( – promoted by odum)
No matter who you’re supporting in the upcoming governor’s race, I think we can all agree it’s going to be a spirited exercise in democracy.
This Saturday is the first chance you’ll get to pin them down on the issues facing our state. Five of the six announced (or nearly announced) candidates* will be at this Saturday’s Environmental Action Conference in Randolph.
Full disclosure: my day job is organizing for VPIRG, one of the groups putting the conference on. That being said, it’s not every day you get five Vermont gubernatorial candidates in a room a year out from an election.
To register go to vtenvironmentalaction.org.
Over 250 environmental activists attend this annual event – the largest grassroots training of its kind in Vermont. In addition to skills and issue workshops on everything from Vermont Yankee to public speaking to zero waste, this year you will have the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of many of the Vermont gubernatorial candidates. Senator Susan Bartlett, Matt Dunne, Secretary Deb Markowitz, Senator Doug Racine*, and Senator Peter Shumlin will each be in attendance to discuss their views on a wide range of environmental, energy, and conservation issues.
You will also have the chance to ask the candidates questions about issues that you think are critically important. What environmental issues do you want our next Governor to prioritize? Vermont Yankee? Renewable energy? Climate change? Land conservation? Water quality? Zero waste?
The Conference is being put on by the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Toxics Action Center, VLCV, VNRC, Vermont Tech and VPIRG, and it’s a great opportunity to get plugged into the most pressing environmental campaigns happening around the state.
*Senator Racine is unable to attend and will represented by Pat Parenteau
ask each whether he/she will fight hard to properly fund the “all fuels efficiency” program
Douglas was opposed because it required spending money (even though the payback is huge); it would extend the Efficiency VT model to heating fuels; it would be a long-term investment in building efficiency & equipment; it would create jobs; it would reduce our reliance on imported fuels; it would reduce GHG; it was estimated to save residents & businesses almost $500 million over 10 years
it’s a complete no-brainer
so who will step up and say, “yes, I think that makes sense and we need to start today”?
my first question: what are your thoughts regarding corporate personhood?
I would ask them for a short list of people they would like to slot in the following positions:
Commissioner of
Corrections
Mental Health
Human Resources
Transportation
Education
Finance
Labor
Add whoever you want. I just want to know how much thought these candidates have actually given to the people they will choose to get Vermont out of this quagmire.
After the slop Douglas has put in place in some of these positions, it’s a case of buyer beware.
and what his intentions were to do further to it. My number one question for all of the candidates would be will you seek to strengthen Act 250 and the citizen access to the process that it provides; or will you attempt to weaken it to favor developers’ interests? One of the things that has been singled out as a reason why Vermont has not suffered so profoundly from the real estate bubble, is the “brakes” applied by Act 250 to the development process. Douglas worked through his entire administration to pick away at Act 250 and release those safety brakes.