Commission on Climate Change releases detailed plan

Friday October 26, 2007
Montpelier, Vt.

(Host) After almost two years of work, the Governor's Commission on Climate Change has laid out a detailed plan for how Vermont can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% in five years.

The commission met today for the final time and handed its report to Governor Jim Douglas. The panel's recommendations range from expanding energy conservation programs to creating a center for climate change within state government.

James Moore is an energy specialist with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. He says the technical data in the report shows that the most cost-effective way to cut greenhouse gas pollution is by reducing energy demand.

(Moore) "Where the rubber is going to meet the road is clearly if the governor is going to take the commission's recommendations to heart, he needs to change his tune, support more energy efficiency...

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VPIRG Anniversary

(Published 10.24.07)

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group celebrated its 35th anniversary Saturday evening at Shelburne Farms. Lots of white hair in attendance, as several original VPIRGers from the 1970s were on hand, including Scott Skinner, the first executive director back in 1972, when even Ralph Nader lacked a gray hair in his head.

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VPIRG's 35th Anniversary, Shelburne Farms

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS

Newsroom / Archives

VPIRG's 35th Anniversary, Shelburne Farms -- 10/20/2007

Bernie spoke about the importance of building a grassroots movement at VPIRG's 35th Year Anniversary gathering at Shelburne Farms this past weekend. Here Bernie is pictured with VPIRG Executive Director, Paul Burns.

Time for big (and small) thinking on global warming

October 18, 2007

By Drew Hudson, VPIRG director of field and communications

It's about the world our grandkids – and theirs – will inherit.

We face an enormous challenge: Our planet is heating up, and the effects will be devastating unless we take serious action. It is our responsibility to act now, while we still have the ability to avoid the worst effects of global warming, such as major increases in sea level that would displace millions of people worldwide and mass species extinctions.

This fall, for the first time in history, Congress is getting serious about global warming. The choice they make – whether to take the bold action we need or to try to pass off half-measures as progress – will have long-lasting effects.

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Nuke pollsters blanket state living by plants, NEI finds

Saturday, October 13

BRATTLEBORO -- People who live near a nuclear power plant who are comfortable with it being in their backyard outnumber those who are not so enamored of nuclear energy by a ratio of nearly 15 to one.

But, cautioned one of the people who conducted a survey on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute, that's a nationwide attitude and is not representative of any single nuclear power plant in the country.

The Nuclear Energy Institute is a public information resource funded by the nuclear power industry.

People in the area have also received phone calls from other pollsters, including the state's Department of Public Service and Charlton Research. A spokesman for Vermont Yankee confirmed Entergy, which owns and operates the power plant, had commissioned the Charlton survey. A call to Charlton Research was not returned for comment.

Jim Matteau, the executive director of the Windham Regional Council and a member of an advisory committee that was established to review the questions in the DPS survey, said Entergy's claim that the timing of the surveys is just coincidence "is complete bull."

"For (Entergy) to be doing a survey at the same time as the state is not only trying to shift public opinion in their favor, but also to confuse the whole thing," he said. "Entergy should be ashamed of the survey it has under way."

The Department of Public Service's survey is being conducted by that agency with the help of pollsters from the University of Texas and Stanford University. The poll advisory committee included representatives from the utilities, the state's regulatory assistance project, alternative energy providers, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and the Windham Regional Commission.

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Residents say Entergy poll biased

October 12, 2007

MONTPELIER — A telephone survey apparently done this week on behalf of the Vermont Yankee plant's parent company, Entergy Nuclear, has irked some Vermonters who got the calls. They complained that the questions were slanted and designed more to influence their opinions than gauge them.

Drew Hudson, field director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group which advocates for the use of renewable energy like wind power, said the poll may have been a response to opposition to nuclear power at the first public engagement hearing held in St. Johnsbury last week.

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Report cites clean water violations

October 12, 2007

Thirty-one times in 2005, sewage treatment facilities in Vermont reported that they'd exceeded their federal clean water permits, an indication that such facilities warrant more attention, according to authors of a report issued Thursday.

A Vermont Public Interest Research Group study, part of a national look at the Clean Water Act as the federal waterway pollution law nears its 35th anniversary, found that 51.5 percent of Vermont's industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution...

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Report Assesses Clean Water Compliance

WAMC News

Pat Bradley

MONTPELIER, VT (2007-10-12) The Vermont Public Interest Research Group marked the 35th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act by releasing a report assessing compliance with the law. The group claims that more than half of Vermont's industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution into the state's waters than they were supposed to in 2005.

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Report: Industrial, municipal facilities still polluting

Thursday October 11, 2007

More than half of Vermont's industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution into the state's water than they were allowed in 2005.

The Vermont Public Interest Research Group marked the 35th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act by releasing a report that says 17 facilities in Vermont exceeded their discharge limits more than 30 times in 2005. The report says that on average, Vermont facilities exceeded their Clean Water Act permits by more than nine times the legal limit.

The conclusions were based on information obtained using the Freedom of Information Act.

MY TURN: Finance reform is no boondoggle

By Kenneth W. Atkins
October 8, 2007

When I first saw Mr. Rob Roper's article (My Turn: "Election year politicking begins," Sept. 8), I hoped he was writing to help two parties reach consensus on a bill of importance. Unfortunately, this was nothing but a blatant attempt to politicize S 164. Mr. Roper's modifiers, "irresponsible, flagrantly, inexplicably, cavalier, boondoggle and jigger" are hardly words used to unify two parties. On the contrary, these are describes used to create antagonism. Is Mr. Roper part of the solution or is he trying to create problems?

Here are the facts and events that occurred during the passage of H 164:

The ACLU, VPIRG, Right to Life, Attorney General's Office, Secretary of State's Office, and the chairs of the three major political parties were all present. Everyone was allowed and encouraged to participate.

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Delegation hammers SCHIP veto

October 4, 2007

MONTPELIER — The veto by President Bush of a bill continuing and expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program will have a serious impact on Vermont, according to the state's three-member congressional delegation and other officials.

The veto will mean the end of a program that provides insurance coverage to 6 million children in the country and prevents 4 million more from being added to it.

"This isn't the time for a wait-and-see approach or to merely consider taking action," said Stefanie Sidortsova, who watches health care policy for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. "Gov. Douglas needs to step up to the plate for Vermont's children, especially since it appears his designated lobbyist in D.C. has struck out with the Bush administration. It is time for the governor to take some bold action."

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Former Gov. Salmon calls for new power contracts

Former governor warns state must act on power needs





October 2, 2007
MONTPELIER, Vt. --Former Gov. Tom Salmon is calling on the state to push for the re-licensing of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant and work toward a new long-term contract with Hydro-Quebec.

James Moore of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group disagreed with Salmon's assessment of the need for Vermont Yankee."A number of studies have recently shown that Vermont's economic future would be stronger without reliance on Vermont Yankee," said Moore. "The Vermont Council on Rural Development recently outlined how, relying on in-state renewable resources will generate more than enough electricity as well as 6,000 Vermont-based jobs. Then we are not relying on an aging, dirty facility."

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