Late last week, Vermont’s health benefits exchange plan was approved by the federal government. This means that Vermont with join nineteen other states who have been given the green light to proceed with implementing their insurance exchanges. The state will now move full steam ahead in creating the Vermont Health Connect web portal, where individuals …
In December VPIRG sent an update to its members letting them know about a proposed 15% rate increase by MVP Health Care on their individually insured consumers. Not only was MVP asking for a 15% increase, but they proposed to use approximately a third of patient’s premium dollars to pay for administrative expenses and profits. …
For Immediate Release: January 2, 2013 MONTPELIER, VT – Today President Obama will sign into law a bill that extends key tax credits for wind power and averts the ‘fiscal cliff.’ The main federal incentives for wind power – the renewable energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the offshore wind Investment Tax Credit (ITC) – …
President Obama, Congress Save Wind Power in Fiscal Cliff Agreement Read More »
The VT Right to Know GMOs coalition is at it again, working to give Vermonters the information we deserve by requiring the labeling of genetically engineered food products sold at retail outlets in the state of Vermont. Last year, our petition gathered over 6000 signatures across the United States, though most were from Vermont. On …
VPIRG is mourning the loss of a true environmental champion – Joan Mulhern. Many Vermonters became familiar with Joan during her years as an advocate for VPIRG during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In fact, she was hired by VPIRG in 1985 to run our first summer canvass.
Vermont’s grassroots effort to pass the nation’s first law requiring labeling of foods made with genetically engineered ingredients (also known as GMOs or genetically modified organisms) is picking up where it left off when the Vermont Legislature adjourned in May. When the new Legislature convenes in early January, GMO labeling legislation will again be introduced …
Back to the State House: Vermont Continues the Fight to Label GMO Foods Read More »
The Bottle Bill is Vermont’s most successful recycling program, achieving more than double the recycling rate of any other program in the state. Over the past 40 years, the number of containers that have been recycled through the Bottle Bill they would fill the Empire State Building more than 3 times over. VPIRG will be …
VPIRG Launches Bigger Better Bottle Bill Activist Toolkit Read More »
Inspired by the work of Bill McKibben and 350.org, and in response to the overwhelming devastation brought on by global warming as highlighted by Super Storm Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene, VPIRG has officially begun a campaign aimed at divesting the Vermont State Pension Funds from fossil fuel companies. Working in collaboration with student groups …
VPIRG Calls on State to Divest from Fossil Fuels Read More »
Three months after a plan to switch much of Montpelier’s downtown from oil to wood heat got a new lease on life, the Montpelier City Council cast a final vote on the project last night. Up for debate was whether to pump the extra heat from an upgraded wood fired boiler run by the state to Montpelier’s municipal buildings and local businesses. The City Council’s decision to build the full project rather than a shorter line that wouldn’t reach the business district or municipal buildings was well received by the attending crowd.
Here at VPIRG, we understand that rising health care costs are taking their toll on family budgets, with no end in sight. However, we are lucky enough to live in a state that allows us to do something about it. The process is called rate review, and Vermont’s rate review program is one of the …
