News and Updates

NEWS RELEASE: Corporate Influence and Coke’s Win over the Public Good

Bottle Bill, Elections and Government Reform, News and Updates, Resources, Zero Waste / By

Minutes after debate over corporate influence, Coca-Cola wins out over public good in Senate Finance Committee  MONTPELIER, VT—Just minutes after an extended floor debate about the possible influence of corporate contributions, the Senate Finance Committee opted against a publicly-supported proposal to have the state keep an estimated $1-3 million per year in unclaimed Bottle Bill …

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Vermont’s Energy Choices: Old Dirty Problems, Clean Energy Solutions

Climate & Energy, News and Updates / By

Doing our part for clean energy and the climate means more than changing a light bulb.  Vermonters have choices to make. •    We could to ask others to generate most of our power for us, often relying on dirty energy sources like coal, oil, fracked gas or nuclear power. •    Or we could take responsibility …

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Senate to vote on corporate cash and campaign finance

Elections and Government Reform, News and Updates / By

Corporations are not people. But for more than 100 years, federal law has prohibited corporations from contributing directly to candidates running for federal office. Here in Vermont, though, the law treats corporations just like you or me. Your help could fix the problem, but we need to get moving fast. Ask your senator(s) to vote …

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Vermont Co-ops Unanimously Support GMO Labeling Legislation

Consumer Protection, News and Updates / By

Today, representatives from co-ops across the state of Vermont gathered at the Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier to announce their unified support for GMO labeling legislation currently under consideration in the State House. The co-ops are joined by 6,811 Vermonters and 175 farms and businesses from across the state who have signed on in support …

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VPIRG celebrates a win for fair elections!

Elections and Government Reform, News and Updates, Victories / By

On Tuesday, we sent out an email blast asking our members to urge the Senate to seize their one opportunity to pass commonsense rules on money in politics. We’d caught wind that some state senators were playing political games with this important legislation, and we weren’t about to stand by and watch. Guess what? Hundreds of …

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Pulling Back the Curtain on Denied Claims

Health Care, News and Updates / By

Last week, VPIRG Consumer Protection Advocate Falko Schilling presented the House Health Care Committee with one of the first comprehensive overviews of insurance claims denials in Vermont. The information was gathered from new reporting required by VPIRG backed legislation passed by the legislature last year. The new law pulls back the curtain on insurance claim …

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Act Now: Curb the influence of money in politics!

Elections and Government Reform, News and Updates / By

As the saying goes, foxes don’t make the best guards for the chicken coop.  That logic may also apply when it comes to politicians regulating money in politics. Burlington Free Press political reporter Terri Hallenbeck wrote a story last week that concluded with this statement: “It struck me that elected officials are the last people …

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News Release: Vermont leads nation in collecting discarded mercury thermostats

Bottle Bill, News and Updates, Resources, Toxics & Environmental Health, Zero Waste / By

Vermont leads nation in collecting discarded mercury thermostats Manufacturer-led recycling programs found to be ineffective in most other states Montpelier, VT – While a manufacturer-run program for collecting mercury thermostats is failing to keep the toxic heavy metal out of the trash—and the environment—in most states, Vermont leads the nation in per capita collection rates, …

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Nation’s strongest bill to on toxic flame retardants passes Senate…unanimously!

News and Updates, Toxics & Environmental Health, Victories / By

NEWS RELEASE: Vermont Senate votes unanimously to ban toxic flame retardant chemicals March 29, 2013 Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Senate voted unanimously in support of legislation to ban toxic and ineffective flame retardant chemicals (S.81, vote 28-0-2). Chlorinated Tris, a chemical targeted in the bill, was banned from children’s pajamas in the 1970s because it …

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