By Rob Roper
Rep. Selene Colburn, P-Burlington, said Thursday on the floor of the Vermont House of Representatives that she had misgivings about supporting the proposed $6.1 billion budget because its insufficient attention to climate change could lead to “planetary collapse.” Seriously, she said this.
Rob Roper is the president of the Ethan Allen Institute.
Her fellow Burlington Progressive, Rep. Brian Cina, similarly lamented on the floor that if we didn’t do more, Vermont’s winter snow and maple syrup runs would become a thing of the past. While this may be the case, nothing Vermont or the world does will change this one way or the other.
On Wednesday, Steve Crowley, energy chair for the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Conservation Law Foundation Staff Attorney Sandy Levine testified before House Energy and Technology Committee on H.462, the “Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act.”
It states: “The purpose of this bill is to create a fair, workable, cost-effective, and legally enforceable system by which Vermont will be able to reduce its economy-wide carbon emissions to zero by 2050.”
Zero. In three decades. By law.
Essentially, this bill would make Vermont an environmentalist police state. It would make it illegal (i.e., enforced by people with guns) to not meet those greenhouse gas emission targets, which we have so far, for all of our “green” virtue signaling, not come close to meeting. Per testimony, “Emissions increased 16 percent since 1990 in VT, while declining nationally and across the region.”
Why is this? Because these policies are impossible to comply with (they are also arbitrary as nothing we do will have any impact on future climate trends), especially without nuclear power in the mix. And according to our Legislature, using nuclear power is the one thing worse than allowing total “planetary collapse.”
But, the attempt would require tens or hundreds of thousands of Vermonters to, for example, switch to electric vehicles, even more to change from oil, propane or natural gas heat to something like an electric heat pump, whether we want to or not.
So, how do you think the state is going to enforce what heretofore have been private decisions made by private citizens? And what’s the cost of all this going to be? That, no one wanted to discuss.
But, as Rep. Mike Yantachka exclaimed at the end of Sandra Levine’s testimony, we have to do this “or we’re screwed!” He actually believes this. A large number of our elected officials believe this. They really think that if Vermont does not build electric vehicle charging stations, put insulation in a few hundred aging houses, and force everybody to buy a Tesla — at whatever cost to the taxpayers or our economy — the entire planetary ecosystem will collapse. This is what is driving their decision making process. And, it’s delusional.
Rob Roper is president of the Ethan Allen Institute. Reprinted with permission from the Ethan Allen Institute Blog.
Unfortunately, my friends you are fighting a battle that cant be won. The last election should prove that to you. I made the hard decision last year to move out of Dodge after our family living there for generations. The way th8ngs are going your property is losing value every year and these stayed that have affordable homes are going up constantly, so it is a lose, lose situation for you.. A friend of mine here in North Carolina just bought a new home in a development for 215k ,4 years ago, a new one now like his now is going for over 300k. This why I say it is time to crap or get off the pot. It is a hard decision to make but I got sick of pounding my head on the wall.
Vermont has way too much astro turf going on.
The goals are definetly attainable. If the Prog/Lib/Dems have their way, there will be no one left in Vermont to warm the globe. As time goes on it keeps getting more ridiculous.
On Wednesday, Steve Crowley, energy chair for the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Conservation Law Foundation Staff Attorney Sandy Levine testified before House Energy and Technology Committee on H.462, the “Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act.”
It states: “The purpose of this bill is to create a fair, workable, cost-effective, and legally enforceable system by which Vermont will be able to reduce its economy-wide carbon emissions to zero by 2050.”
Carbon emissions at zero means scorched earth. Nobody breathing and plants would all die for lack of CO2. That is what we are up against with these dolts.
During the Middle Ages they tried to stop all forms of energy. That mentality is transformed to Montpelier with CO2.
Needless to say it hasn’t worked out, Montpelier will have to regress from their soap boxes and realize the same. Lack of reality and common sense, even a 2×4 would adjust their minds. But if they got off the boxes, they’d say the ground came up and hit them. Just analyzing Montpelier.
The sky is falling, the sky is falling, oh what will we do? If Paul Revere was in VT letting people know it’s dooms day then it might be real. Until then convince me.
Oh forgot to mention the dooms day countdown clock is being hijacked by the fake
Mexican Beet oh O’wroke. He has “adjusted” the clock down to 10 years left bettering
AOCrazio by 2 years, will burnee upstage them and claim 8 years, then sparticuss
Booger can up it down to 6 and heals up harris jump to 4 years. At that point it
would be senseless to bother voting as it will be over before they can fix it.
They would effectively put themselves out of a job.. Good deal
So the intentions of these flatlander fascist Taxocrats is to “Do everything possible” to fight a unwinnable fight on a imaginary problem with zero improvement overall on that imaginary problem. Mean while driving
out more Vemonters and business who can no longer afford to live in this flatlander heaven.
These Agenda political hacks that are destroying VT’s heritage should be tarred and feathered then shipped to Guatemala to make up for the void being left from the southern invaders…The politics there
should more suite these leftist dweebs with no compassion for the Citizens plight.
If our elected really believe this garbage then they should be in a peddled room instead of the Statehouse.
Rooms for sale! Rooms for sale!
2 fer a dollar rooms fa sale!
How’s that for peddling?
Remind me of the words of Roger Miller.
Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let fifty cents
No phone no pool no pets
I ain’t got no cigarettes
Ah but, two hours of pushing broom
Buys a eight by twelve four bit room
I’m a man of means by no means
King of the road……
FANTASTIC! GREAT SONG THANKS
I’ll bet she’s not a true Vermonter but a true millionaire from California!!!
Little old Vermont will destroy the World!!!
Vermont budget will lead to collapse of Vermont,thanks to the Fascist Taliban that controls Montpelier.
Vermonts liberal elite, hurting hard working Vermonters and the elderly so they can feel clever and morally superior. They do this while have zero (0) measurable effect on climate change. Not surprisingly, these self absorbed sheep, tunnel vision crusaders “learned” all they know in the confines of the a big public education factory and by watching CNN.
The Sierra Club and Conservative Law Foundation, both wanting to shut down all fossil and nuclear plants, we’re invited to “testify” before legislative committees that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, unless we all do some nutty renewables to reduce CO2.
What is that? An April Fool joke?
During the Middle Ages one could buy absolution from sins, and then go to heaven, all after paying a fee to the forgiving entities, if you had money, or performing atonements/self flaggelation, if you did not.
We have come a long way.
This charade will enable legislators to say repeat various mantras and vote for whatever rediculous measure that comes along, in the name of “saving the world” or other such nonsense.
Vermont, until you clean house in Montpelier and remove all the Progressive ” World Saviors ”
DemocRATs, all they have done is taint the Statehouse with all Sky is falling rhetoric far left
agenda !!
Wake up Vermont……………..you vote these zealots in year after year, when will you learn.
75 dollars to register a vehicle this year! Probably a thousand to find the evap. leak which is causing the check engine light to stay on in my perfect running GMC. Meanwhile they take what…7 percent or so of my income in tax, then another 5,000 or so in property tax. Our kids…the most expensive kids to educate in the nation. State workers with great benefits that far outpace the simple 401K that my company has put in place for my retirement. Then they want to dictate to me, the management of a growing list of things that include every other aspect of my life! No! Go away!
95% of us are ALREADY living clean, treating our fellow man well, not squandering resources or the environment, we are taking care of our families, avoiding drugs and alcohol and tobacco, and yet you politicians are determined that I will not excel. You cater to the 5 percent and fail to recognize honest effort and decent intentions from the 95.
More simply, time to stop playing God over our state. You don’t need to have your hands on everything.
You are correct 100 percent!!
Thank you, Justin, for another well written letter. It’s very frustrating to read in the news every day about another scheme from Montpelier that makes living in VT LESS affordable! Gov. Scott find your original promise to Vermonters “no new taxes or fees” !
Thanks Mr Roper. Well done.
As a Maple Sugarer I spent the whole first half of sugaring season frozen up. No sap. To me, feels like a typical Vermont harvest season. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s farming.
These folks truly are out to lunch. But dang there are becoming a lot of them. VPIRG, 350 Vermont, the Sierra Club and a gazillion other lobbyists all running around the statehouse have got them sweating for their very lives! Is there any way to get these lobbyists out of the statehouse?…without losing the true Vermonters voice?
The True Vermonter…the one out here slowly and happily picking our way down the back road to town with a little firewood in the back are losing our state and wholesome, honest way of life. From 2nd Amendment rights to, the sources of energy we select to power our lives and more than anything….what we do with the money WE earn…to a host of other issues….our legislators are poking at everything. EVERYTHING.
They should be ashamed of their lack of humility when it comes to ruling over the lives of others. Constantly trying to open another legislative can of worms that leads to one thing after another. All the while continually dragging the big gears of the ENGINE to an overloaded stop! These people are NOT organic, they are NOT operating sustainably, and are thinking only of themselves and their own shallow minded agendas.
Snake oil peddlers of yore peddled similar hysterical claims of impending doom to reach into the minds & wallets of a gullible audience. How sad we haven’t evolved further as a species.
I think you may be beginning to know what the American Indians felt like when the white man arrived.They were perfectly happy in their ways,but whites insisted on change.
now look at them-mostly alcoholics,drug addicts,and woman abusers.sad really
Sugaring requires a lot of carbon.Not sure these folks are going to permit it’s continuation.
The world is changing,and not for the better.