is that the dems keep shooting themselves in the foot because they have so many narcissistic people running the show. Why are these people in office in this rural state? There should be rebellion in the streets.

  4. as most people know
    Every extreme action is designed to go as far as they can and when stopped cry compromise and lower the bar.
    This is a well known tactic employed by bratty children they push until the parent gives in.
    Years ago it was ok to smack the little buggers rear and send them to their room but nowadays we give them a trophy and say what a good boy!
    Time to smack them back to reality and get rid of them

  5. The primary overriding goal of Fascism is totalitarian control of everything forcing not only compliance and adherence to an Ex cathedra dogma but belief in it – and in nothing else. Heresy will be demonized. The AGW/Global Warming cult is an excellent example. I suspect it of being a highly focused form of borderline personality dysfunction.

  6. It should be noted that rural Vermonters don’t have the necessary votes to change the direction of the legislature. The progressive/Democrats are enshrined in the towns and cities. They really don’t care about people who live in the country.

    • No, the P/Ds wish to “preserve” what’s left of the country so “everyone” can enjoy it before they destroy it.

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