Young Pakistanis at UVM Absorb Lessons About Vermont

July 25th, 2007

During the month of July, 20 Fulbright scholars from Pakistan are studying at the University of Vermont before returning to complete degrees in electrical engineering, journalism and bioinformatics. A bright, funny, sophisticated bunch, they were selected from a pool of more than 1000 applicants for this Institute for Student Leaders. It is one of seven such programs funded by the U.S. State Department and hosted by American universities. On a recent Friday the group takes time from a packed schedule to talk to a reporter — in perfect English — about their impressions of Vermont and their lives back home.

What lessons has the group learned about democracy? “Transparency and accessibility,” says Mustafa Haroon, 19. He notes they are also impressed by the volunteer work Vermonters do, such as for VISTA and VPIRG. McMahon says that’s another aspect of democracy to take home. “It is very possible that, as a result of this visit, a number of them will look towards careers or avocations based on community service or development,” he says.


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VPIRG Targets Energy Bill Opponents

Essex Junction, Vermont - July 25, 2007

Vermont environmentalists are stepping up the pressure for expansion of energy efficiency programs. The legislature failed to over-ride the veto of Gov. Jim Douglas, R-Vermont, earlier this month. Now, advocates are targeting lawmakers who voted against the bill.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group is hitting the streets with flyers in favor of the global warming legislation. James Moore, a VPIRG energy expert, told Channel 3, "The folks that voted against the energy will were really siding with special monied interests in Vermont and not the public interest."

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Vermont Limits on Political Gifts in Limbo

July 15, 2007

MONTPELIER – It seems like everything is going Rob Roper's way these days. The 38-year-old chairman of the state's Republican Party is on a roll. Last year, the Vermont GOP won a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court, overturning the state's strictest-in-the-nation campaign finance law.

Paul Burns of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group:"The more wealthy individuals can give to candidates running for office the less the average individual's voice will be heard. Most Vermonters couldn't imagine giving even a $500 gift to someone running for office, much less thousands of dollars … we would be kidding ourselves to think that in exchange for giving large contributions like that you aren't getting something in return."

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Veto override effort fails

July 12, 2007

MONTPELIER - The emotions and rhetoric in the Statehouse on Wednesday were as hot as the weather outside as the global warming bill that took up much of this year’s lawmaking session melted away to nothing.

The Democrat-controlled House was unable to override Gov. James Douglas’ veto of the bill and a compromise version sent over from the Senate a few hours later was dead on arrival.

. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group even arranged for a rotating group of volunteers - because of the heat - to wear a polar bear costume and roam the halls.

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Political theater plays at Statehouse

July 12, 2007

MONTPELIER — It was too hot for the polar bear. By lunchtime, with temperatures near 80 degrees and high humidity, the woman inside the furry costume had to take it off.

That's just the point, said environmental advocates, who turned out en masse Wednesday at the Statehouse to lobby lawmakers to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of an energy bill.

"It's a preview of global warming," said Andrea Stander, a spokeswoman for Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

More than 300 people lined hallways, chambers and galleries to urge lawmakers to override the governor's veto of a bill aimed at reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions and offering residents help in conserving energy in their homes.

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Legislators sustain governor's veto on energy bill

July 12, 2007

MONTPELIER -- Democrats came up 12 votes short of overriding the governor's veto of an energy bill in the House on Wednesday, then couldn't quite pull off an effort to resurrect the bulk of the bill.

Together with a failed veto override of a campaign finance bill it meant two political victories for Republican Gov. Jim Douglas over the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Jennifer Quavelin of Burlington was among the sticker-clad supporters of the bill. She said she has followed the energy bill with interest and came at the urging of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. "I'm disappointed that our representatives chose to defend the interests of big business," she said.

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Campaign finance override fails by one vote

July 12, 2007

MONTPELIER -- Campaign finance reform legislation died Wednesday when the House fell one vote shy of the 98 needed to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto.

"It is a bitter disappointment to lose by a single vote," said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which has long championed restrictions on money in elections. "We consider it a temporary victory for fat cats and special interests."

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Special veto session to start in a stalemate

July 11, 2007

MONTPELIER – When lawmakers return to the Statehouse today for a one-day meeting they will be greeted by an energy activist in a polar bear costume — and by a decision about whether to make an energy efficiency bill into law over Gov. James Douglas' veto.

Both sides said Tuesday their opponents had failed to compromise enough to allow a new version of the measure to be crafted and made into law.

Meanwhile, advocates for the legislation, including AARP Vermont, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, continued to pressure for the passage of the bill despite the governor's veto. Advocates are said to have arranged for a volunteer wearing a polar bear costume to arrive at the Statehouse to highlight the impact of global warming pollution — including from heating fuel use — on the species.

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Energy debate draws big crowd

July 11, 2007

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - There's a circus atmosphere at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier today, complete with a person dressed as a polar bear trying to share a message about the dangers of global climate change.

House and Senate galleries are packed with Vermonters, many of them hoping that lawmakers gathered in special session will muster the two-thirds majorities to override Governor Jim Douglas veto of a bill designed to reduce emissions from and costs of heating homes and buildings.

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Democrats Fail to Override the Governor's Vetoes

July 11, 2007

On a steamy summer day, hundreds of activists swarmed the statehouse, hoping to persuade lawmakers to override the Governor's veto of an energy bill.

"I'm excited about the turnout," said Carol Butterfield from Barre, "It's wonderful I wish there were 100,000 people here.

"The bill would set up a new program to help Vermonters use less heating oil, by giving them money to weatherize their homes. Supporters say using less oil, will help fight global warming.

The closely watched vote, turned out not to be that close at all. The 49 Republicans stuck together and 11 Democrats went against their leadership. Along with one independent, the vote was 86 - 61, far short of the 2/3 needed.

"Disappointing," said activist Natalia Fajardo from Montpelier, "We weren't sure what was going to happen. We had worked really hard to make this pass."

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Veto session to decide campaign finance law

July 10, 2007

MONTPELIER – If the Legislature fails to override Gov. James Douglas' veto of the new campaign finance reform on Wednesday, Vermont politicians will find themselves operating under an outmoded law for a second election.

Democratic leaders in the Senate and the House both said late last week that they believe they have the votes – a two-thirds majority – to make the reform bill law without Douglas' support.

The campaign finance reform bill will be the Senate's first order of business during the July 11 veto session and President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said the chamber's Democrats will easily buck Douglas' veto.

"I expect we'll override the governor's veto and send the bill over to the House that morning," Shumlin said Thursday.

"It'll be a very close vote," said Paul Burns, the executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, an advocacy organization in Montpelier that lobbied hard for the passage of the bill this year. "But there are a number of things that give us hope."

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Sanders, McKibben preach the gospel of climate change

July 9, 2007

MONTPELIER — With "Live Earth" over and a Statehouse vote on a climate change bill ahead, more than 250 people packed a high school cafeteria Sunday for a town meeting on global warming, with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and author Bill McKibben telling them the movement to curtail it is gaining ground but far from adequate.

"This has to become a movement as passionate and willing to sacrifice as the civil rights movement a generation ago," said McKibben, the Ripton writer whose 1989 book "The End of Nature" was among the first to sound the climate change alarm.

"It is the largest threat to our civilization that we've ever faced," he said.

Both were fresh in the minds of speakers at the meeting, where Vermont Public Interest Research Group passed out fliers urging people to lobby their lawmakers to vote to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of the bill, which would expand an existing program that helps homeowners conserve energy use and pay for it by imposing a new tax on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

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Campaign Finance

July 9, 2007

Grips and grins, it's all part of campaigning. But those meet and greets are not just about collecting votes, they are also about raising cash. The money goes toward helping politicians get elected, but does it buy the donor influence?

"It is incredibly naive to suggest that money has no influence on politics in Vermont," said Paul Burns with the Vt. Public Interest Research Group.

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Decades-old energy policy issues come to head in debate

July 8, 2007

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gregory Sanford may have the worst case of deja vu in Vermont.

With energy policy at the center of statewide debate, the state archivist has been delving back into the records of former Gov. Thomas Salmon.

What he sees are echoes of the present: Skyrocketing gasoline prices and a sudden interest in wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.

Backers of the energy bill are vowing to keep up the pressure. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility will join AARP at a Statehouse news conference on Tuesday -- the eve of the special session -- to urge lawmakers to override the veto.

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Global warming rap

July 6, 2007

MONTPELIER – X10, the high school rappers who gave us the Web hit "802," have come out with their latest YouTube effort, dubbed "C02."

The new rap, which is filmed in a field in front of solar panels, stresses the problems of global warming and urges lawmakers to pass H.520, the Energy Bill.

"Instead of polluting use wind power," sing the trio. "Because not using oil makes big business sour." The rap also manages to rhyme in (mostly) topics such as methane and manure, the shortened ski season, efficiency, gasification and bike riding.

The video ends with a plug for VPIRG, which is also publicizing the video on its Web site.

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Moore's 'Sicko' promises to be an 'eye-opener'

June 28, 2007

MONTPELIER – The Savoy Theater is prepping for crowds.
Michael Moore's latest cherry bomb, "Sicko," an exposé of the U.S. health care system, opens Friday at the downtown Montpelier cinema for a run of at least three weeks.

Three years ago, when theater owners Rick Winston and his wife, Andrea Serota, showed Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, they were "so overwhelmed by the crowds" that they added a 4:30 p.m. show, Winston said.

The film is also being promoted locally by a coalition of advocacy organizations – Vermont Health Care for All, the Vermont Workers' Center and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. The groups plan to make as many as 1,000 free tickets available to uninsured and underinsured Vermonters.

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Sanders touts energy bill efficiency standards

June 22, 2007

Senator Bernie Sanders says a new energy bill just passed by the U.S. Senate will help save consumers money when it's fully implemented because the plan substantially raises fuel efficiency standards.

But the overall bill doesn't go as far as some renewable energy advocates were hoping.

James Moore is the energy director at the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. He's disappointed that the Senate rejected a plan to eliminate nearly $30 billion in special tax credits for the major oil companies.

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Lawyers offer one last argument in emissions case

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Adversaries wrapped up the first trial of California's greenhouse gas limits, filing final arguments over rules Vermont says would slow global warming -- and carmakers say would sweep pickup trucks and SUVs from car lots in 13 states.

The state of Vermont asked Judge William Sessions to uphold its adoption of California's rules...

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Douglas worried about campaign finance reform law

MONTPELIER, VT (2007-05-16)

(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says he has some serious concerns about a new campaign finance reform law that won approval in the final days of the legislative session. Douglas is worried that the law could be unconstitutional and might be overturned in court.
...
(Kinzel) Backers of the new law have a very different viewpoint. Paul Burns is the director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

(Burns) "We have seen instances in the recent past where the national political parties for instance gave more than one dollar out of every two to the major party candidates running for governor in this state. That's a tremendous amount of influence."

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Outreach workers to raise health insurance awareness

2007-05-15

(Host) A public-private partnership has been created to encourage Vermonters who don't have health insurance to sign up for one of the state's subsidized programs.

As part of the plan, outreach workers will be sent to communities throughout the state to help uninsured Vermonters better understand how the state programs work.

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Auto industry needs to be saved from itself

May 13, 2007
Editorial

The court case in which the auto industry is challenging Vermont's auto emission standards has unveiled the kind of Alice in Wonderland thinking that has decimated the industry in the United States.

The auto industry has challenged Vermont's decision to sign onto California's auto emission standards, which would force reductions in carbon dioxide emissions over the next decade. The absurdity of the industry's arguments was on full display in U.S. District Court in Burlington.

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IRV protects the will of the voters

May 12, 2007
Letter to the Editor

Several years ago I would have vehemently argued against Instant Runoff Voting, but today I am of the opposite view. Three things changed my mind: the 2002 lieutenant governor's race where the winner received only about 42 percent of the vote; the avoidance of substantive issue coverage by the media and many politicians; and finally Burlington's successful use of IRV in their mayoral election just last year. And now I've been given a fourth reason thanks to Mr. Leader ("Instant runoff voting is a travesty," letters, May 7).

Mr. Leader uses an example with "45 percent Republican, 25 percent [Democratic], and 30 percent 'Out There.'" What he misses is with those numbers it's the Democratic politician who has become the "out there" candidate, and the previously "out there" has obviously become much more mainstream. This is a salutary effect of IRV as it allows the will of the people to guide the political process rather than the process being guided by the offers of the current established parties.

I'm a values/issues voter. I've done volunteer work for the Vermont Republican Party, and I've tried working with the Vermont Democratic Party. I've spent time with the Vermont Grassroots Party, the Vermont Green Party, and I've driven a Progressive candidate around. Nowadays I primarily vote other than Democrat or Republican from experience, and not, as Mr. Leader would label me, out of reflex. As I stated at the beginning of this paragraph: I'm a values/issues voter.

IRV is not intended to protect the political parties of any color: red, blue, green, orange or whatnot. IRV is intended to protect the will of the voters, and the fine example Mr. Leader provided is yet one more reason to support IRV.

Rama O.A. Schneider
Williamstown

Douglas signs Prescription Drug Bill

June 12, 2007

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gov. Jim Douglas has signed into law a bill designed to give consumers and their doctors more information about prescription drugs and reduce costs by enabling people to use less expensive generic drugs.

"This law is the right prescription for patients and their doctors in Vermont," said Paul Burns, of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

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June 12, 2007

MONTPELIER -- Gov. Jim Douglas has ended speculation that he might veto one more of the 100 bills sent him this year by the Legislature. Monday he put his signature on a controversial prescription drug bill.

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Governor Douglas vetoes Campaign Finance Reform bill

Montpelier, Vermont - May 30, 2007

Douglas announced late Wednesday afternoon he is rejecting the new campaign finance bill -- saying it would have benefited special interests and disadvantaged political parties.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which worked on the bill, calls the veto shocking and astonishing. "It seems to me the Governor is using pure politics as his rationale to veto this moderate campaign finance legislation. This bill was an appropriate response...

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MONTPELIER, VT (2007-05-30)

(Host) Governor Jim Douglas has vetoed a campaign finance reform bill passed by the Legislature this session.

The campaign finance bill places limits on contributions by political parties to individual candidates and it places a cap on overall contributions by a single individual.

Paul Burns is the executive director of Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Burns says he was astonished by the governor's veto and doubts that the bill is vulnerable to a court challenge.

(Burns) "This bill is nothing like the law that was overturned by the Supreme Court last year. The bill that was just passed by the Legislature, by contrast, doesn't have the lowest limits in the country...

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May 31, 2007

MONTPELIER – Vermont may continue on without new campaign finance rules after Gov. James Douglas on Wednesday vetoed a bill establishing new limits. Lawmakers, who approved the measure, could try to override that decision at a veto session expected to be held this summer.

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Report: Vt. No. 1 in waste per person

Friday, May 18

BRATTLEBORO -- A report to be released today details how Vermonters are shouldering more than two times the national average of nuclear waste per person than elsewhere in the U.S.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group and Citizens Awareness Network, along with the Toxics Action Center, Nuclear Free Vermont and the Vermont Sierra Club, plan to release the report at 1 p.m. in Montpelier and in Brattleboro.

The report is designed to explain the full life-cycle costs of nuclear power and "debunk the notion that Vermont Yankee is a 'green' power source," wrote Drew Hudson, the field and communications director for the public interest group.

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May 19, 2007

MONTPELIER -- Activists released a report Friday indicating Vermont has more radioactive nuclear waste per capita than any state in the nation, which they said underscores the need for approval of a climate change bill that would tax the Vermont Yankee plant.

Activists and others say it's more likely the waste will remain at the nuclear energy plants where it's produced.

Drew Hudson of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group said that was justification enough for tripling a tax on Vermont Yankee for the electricity it produces, as the Legislature proposed in a climate change bill that Gov. Jim Douglas has said he'll veto.

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State seeks those who qualify for Catamount Health

May 16, 2007

MONTPELIER-- Clancy DeSmet and Carl Witke are two Vermonters who'd qualify for the state's new Catamount Health Plan.

Those with a stake in the health plan's success are revving up to find the other 30,000 Vermonters who could be helped by the plan.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization that is often at odds with the state over issues such as health care, is among those to join the coalition to help promote Catamount.

The reason: VPIRG wants to see Catamount expanded to offer more complete and affordable coverage to small businesses and would like Catamount to be a model for other states, Executive Director Paul Burns said. "First, we've got to have a program that's successful."

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Douglas worried about campaign finance reform law

MONTPELIER, VT (2007-05-16)

(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says he has some serious concerns about a new campaign finance reform law that won approval in the final days of the legislative session.

(Kinzel) Backers of the new law have a very different viewpoint. Paul Burns is the director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

(Burns) "We have seen instances in the recent past where the national political parties for instance gave more than one dollar out of every two to the major party candidates...

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Knock, knock: Catamount Health reps hitting streets

By David Gram, Associated Press Writer May 15, 2007 MONTPELIER, Vt. --If someone knocks on your door this summer and wants to talk about health insurance coverage, you may want to listen.

A host of groups -- including the state, Vermont Public Interest Research Group and the Bi-State Primary Care Association-- will be involved in an effort to train outreach workers encouraging enrollment in Catamount and the state's other public health programs, which are Medicaid and the Vermont Health Access Plan.

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Railway herbicides: A debate over safety

May 11, 2007

MONTPELIER – Spraying railroad corridors with herbicides hasn't caused much controversy in Vermont, but an almost identical practice was forbidden in Alaska earlier this year over fears the weed-killing chemicals might harm the state's ecosystem.

Vermont Railway Inc., has asked the Agency of Agriculture for a permit to spray herbicides around tracks that run through more than 60 Vermont towns.

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