Vermonters crossing into central, northern NH must quarantine 14 days unless trip ‘essential’

By Guy Page

Vermonters who make “unnecessary” trips across the Connecticut River into central and northern New Hampshire must quarantine for 14 days upon return, Gov. Phil Scott said at his press conference Tuesday. He also signaled support for big wind power projects in New England, but not in Vermont.

Vermont Daily asked Gov. Scott: “Grafton County in New Hampshire, right across the Connecticut River from the St. Johnsbury area clear down to White River Junction, is green on New Hampshire’s map but yellow on Vermont’s. If I have lunch with my daughter in Littleton or shop in West Lebanon do I need to do a 14-day quarantine when I come home?”

Guy Page

“If it’s unnecessary travel, the answer is ‘yes,’” Scott said. “If you normally shop for groceries in Grafton County, if you work in New Hampshire, that’s OK. But if it’s unnecessary, you shouldn’t.” He added, “there’s nothing perfect about the system.” The same restrictions apply to Coos County, which borders the Northeast Kingdom all the way to Quebec.

Guv okay with Big Wind, but not in Vermont

Vermont Daily also asked Gov. Scott: “Governor, a few days after you and four other governors through the New England States Committee on Energy asked ISO-New England to decarbonize the grid, this group recommended ISO fund more infrastructure to support big wind projects on ridgelines and offshore, and suggested ISO look at a carbon credit market – which is a form of carbon pricing that benefits zero carbon power generators at the expense of fossil fuel power generators. Should New England’s governors be supporting more big wind projects and an ISO carbon credit market?”

Scott answered: “As long as the big wind isn’t in Vermont, that’s OK with me. I have nothing against wind generation, I just don’t want to see it in Vermont” because our state is too reliant on tourism to risk placing wind turbines on ridgelines. But elsewhere, “Utilizing those sources would be beneficial.”

As for carbon credits, Scott said “we have something of that nature now. I can’t say I would have anything to offer at this time. I’m not looking to impact the affordability of Vermont in any way, but to enhance it. … We’ve been part of RGGI and that’s been beneficial for Vermont.”

Scott was referring to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a nine-state effort in which states that are home to fossil-fuel power generators pay the states that aren’t. Total auction proceeds since the program began total $3.3 billion. Vermont, which has virtually no fossil-fuel power generation, annually receives income from RGGI and invests it in energy-efficiency programs.

However, discussion of an ISO-New England carbon credit program is in the early stages. It’s too early to assess likely impact on Vermont ratepayers is unknown.

Scott not worried about unemployment trust fund

Vermont’s unemployment trust fund has lost more than half of its value since being worth about $500 million before the pandemic struck. But there’s no reason for concern about solvency, Gov. Scott said. The fund is still $242 million in the black.

“Based on what we’ve seen, we can probably go another six to seven months without a problem. I believe we will have a vaccine in place and people back to work, in winter or spring,” Scott said.

Unemployment dropped to 4.2% in September, administration officials said Tuesday. Unemployment is still strong in the tourism/hospitality sector. Scott’s not optimistic about an interstate travel rebound: “When you’re surrounded by this virus and the virus determines what travel will be that’s problematic for us.”

Concerned about social distancing at Trump rallies? Call the cops

A VTDigger reporter asked Gov. Scott how Vermonters concerned about Trump supporters not wearing masks at rallies can notify authorities. Attendees at a recent Springfield rally reportedly were not wearing masks, she said.

Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling said concerned Vermonters shouldn’t use the State Police online reporting tool because response would be too slow. Instead, they could call local law enforcement, who could then visit the rally to educate attendees on the need for wearing masks and using social distancing. Gov. Scott said masks will be provided if requested by rally organizers.

Read more of Guy Page’s reports. Vermont Daily is sponsored by True North Media.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/ Drug Addiction Clinic Vita

20 thoughts on “Vermonters crossing into central, northern NH must quarantine 14 days unless trip ‘essential’

  1. Quarantine for day trips instead of just overnight trips is a major change in the accd website that has been quietly made. There is no announcement about it on the site, the words “overnight” have been quietly changed and Governor Scott answered this one question about Grafton. I think more inquiries should be made as to why this was such a quiet announcement for such a big change. Vermonts deserve clearer communication for changes on the accd site.

  2. I really think that it all boils down to “Follow The Money” as it always does.

    How free are these governors to do as they wish?
    Who sold their souls and the state out to who?
    Who is really running the show, insurance companies, Lobbyists, China?
    WHO owns the Governors?

    Take a look at this Hunter Biden situation, and then there was the Epstein situation.. what were they doing?
    They were gathering dirt to blackmail people with.
    This is how these people operate.. do you think our governors are not tangled up in this same method of Swamp business as usual?
    When will someone dig in there and follow the money?
    This right here is what need to be done to free us.
    Shine some light on the truth and watch how fast things change.

  3. It is even worse.

    You are not even allowed to comment about this inane travesty on VTDigger and SevenDays, because they are controlling the “narrative”, a la Big Brother.

    The same way the US and VT Media are not covering the Biden impeachable crimes while VP, i.e., sharing 50/50 with his criminal, derelict, drug addicted son, who was influence peddling in Ukraine, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan

  4. I wonder if Phil actually believes what he says. The fear that has been generated by the media and pols over this “pandemic” is an abhorrent attempt to steer us into a minefield of government control and regulation. As of October 22 2020, Grafton Cty NH active cases: 19 (source: NH Summary dashboard, 10/21/2020. Washington Cty VT: 29 (source: VTDOH Current Activity webpage, 10/22/2020).
    Phil, your “science and data” is suspect at best. As Vermont government continues down a path of fear and misleading charts of “facts” Vermont’s citizens will soon disregard your pleas and mandates.

    • Frank,
      The disregard for the nonsensical pleas and mandates have started. There are still some of us who can think rationally and have common sense enough to see through to the ulterior motives of the tyrannical state leaders. They only cite the “science” they supports their narrative.

    • I’ll add that I just checked our NH dashboard myself and it looks like there are 18 people in the hospital in the state, we’ve got about 1.3 million people here.
      I dare say that we don’t have the cooties over here in N’Hampsha.
      You’re not very neighborly Gov.Scott to your Twin State.

      “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government, those entrusted with power have, over a period of time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny..”
      –Thomas Jefferson

  5. The tyranny grows incrementally. Boiling the frogs. How much more before we all remember freedom and rebel?

  6. Give me a break, I thought we were a free country & state !!

    I live in Burlington, all I see are cars on the street from every NewEngland state,
    and some from out West, I bet they have all quarantined…… Yeah sure.

    How about all the colleges, frat houses & apartment dwellers going home for any
    reason…… quarantining themselves ……… Nah. Cars are gone for days and then
    they re-appear…” Party-on “.

    Gov.Scott and all his, look how ” great ” Vermont is doing, all it’s doing is bringing all
    those from highly contagious states, buying up property.. ask any realtor !!

    Wake up, people.

  7. And just WHO is going to stand at the NH/VT border and determine which errand of yours is necessary or unnecessary? The police or sone government operatives? We are going down a VERY road toward fascism.

  8. Lets see…………….about 500,000 people from Mass, CT, NY and NJ drive into Vermont every weekend spending the weekend shopping and recreating and that is okay, but someone from White River Junction visiting a restaurant in West Lebanon is a danger. Amazing. So sad to see what the state of my birth has become. Those running Vermont don’t have much more sense than Deblasio and they just don’t learn. Take the sales tax for example. I just purchased $800.00 of new snow tires. Could have bought them from Pete’s Tire Barn in White River, but I will make a quick trip to Pete’s in West Chesterfield and save the $48.00 sales tax. A Vermont company loses the sale, the work, etc. and the state loses the tax. Genius leadership!

    • Dave, your last sentences sum up a lot of the reasons for Vermonters to drive into New Hampshire. From the Massachusetts line to the Canadian border, Vermonters cross the Connecticut River into New Hampshire to save money; and saving money shopping in NH, even in small amounts, helps to offset the ever increasing cost of living in Vermont. Maybe it even helps to offset the costs of rectifying the needless fuel oil tank and piping Red Flag mandates. It’s all about prices and taxes. The progressive / liberal legislators, and at times Governor Scott, who are ruining our State, are not greatest economists or mathematicians going; and they’re definitely not the swiftest trout in Vermont streams. To call them open mouthed bottom feeders may be true, but is not kind to the trout.
      It’s all about the money…

      • I’ve gone to NH for things that just cannot be found in Bennington. Recently I need connectors for 6awg wire. Went to 4 stores here and no one had them or could order them. I bought from Amazon. And once I needed 4 feet of hydraulic hose. Paid $55 locally. A week later saw the same hose in NH for $38. The difference is the cost of doing business in Vt.

      • I have noticed a stunning uptick here in NH all the Vermont plates here in our parking lots shopping over the last 20 years or so.
        It never used to be this way.. but we’ve all noticed it here.
        This was a big indication to me actually, of the level that you all are being squeezed over there.
        I’ve talked to an occasional VT car next to me in the parking lot, these people often travel great distances to shop weekly.

        So tell me how all that gas usage aligns with the states environmental beliefs.

        When people cannot even afford to shop locally in their own state, that is really not a sign of success for the leadership.

    • And for your convenience Dave, the NH liquor store right next to Pete’s in West Chesterfield is happy to take that 48 bucks.. it’s well worth the trip!

  9. Standing up as we speak.
    Truth Matters Emily Peyton for governor
    There is no valid governor at this moment, Scott has violated oath of office by violations of the constitution, these acts, subverting the VT Constitution for the desires of the big pharma, big box, and big tech industries, is actionable. I am taking action.

  10. I guess Covid knows when your trip to New Hampshire is an “essential” trip and not to just “lolly gag” or shop. Sheesh! These “rules” make less sense the more you analyze them.

  11. Thank goodness my trips to NH gun shops are necessary – so no quarantine and they don’t require masks. Win/win.

  12. “there’s nothing perfect about the system”. What an understatement! Let’s see, it’s ok to travel to areas in Vermont that have even worse stats than Grafton County NH (or other places in the northeast for that matter) and not have to quarantine, but it’s not ok to travel across the border into certain counties in NH without quarantining? That makes about as much sense as wearing a mask while you are driving alone in your own car or walking outdoors when there is no one within100 feet of you. Fear has robbed people of rational thought, common sense, and personal freedom. How much longer will this cult of self-asphyxiation and irrational fear have to go on before we stand up against this tyranny?

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