What's up with the global warming override?
It's been a busy few weeks here at VPIRG and we are fielding a lot of calls from people asking "what's up with the that veto override on global warming?"
The answer is - well - complicated. But let me try and untangle the recent news into a clear narrative:
1) A growing list of celebrities and opinion leaders are joining the call for the override: Al Gore endorsed the override on June 6. Then last week local high school students and rappers X10 put out a serious, and seriously funny video endorsing the override. Now Bill McKibben has joined the call, inviting all Vermonters to join him at the State House on July 11 as we seek to make Vermont a national leader in the fight to stop global warming. Their support, and the voices of literally thousands of Vermonters like you has lead to an extraordinary few weeks of news and opinion coverage of this topic. It's been exciting seeing all these folks come together in support of the bill, and it's definitely making an impact on the legislators. We're hearing news that we're picking up more and more votes, but there's more work to be done (see below).
2) Democratic leaders did propose a compromise, but Douglas vetoed that too. As you may have read in the news, Senate Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin and House Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resource Committee Robert Dostis were planning to meet with Governor Douglas last week. The purpose of the meeting: to discuss the global warming bill and see if common ground or compromise could be found before the override vote on the 11th. But Douglas cancelled the meeting at the last minute, and Press Secretary Jason Gibbs made it clear that the Governor was not interested in any version of the bill. This sets up a tough scenario for the most talked-about version of a compromise: namely removing just the portion of the bill that makes Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms (the bill would still contain about $17 million in funding from other sources, including a tax on wind farms).
To even vote on such a compromise, 3/4 of legislators would need to first support a procedural motion to 'suspend the rules' of the House. With the governor and special interests still opposing the bill -- even with the element they say most concerns them removed -- it's tough to envision coming up with the votes to pass such a compromise.
3) Which brings us to the bottom line: the vote to override the global warming veto is still on for July 11 and we need your help to win it. 3 things you can do to help in order of simplicity: Click here to email your Representatives and ask them to VOTE YES on the global warming override; Volunteer 2 hours to help call VPIRG members and ask them to support of the override by emailing drew@vpirg.org; Join us on July 11 at 9AM at the VT State House.
Thanks again for all you're doing, hope to see you soon.
The answer is - well - complicated. But let me try and untangle the recent news into a clear narrative:
1) A growing list of celebrities and opinion leaders are joining the call for the override: Al Gore endorsed the override on June 6. Then last week local high school students and rappers X10 put out a serious, and seriously funny video endorsing the override. Now Bill McKibben has joined the call, inviting all Vermonters to join him at the State House on July 11 as we seek to make Vermont a national leader in the fight to stop global warming. Their support, and the voices of literally thousands of Vermonters like you has lead to an extraordinary few weeks of news and opinion coverage of this topic. It's been exciting seeing all these folks come together in support of the bill, and it's definitely making an impact on the legislators. We're hearing news that we're picking up more and more votes, but there's more work to be done (see below).
2) Democratic leaders did propose a compromise, but Douglas vetoed that too. As you may have read in the news, Senate Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin and House Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resource Committee Robert Dostis were planning to meet with Governor Douglas last week. The purpose of the meeting: to discuss the global warming bill and see if common ground or compromise could be found before the override vote on the 11th. But Douglas cancelled the meeting at the last minute, and Press Secretary Jason Gibbs made it clear that the Governor was not interested in any version of the bill. This sets up a tough scenario for the most talked-about version of a compromise: namely removing just the portion of the bill that makes Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms (the bill would still contain about $17 million in funding from other sources, including a tax on wind farms).
To even vote on such a compromise, 3/4 of legislators would need to first support a procedural motion to 'suspend the rules' of the House. With the governor and special interests still opposing the bill -- even with the element they say most concerns them removed -- it's tough to envision coming up with the votes to pass such a compromise.
3) Which brings us to the bottom line: the vote to override the global warming veto is still on for July 11 and we need your help to win it. 3 things you can do to help in order of simplicity: Click here to email your Representatives and ask them to VOTE YES on the global warming override; Volunteer 2 hours to help call VPIRG members and ask them to support of the override by emailing drew@vpirg.org; Join us on July 11 at 9AM at the VT State House.
Thanks again for all you're doing, hope to see you soon.
Labels: activism, environment, global warming, legislation, nukes, Vermont Yankee
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