Not long ago GMD front pager asked Anybody in Montpelier know Ellie Light?
Now we know …
Steward, 51, is a traveling health care worker based in Frazier Park, California. He admitted to being the author of letters published in dozens of newspapers across the country — sent with fake addresses from a variety of locations — under the name “Ellie Light.”
One of the absolute high points of my legal career was the defense of the Winooski 44. In 1984, peace activists occupied the offices of Senator Robert Stafford in Winooski to protest U.S. policy in El Salvador and Nicaragua. They were arrested and charged with unlawful trespass, and in November of that year 26 of those protestors were tried before a jury of their peers. I was fortunate to be one of the eight Vermont lawyers who represented the defendants.
The defense was necessity: the doctrine that a technical violation of the law can be justified if it was undertaken to prevent a greater harm, which in this case was the Reagan administration's support for death squads in El Salvador and contra mercenaries in Nicaragua to oppress the people. In addition to the moral authority of the defendants, witnesses for the defense included former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Howard Zinn.
When I met Dr. Zinn he was very gracious and willing to be of assistance. His testimony was eloquent, and fleshed out the themes of his academic career and the deeply American values of political protest:
Well, social movements all through American history, including the current one dealing with problems in Central America, all use a variety of tactics. Their basic intention is to arouse public opinion. The idea is to try to get the public, which they usually believe has not been told the whole truth by the press or the government, aroused about an issue. They want to get information to the public. They want to appeal to the people who have not been paying attention to this issue. And so they use a variety of tactics which have been classic in American tradition, tactics of demonstration, tactics of petition, tactics of civil disobedience.
By civil disobedience I mean the technical violation of law in order to try to bring to public attention some very powerful issue, some very fundamental principle. This is an approach which goes back to the American Revolutionary period, to the movements of that time when, as most everybody knows who has learned something about the American Revolution, the colonists in New England used a variety of tactics which were technically outside the law, but which the colonists believed fit in with what they called a higher law. When they went onto the property of stamp tax collectors and destroyed the stamps, when they violated property lines in various ways in order to bring the attention of people to the abuses of the British King and Parliament, they were appealing to fundamental principles of government which they then expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence was really the summing up of what is the relationship between people and government. The basic idea of the Declaration was that goverment derived its power from people. People set up governments. People set them up for certain purposes, and the purposes were to do something for people to guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Democracy is not just voting. Democracy is not just writing letters to congressmen. Democracy in America has always meant people getting together, meeting, petitioning, demonstrating, going out in the street; yes, sitting in, trespassing, doing various acts of nonvioolent, technical disobedience to arouse large numbers of people.
The way civil disobedience works is that it affects the public. It affects the majority of the people. It does more than affect one senator. It affects many senators. It affects many congressmen. It affects the President. It affects the military leaders of the country because what a government needs most of all when it carries out its foreign policy is legitimacy.
As I say, representing the Vermonters standing up for the people of El Salvador and Nicaragua in the face of a hostile government, and hearing the Vermont jury pronounce them not guilty, was one of the highlights of my legal career, and working with Howard Zinn to present his testimony was a great pleasure. While right-wingers attacked him for his views, Dr. Zinn expressed some of the most fundamental values of American democracy, and I was proud to know him, however briefly.
Howard Zinn died on January 27 at the age of 87. He will be missed by all of us who value justice and freedom.
Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.
McDonald’s is hoping to change the way consumers view fast food. In partnership with the E-CO2 Project, an independent U.K. consulting firm, the company is launching a three-year study to assess methane production from beef cows in the United Kingdom, as well as ways to reduce livestock production of the greenhouse gas.
A burger joint famous for drive-thru windows and Happy Meals is certainly not the first business that comes to mind when one thinks about environmental sustainability. But with increasing mainstream awareness of the negative consequences of beef production for both human health and the environment, the fast-food giant is looking to reposition itself as leader of green business models.
McDonald’s purchases beef from more than 16,000 British and Irish farmers, who raise their cattle in large feedlots. The methane gas produced by livestock accounts for an estimated 4 percent of the U.K.’s total carbon emissions. McDonald’s hopes that the results of the study will help guide efforts to reduce suppliers’ methane production. The initiative also will likely help “green” the corporation’s image in the minds of an increasingly environmentally conscious public.
Way back in July of last year, we posted a diary entitled Primary voters: What would you ask the candidates?. There were a lot of great suggestions in the comments, as well as a few that came over email.
If you all thought that the whole idea had fallen victim to GMD short attention spans, I’m happy to say that once it became clear who the candidates in the Democratic primary were going to be, we got to work. We took the questions we did receive, reviewed them (massaging or combining them when appropriate) and sent them off to Senators Bartlett, Racine & Shumlin, Secretary of State Markowitz and former Senator Dunne. Last night, we received their responses.
There is a lot of material covered in these (returned questionnaires are from 7-14 pages long), so we’re going to trickle out the responses over the course of the week. The first set of responses are contained in the diary below.
A note on formatting before clicking on the extended entry. The questions were presented under general categories. Some candidates’ responded question by question. Other times candidates would take all the questions under a given category and write a collective response encompassing all the questions. In some categories, candidates would respond by combining some questions and not others.
As such, the questionnaires are presented as follows: under each category, all the questions we asked are listed as bullets. At the end of each category, the candidates’ complete answers are presented (in alphabetical order by candidate). If the candidate answered each specific question, their answers are numbered accordingly. If their answers are not numbered, that indicates a generalized response to all the questions collectively.
So please follow us below the flip for the candidates’ responses to the GMD questionnaire categories ENERGY and JOBS & ECONOMY. Then come back on Wednesday and again on Friday for questions on a wide variety of other topics. (On deck for Wednesday, responses to questions on permitting, agriculture, health care and education)
ENERGY
- What are the long and short term priorities that Vermont’s next Governor must take to protect Vermont’s energy future and to protecting Vermont’s rate payers relative to sourcing the State’s energy? What steps will you take to move Vermont toward an efficient grid system that encourages innovative energy use by consumers and facilitates innovative energy production by both small and large renewable sources?
- What will you do help make Vermont capable of producing most of the energy it needs?
- What is your stand on closing the aging and deteriorating Entergy nuclear power plant?
Under what conditions would you consider keeping it open?
If you would consider keeping it open, what is the longest period you can envision this deteriorating liability to continue its operation?- With the Douglas/Dubie administration’s assistance, Entergy has irresponsibly been allowed to dismiss a clean-up liability, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Currently, the clean up liability is on the backs of Vermont rate-payers. Clean up liability for Entergy is a goal, but in the meantime, Vermont rate payers own that problem. What can and will you do to require Entergy to assume its clean up responsibility, fully fund its neglected decommissioning fund and protect Vermonters from the financial consequences of Entergy’s inability to clean up its Vernon site and store/dispose of its nuclear waste?
SUSAN BARTLETT:
1. & 2. In the short term:
In the long term:
3. With the developments of the last few weeks, I think it is impossible to see a path in which Vermont Yankee will be allowed to remain open.
4. The legislature has twice passed a bill making it clear that in the original sales deal with Entergy, they were responsible for the clean up. I voted for the bill twice, and as Governor would sign that bill if sent to my desk.
MATT DUNNE:
Vermont’s energy future is a critical challenge for the next Governor in both the short and long term.
Since I ran statewide in 2006, I have been calling for the organized decommissioning of Vermont Yankee in 2012 as planned. Today, with evidence that Entergy officials misled regulators and that the facility is leaking radioactive waste into our groundwater, the debate should end. We now need to move quickly to transition workers to new jobs, hold Entergy fully accountable, and begin to replace the electricity created at VY with in-state renewable sources and improved energy efficiency. We owe it to all ratepayers to take action now in order to avoid disruptions and price volatility.
My administration will do everything possible to hold Entergy, as a corporation, accountable for the complete and total cleanup of the Vernon site. Now that there appears to be radioactive contamination, my understanding is that the EPA will get involved and Entergy will be fully liable, especially when it is clear that they misled regulators. I look forward to working with the Attorney General and the federal government to protect the health of Vermonters and our environment.
As Governor I will initiate the following for a strong energy future:
DEB MARKOWITZ:
1. & 2. Vermont is at an energy crossroads: contracts for two-thirds of Vermont’s electricity are expiring within five years; we have an aging nuclear plant within our borders; because of our rural communities Vermonters use more gas for driving than average Americans. In addition, Vermont has some of the oldest and least energy efficient housing stock in the country with long heating seasons. We send over $2 billion out of state despite these high energy needs because we only support 10 percent of our energy from local production.
As Governor I will provide the strong leadership we need to ensure that we have access to clean, safe, secure, and affordable energy today into the future.
I will create a long-term plan to generate clean energy in Vermont to fuel the state far into the future. For the short-term, I will invest in energy efficiency, removing barriers for Vermonters to retrofit their homes and businesses. This is a win-win approach as investments in efficiency create jobs, save Vermont families and businesses money on heat and electric bills and reduce Vermont’s contribution to global warming. New recovery act investments in a smart grid will allow Vermont families and businesses to monitor their own energy use. This will be a great way to save money and reduce our need for new energy investments.
I will harness the efforts of our Federal delegation to ensure that Vermont leads the nation in the manufacture and use of new energy technologies. Vermont already has some of the fastest growing renewable energy businesses in the country. I am a strong supporter of community wind projects, hydropower, solar, biomass and geothermal energy production. As Governor I will review our regulatory process to ensure that renewable energy projects get a fair hearing and fast results.
We also have a great opportunity to bring low cost power to Vermont from Hydro-Quebec. Hydro-Quebec wants to bring its power to the rest of New England and we already have transmission lines in place that could be upgraded to serve this purpose in exchange for a long term low cost power contract.
As Governor I will find creative solutions to meet public transportation needs of Vermonters and I will support investments in rail to help our businesses get their goods to market more efficiently and to provide more transportation options for Vermonters. We must make it a priority to get trains running to Burlington once again.
New energy investments in Vermont cannot happen overnight. But they will not happen at all without a governor who commits to the strategy we will know is essential to a cleaner planet, a growing economy and a more secure world. Tackling Vermont’s energy future will require creative collaborations among public officials, businesses, citizen groups, environmentalists and others. I will bring the stakeholders to the table and generate a plan that will succeed.
3. Vermont Yankee should not be relicensed. Last week’s news of radioactive leaks from Vermont Yankee brings into clear focus the safety risks we cannot afford to take with our aging nuclear plant. Job creation and retention is critical for Vermont, but safety must be our first concern.
It seems like every few months there is a news story about a mishap at the plant – collapsing cooling towers, failure to monitor high level radioactive waste, leaks of radioactive steam. Entergy officials even gave inaccurate information under oath to the Vermont Public Service Board about underground pipes now leaking the radioactive isotope tritium into groundwater flowing into the Connecticut River. This raises serious questions about trust in Entergy’s representations about the plant’s safety and its ability to operate for an additional twenty years.
We should all urge the legislature to vote no and vote now!
4. In addition to having grave concerns about the safety of Vermont Yankee I am opposed to the proposed spin off company – Enexus. While I could see how it might be attractive to Entergy to create an under-resourced holding company for its aging nuclear power plants I do not see how this could benefit Vermont ratepayers. We must keep in mind that the decommissioning fund has a current shortfall of almost $600 million (and this is without taking into account the increased costs of clean up that will result from the most recent tritium leaks) so we must take appropriate steps to protect Vermont ratepayers.
As governor I will ensure that there is proper Federal oversight and that clean up and decommissioning of Vermont Yankee does not cost Vermonters a dime. The Agency of Natural Resources and the Health Department will also be involved to ensure that cool down and clean up are conducted in ways that protect the health and safety of Vermonters and our environment.
DOUG RACINE:
How Vermont will meet its future energy demands will be one of the most critical questions facing Vermonters in the coming years. I am opposed to the continued operation of Vermont Yankee after 2012. This plant should be shut down as planned in 2012 – for financial and moral reasons. Financially, Entergy has given no guarantees that they will pay the costs of either decommissioning the plant or storing the nuclear waste materials, and I have no confidence we won’t get stuck with those bills. Morally, I simply do not think it is right to saddle our grandchildren, their grandchildren and generations of Vermonters to come with the costs of decommissioning and storing our nuclear waste. We don’t have a solution for it, and we must stop producing more.
It would be irresponsible to call for the closing of Vermont Yankee without acknowledging the void it will leave behind. Yankee supplies approximately 1/3 of the state’s power. We can fill that gap through a combination of conservation, improved efficiency and new, renewable sources of power. First, we need to reduce our energy demand by promoting efficiency in all aspects of our lives. We need stronger incentives for the construction of more efficient homes and businesses. As a state, we should be investing in smart grid and smart metering technology, so that we can all be better informed and wiser about our energy use.
At the same time we focus on our efficiency, as Governor I will be a strong supporter of programs to encourage the development and use of renewable energy sources. I support both wind and solar power development, as well as biomass. Local communities that choose to host these sources of power should benefit first. Solar and wind power are safe, clean, and increasingly reliable sources of power, and I believe Vermont should lead the rest of the nation in the percentage of its power supply coming from these renewable sources.
PETER SHUMLIN:
1. The next governor must find a way to replace Vermont Yankee’s power with affordable, clean energy. How do we do it? The answer is clear when you consider what our region has to offer. The New England ISO’s 2008 forecast demonstrates that the region will have nearly twice the capacity necessary to meet the demand of the six New England states now and in the years to come. There is a diverse menu of options available, including natural gas, hydro, wind, solar, biomass and accelerated energy efficiency.
Vermont Yankee delivers just 2 percent of New England’s power. Natural gas, hydroelectric power and other renewable energy sources offer reliable, well-priced options. Vermont must take full advantage of these regional options in the short term, while aggressively developing local sources of renewable power that will ensure a stable and sustainable energy supply into the future.
In the long term, we need leadership that will help Vermont become a leader in energy efficiency and renewable energy development – something we are uniquely positioned to do. We are home to some of the leading clean energy entrepreneurs. We have Vermonters who are hungry for a new direction, including more than 90 community energy groups across the state that are undertaking creative energy-saving and renewable generating projects. We have a congressional delegation that is helping our communities access the funds they need. Combine this with more smart grid technology and Vermont is well on its way to showing the world that the United States can wean itself from dirty, dwindling and expensive fossil fuels and realize an energy future based on clean, local, renewable energy supplies.
2. As governor, I will promote a strong, renewable energy economy in Vermont that takes into account the values and priorities of our communities and doesn’t compromise our natural resources. Responsibly developing our own renewable energy generation is a critical component to Vermont’s successful economic development. It will grow businesses, create well paying jobs, save Vermonters money and get us off our addiction to oil.
As governor, I will ensure that our utilities and municipalities have the means to develop our local energy future. One of the biggest hurdles renewable energy faces is the upfront cost. We should not rely on Wall Street to finance our clean energy future when we have the local will and resources to create the future we want to leave for the next generation of Vermonters.
3. Vermont Yankee should not be relicensed to operate beyond 2012. First, the corporate spin-off from our current well-financed owner, Entergy, to the debt-ridden shell corporation, Enexus, is fiscally irresponsible and extremely unwise. Second, the decommissioning fund shortfall of almost $600 million leaves Vermont taxpayers on the hook to clean up the plant and its nuclear waste. Third, the price offered by Enexus (6.1 cents) for only 115MV, is a nearly 50 percent increase over our current price (4.2 cents), and would force Vermonters to pay more for less power.
4. Entergy must not be allowed to spin Vermont Yankee off to Enexus. If approved, the spin-off will leave the plant and the decommissioning fund in the hands of a debt ridden, highly leveraged, out of state company.
The recent news that Vermont Yankee is leaking radioactive material makes the decommissioning question even more concerning. While we do not know the extent of the radioactive contamination, it could potentially double the costs of decommissioning. While Governor Douglas and Lt. Governor Dubie have asked the Department of Public Service to postpone its support for the spin-off, Speaker Shap Smith and I have made it clear that postponing support is not enough – the department should oppose the spin-off proposal.
JOBS & ECONOMY:
- How do you propose to further enhance and support existing and start up companies and the small businesses?
- What is your top priority to improve the work & employment conditions for Vermont workers and how would you strengthen the job market and job opportunities for Vermonters as well as the job creation opportunities of Vermont businesses.
- What changes would you make, if any, to the current system of economic incentives and tax breaks in our state for businesses and individuals?
SUSAN BARTLETT:
Business creates jobs. State government can only create the environment to make it easier. I would fund all of the regional development corporations so they could do their job – creating jobs in their region of the state.
The next most important issue for small businesses is access to capitol. While our Vermont banks have money to lend and their commercial lending is growing, the increased regulation from DC is making it harder and harder for them to lend to small, new businesses.
We need to fund the Seed Capital program that we began last year and we need to make sure that VEDA (Vermont Economic Development Authority) is well-funded. They currently can lend to small businesses and they can make agricultural loans that I believe will become more and more important as we “grow” our agricultural economy.
We have in place a very good job-training program that is always over-subscribed by the business community. It is important to make sure that working Vermonters have access to the job training they need to move up the jobs skills ladder.
I believe that the performance-based tax credits like the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive works. I understand that many folks don’t believe in tax credits, I happen to believe that we have developed a transparent and accountable credit that can work well.
I believe that encouraging the model of having employees own their business is well worth pursuing, we know that those jobs will stay in Vermont.
I have written several articles that relate to fostering an environment where Vermonters create, attain and keep good jobs. It is my number one focus.
http://www.bartlettforgovernor…
http://www.bartlettforgovernor…
http://www.bartlettforgovernor…
http://www.bartlettforgovernor…
http://www.bartlettforgovernor…
MATT DUNNE:
Jobs and economic development must be the top priority of the next administration. Vermont has always been at its best as an innovation state, whether it was machine tool in Springfield, scales in St. Johnsbury, or JogBras and ice cream in Burlington. My ancestors started one of the first kit-home manufacturing businesses in the Northeast Kingdom and a veneer manufacturing plant that sold wood products to the world. I’ve had the experiences of helping to grow an $18.5 million software company, Logic Associates in Wilder, Vermont. I’ve helped create jobs through the AmeriCorps*VISTA microenterprise initiatives. More recently, in my work for Google, I have seen the power of innovation on job creation in many communities. My priorities for job creation would be the following:
Economic activities and investments in my administration will be held to a strong return on investment measurement. All incentives currently in place will be reviewed from scratch to ensure we are effectively using our resources in job creation.
In the workforce, my administration’s Department of Labor will be empowered to undertake enforcement of workers comp and employment rules. We currently do not have a robust process for enforcing laws preventing abuses on either the worker or employer side. The state should be sure that state contracts go to contractors who provide insurance and do not abuse contractor laws.
DEB MARKOWITZ:
1. It has been too long since Vermont’s leaders were as positive about our state’s future as our people always have been. As governor I will be the chief marketing officer for our state. Vermont is a great place to do business and no one in state government, especially the governor should say any differently.
Vermont has spent a lot of economic development effort and money trying to find large, out-of-state companies willing to relocate and create jobs in Vermont. This strategy was largely unsuccessful. To create jobs and rebuild our economy, we need to concentrate on Vermont businesses already here and ready to expand in the right environment. Many small businesses I talk to need capital to get them through these tough times or to allow them to make the strategic investments they need to expand.
Good roads and safe bridges remain important infrastructure but small businesses of today also need access to high speed internet. Even a small bed and breakfast needs a website and on line reservations in order to successfully compete in today’s economy. The private sector has not gotten the job done, despite our current governor’s promise to get high speed internet to every home by 2007. As governor I will forge the necessary public-private partnerships to get this job done.
2. As governor I will take a tough stand against misclassification of workers. State government needs to consider this issue when it contracts with businesses and our labor department must take a tough stand when it comes to enforcement.
As a young mom, it was hard to find an employer that understood what working moms and dads need to succeed. I was lucky to go to work at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns that not only let me work part time, but I was allowed to bring my babies to work with me. Now, throughout Vermont, companies are changing their policies to make sure 21st century jobs include 21st century working conditions. Today’s work environments are increasingly more dynamic and that is a positive thing for productivity in our state. We know our employees are more productive and much more efficient when they are able to have flexible time to deal with a no-show babysitter or a visit to the pediatrician, or even to take a day on the slopes after a big snow. While I do not believe it is appropriate for government to mandate flexible work rules for private employers we do need to be sure we are enforcing existing laws like our Family and Medical Leave Act which guarantees parental leave and leave to take care of a sick family member.
As governor I will not only be the chief marketing officer for Vermont products but I will also promote Vermont as a great place to live and work. I have heard from some of our start-up to midsize technology companies that while great entry level employees are graduating from our colleges and universities, more seasoned workers are hard to find. In fact, I spoke with one CEO that said she advertises on the California section of Monster.com because many job seekers do not think of Vermont as a technology hub. It is, and our economic development strategy should make sure technology jobs seekers are connected with innovative tech companies growing here everyday.
3. From day one my administration will ensure that our incentive programs focus first on Vermont businesses and that every one of those incentives will be measured for positive results. A cohesive and sound economic development plan needs to be created that coordinates federal, state, regional and local economic development efforts. Let’s agree on an economic development track and communicate with our businesses and new entrepreneurs so that every official from the Governor’s office to local selectboards and planning commissions understand creating jobs is our mission.
On the issue of taxation more generally, I am waiting with interest to see the results of Vermont Tax Structure Commission which will be presenting a structural analysis of the state’s tax system, and will be making recommendations for modernizing our current system. As governor I will provide a long-term vision for the tax structure. I believe in progressive taxes but also recognize that Vermont faces a unique challenge in that we are paying for the infrastructure of a state with the population of a small city. Consequently, taxes like the gas tax make sense because they reach people who live beyond our borders but who are using our roads.
DOUG RACINE:
Vermont families are struggling, and I want every Vermonter to have the opportunity for a good-paying job with decent benefits. Job growth and retention will be the top priority of my administration. In this time of severe economic turmoil, it is essential for Vermont and Vermont leaders to focus on strengthening our business base to ensure job growth and creation. This can be accomplished, even in these difficult times, through strong leadership, wide participation and a focus on what is important for Vermonters and Vermont businesses.
Throughout this process I will focus on what Vermonters, including businesses both large and small have told me is critical to their success:
From there, I will focus on our strengths: the green economy, renewable, high tech, and value-added agriculture. My administration will look for ways to help new businesses start up, and small businesses be successful – from working to offer funding to small businesses to working with these businesses to create job training programs targeted to their needs.
As governor, I will be directly involved in every phase of this economic development strategy. Selecting the right Secretary of Commerce and Community Development will be a top priority. I will be very hands-on with both current and prospective employers ensuring that we do everything possible to retain the jobs we have and create new jobs. This direct, continual, hands-on involvement will reinforce that every job is important.
Vermont needs a unified, coordinated and comprehensive workforce education and training system that includes development and delivery of a plan for both Vermonters and Vermont employers. This can be accomplished within the overall current funding levels if we structure the system properly and assign responsibility appropriately. Our current efforts are fragmented and do not focus on identifying direct need and then delivering solutions. My administration’s efforts will be focused on asking key employers what they need and focusing efforts there, in order to make sure Vermonters are ready to work in the green economy, agriculture, manufacturing, health care, travel and tourism and construction.
A statewide, universal and easily accessible broadband system is essential for Vermont. This will be an immediate and top priority of my administration. Vermont must invest in this infrastructure. As a rural state, we cannot rely on the private sector to provide this service – it is just not profitable given our small population. Instead, we must undertake an effort akin to the rural electrification project and ensure that all Vermonters have access to broadband that is reliable and affordable.
We also need to upgrade our rail system. Many Vermont businesses would benefit if we invested in the needed upgrades to make sure our rail system can carry the 286,000 pound railcars that are the standard now. Logging, agriculture, and manufacturing all depend on rail, and it is an important part of our economic infrastructure. An added benefit of upgrading our rail system is that it will take pressure off of our roads and bridges by reducing the number of trucks needed to haul goods to and from the state.
Tax policies and economic incentives can help Vermont retain, expand and attract jobs. As governor, I will start my administration by subjecting our existing policies to rigorous analyses to determine which are working well and which are not, and to see where Vermonters are getting the greatest return on their tax dollar investments.
PETER SHUMLIN:
1. As a small business owner who has been meeting a payroll since I was 23 years old, I know that small businesses are the backbone of Vermont’s economy. As I’ve traveled the state I have heard from employers who want to grown, but don’t have the capital to invest in new growth. I’ve heard from employers who want to grow, but don’t have access to a workforce with the skills needed to produce their product. We need to work with these business owners to remove these obstacles, so they can hire more Vermonters, expand their businesses in creative and innovative ways, and contribute to building a new economy.
Recently, Speaker Smith and I hosted a jobs forum at the State House where we heard from employers directly about the challenges and opportunities they face as they do business in Vermont. Using what we learned from the forum we will craft an economic development bill – a jobs bill – that will make better partners of Vermont’s state government, its employers, and its job trainers. I’m optimistic that this process will result in expanded opportunities for all Vermonters.
2. Creating jobs will be a top priority of my administration and as I discussed above state government needs to work with and support our small business owners to help them expand their businesses.
But we must also be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that will come as we move from our addiction to fossil fuels to renewable technology. We are going to see an economic expansion in this country that will make the industrial revolution and recent technology boom yesterday’s story.
The transition will affect everything that we do; how we move around, where our food is grown and produced, how our electricity is generated, how we build our houses and schools; indeed every facet of our lives. Vermont is already on the forefront of much of this. Our energy expertise, our food systems knowledge, our educated workforce, our land based entrepreneurial ventures, our colleges and universities; we already have a national reputation for innovation and we are well positioned to achieve more. The question is will we have a governor who has the vision, courage and imagination to seize this opportunity? I will be that governor and I will work 24/7 to ensure that Vermont leads in this new economy.
3. Tax incentives are used to attract and retain businesses that create jobs. As I’ve said, job creation will be a top priority of my administration. Currently, we have a governor who travels the country announcing that Vermont is a bad place to do business. Well, I disagree and as governor I will be a cheerleader for our state and all it has to offer. The small business owners who call Vermont home and the companies looking to relocate here want to grow their businesses in our state because of our superior quality of life. Our clean environment, our low crime rate, the ability to hike and swim in the summer and ski in the winter and our welcoming spirit are just a few of the many reasons people desire to live to here. When we talk about job creation and retention our best selling point is Vermont’s quality of life.
White House Denies Reports That Halt in the Flights Was Due to Cost Concerns and Insists Logistical Problems Were to Blame for Their Suspension; Doctors in Haiti Had Warned ‘Hundreds’ of Severely Ill and Injured Quake Victims Would Die Unless Airlifts to U.S. for Treatment Re-Started Right Away
Injured victims of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti gather at the offices of the international doctors organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Port-au-Prince. The United States — in a decision that outraged doctors on the scene warned could be catastrophic for Haitians in desperate need of emergency medical care unavailable in their own country due to the devastation — halted medical evacuation flights, reportedly over concerns raised about the cost of treating quake victims in the U.S. The White House announced late Sunday that the flights would resume. (Photo: Stefano Zannini/Medecins Sans Frontieres)
(Posted 5:00 a.m. EST Monday, February 1, 2010)
By SKEETER SANDERS
Confronted with a firestorm of outrage by doctors on the scene in Haiti over an unexpected suspension of emergency medical airlifts of victims of the island nation’s devastating January 12 earthquake, the Obama administration announced late Sunday it will resume the flights and denied halting them over a financial dispute, insisting that logistical problems were the cause.
“Having received assurances that additional capacity exists both here and among our international partners, we determined that we can resume these critical flights,” Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, told reporters Sunday evening.
More than 500 severely injured Haitians had been airlifted to hospitals in Miami and other cities across Florida for emergency treatment that is unavailable in Haiti due the massive devastation to the island country’s infrastructure wrought by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which may have killed as many as 200,000 people in the world’s most deadly natural disaster since the 2004 Asian tsunami.
But on Saturday, in a decision that shocked and outraged medical professionals on the scene to treat quake victims, the U.S. brought a sudden halt to the Medevac flights amid reports of a dispute between the federal government and several states over who will pay for the Haitians’ treatment.
The Medevac flights, conducted by the U.S. military with C-130 transport planes, were halted after Florida Governor Charlie Crist called on the federal government to bear more of the cost of treating quake victims.
DOCTORS WARN OF ‘DOZENS MORE DEATHS’ IF FLIGHTS AREN’T RESUMED IMMEDIATELY
Angry doctors on the scene in Haiti severely criticized the suspension of the Medevac flights, with many warning that many severely injured quake victims will die unless the flights are resumed immediately.
“People are dying in Haiti because they can’t get out,” said Dr. Barth Green, who is among hundreds of medical professionals from around the world in Haiti to treat the injured. “The consequences in the kids with crushed chests and on ventilators and respirators and some of the adults is that they will die” unless the airlift is resumed quickly.
Green is co-founder of Project Medishare for Haiti, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami. Green told The New York Times that his organization had been evacuating to the U.S. nearly two dozen quake victims a day.
Other doctors warned that 100 critically ill patients at a temporary field hospital set up at the Port-au-Prince International Airport will die in the next few days if the Medevac flights don’t resume.
Two men at the makeshift hospital afflicted with tetanus already have died waiting to be airlifted, said Dr. David Pitcher, one of 34 surgeons working feverishly at the airport hospital. A five-year-old girl, also suffering form tetanus, is also near death.
“If we can’t save her by getting her out right away, we won’t save her,” Pitcher told National Public Radio. The girl desperately needs to be airlifted to an American hospital and placed on a respirator to save her life, Pitcher said.
FLIGHTS HALTED AFTER FLORIDA GOVERNOR COMPLAINS OF ‘SATURATION’ OF STATE’S HOSPITALS
The White House had issued a statement on Saturday denying that it had ordered the halt of the flights over a money dispute, insisting that the evacuations were halted by the U.S. military because of logistical problems — specifically, that hospitals in Florida and other states were running out of space to treat quake victims.
The statement said that the administration was working to increase treatment capacity in both Haiti and the U.S., as well as aboard the Navy’s hospital ship, the USS Comfort, which is docked at Port-au-Prince.
Captain Kevin Aandahl, a spokesman for the Pentagon’s U.S. Transportation Command, or TRANSCOM, acknowledged that the decision to halt the emergency flights was made by the military. Aandahl told NPR that because “some states indicated they are unwilling to approve any more patients for this type of care, we’re not doing these types of flights anymore.”
Aandahl would not say which states declined to accept quake victims, but the suspension of the flights cane a day after Crist asked the federal government to help pay for their treatment.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Crist wrote that “Florida does not have the capacity to support” the transportation and treatment of “between 30 to 50 critically ill patients a day for an indefinite period of time.”
Crist wrote that his state’s health care system “is quickly reaching saturation, especially in the area of high-level trauma care.”
IN TV INTERVIEW, CRIST ADMITS HIS LETTER ‘MAY HAVE BEEN MISINTERPRETED’
But appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America Sunday,” Crist said that he was “puzzled” by the suspension.
“We’re welcoming Haitians with open arms and probably done more than any other state and [are] happy to continue to do so,” Crist said.
The governor acknowledged that his letter to Sebelius may have been “misinterpreted” and added to the confusion over the airlifts, leading to their suspension. “I think that’s probably what actually did occur,” he said. “That’s unfortunate.”
Crist asked that the federal government activate the National Disaster Medical System “to assist in distributing these critically ill medical patients to other states and to ensure states are appropriately reimbursed for their services.”
In Port-au-Prince, Colonel Rick Kaiser, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Corps has been asked to build a new 250-bed tent hospital in the Haitian capital to relieve pressures on the USS Comfort and on makeshift emergency treatment facilities already overwhelmed with earthquake victims.
WHO WARNS RISK OF DISEASE EPIDEMICS IN HAITI IS RISING
The World Health Organization warned on Saturday that the risk of disease epidemics breaking out in Haiti is increasing as the rainy season approaches. The United Nations’ health agency reported that it already has received reports of outbreaks of diarrhea, measles and tetanus.
Alarmed by severe damage to Haiti’s already poorly-maintained sanitation systems that have resulted in contaminated drinking water, the WHO issued an urgent alert warning that millions of Haitians are at increased risk of other water-borne diseases, including cholera.
Paul Garwood, a WHO spokesman, told Voice of America Radio that his and other UN agencies, as well as the Haitian government, will embark on an immunization campaign this week to shield “hundreds of thousands” of children under age five against diphtheria, tetanus and measles, which “are highly contagious and can spread like wildfire.”
Garwood added that there is “a critical need” for more surgeons, reporting that, to his knowledge, there are more than 2,000 amputee cases in Haiti as a result of injuries sustained in the earthquake, with “anywhere from 30 to 100” amputations performed daily — and likely to increase.
MODERATE QUAKES JOLT CHINA, INDONESIA
Meanwhile, two moderate pre-dawn earthquakes struck southwestern China and northwestern Indonesia on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 11 others in China’s Sichuan Province, the Chinese government reported.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the Indonesian quake.
The temblor in Sichuan — which was devastated by an 8.0 quake in May 2008 that killed nearly 87,000 and rendered more than five million others homeless — struck at 5:36 a.m. local time (4:36 p.m. EST Saturday) with its epicenter near the city of Suining, the Sichuan earthquake authority said.
It measured Richter magnitude 5.0 on government seismographs in Beijing. The U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado said its seismographs measured the quake at magnitude 5.2.
The state-run China Central Television showed pictures of single-story homes that had collapsed into rubble. The network reported that dozens of homes were damaged or collapsed but did not give a precise figure.
The Indonesian quake, measuring Richter magnitude 5.3, struck the in Kepulauan Mentawai region, the USGS reported. That temblor, which struck at 2:07 a.m. local time (2:07 p.m. EST Saturday), was centered 460 miles west-northwest of the capital, Jakarta.
Sunday’s quake came just over a month after two other moderate temblors struck North Sulawesi province in eastern Indonesia on December 28, measuring Richter magnitude 5.2 and 5.3.
None of the quakes were strong enough to trigger tsunami warnings.
# # #
Copyright 2009, Skeeter Sanders. all rights reserved.
Thought everyone would be interested in this. The California senate has just passed a single-payer health care bill. Governor Arnie the terminator will veto it for sure, but, what the hell, progress is happening.
California Chronicle
Leno´s Single-Payer, Universal Health Care Bill Clears Senate
California Political Desk
January 29, 2010
SACRAMENTO – The California Senate today passed legislation that guarantees all Californians comprehensive, universal health care. The California Universal Health Care Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), is the only health care reform proposal that is proven to contain health care costs while simultaneously improving quality of care and the delivery of services.
“Solving health care isn´t about leftwing or rightwing politics – it´s about the future of the middle class,” said Senator Leno. “Our state is being bankrupted by out of control health care costs, and a single-payer universal health care system has been proven to save billions of dollars a year for businesses, families and government,” he said.
The California Universal Health Care Act creates a private-public partnership to provide every California resident medical, dental, vision, hospitalization and prescription drug benefits and allows patients to choose their own doctors and hospitals. This “Medicare for All” type of program works by pooling together the money that government, employers and individuals already spend on health care and putting it to better use by cutting out the for-profit middle man.
The Vermont Fuel Dealers Association has requested the legislature to consider a two part proposal for changing diesel fuel content. A draft resolution spelling out support for these proposals may be presented in Washington at an oil heat summit next month.
One part of the plan would change the refining process to lower the sulfur content. This would require regional market pressure to change the refining process. Therefore several states would have to pass similar requirements.
The second part is to mandate the amount of biofuel added to diesel. The hoped for goal is to have 5% content by 2013. This part may prove controversial as some studies are showing that biofuel production is taking grain out of the…well I guess it’s taking it out of the food chain and perhaps driving up the cost of grains. Vermont biodiesal would likely rely on soy, canola and sunflower crops:
No one knows exactly how much biofuel was produced in Vermont last year, but educated estimates put the number at about 76,000 gallons. Netaka White, biofuels director for the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, estimates total production capacity, however, likely exceeds 4 million gallons. Getting there, he said, would require the kind of mandate the oil industry is seeking.
According to a report based on United States Department of Agriculture information one quarter of all US grain crops now go into manufacturing ethanol based bio-fuel. This is a result of bio fuel programs and incentives started in the Bush administration. The impact is now showing up in world food supplies and costs.
Studies show that the grains grown in 2009 and used for fuel was enough to feed 300 million people for one year at average world consumption levels.
"Continuing to divert more food to fuel, as is now mandated by the US federal government in its renewable fuel standard, will likely only reinforce the disturbing rise in world hunger. By subsidizing the production of ethanol to the tune of some $6bn each year, US taxpayers are in effect subsidizing rising food bills at home and around the world," said Lester Brown, the director of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington think-tank that conducted the analysis.
Apparently, CBS thinks that the sight of two men kissing is enough that it would send football fans running and screaming if they were to air it during the Superbowl.
CBS rejected this dating service ad (which does feature two men making out) for the Superbowl, but is willing to run an advocacy ad from the anti-gay Focus on the Family. The rejected ad is not obscene or even very sexual in its nature. It’s far more tame than a lot of prime-time ads:
Cowards.
(h/t Daily Kos)
( – promoted by odum)
The exodus continues, per the AP…
Another official from the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas is going to work for the Vermont operations of FairPoint Communications.
Sabina Haskell is currently deputy secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
On Feb. 8 she will become FairPoint’s new director of public relations.
She’s gonna need a whole lot of lipstick for that pig. But I’m sure she’ll be very well compensated. Certainly it’ll be more lucrative than editing the Brattleboro Reformer. Career advice for aspiring journalists: your soul is your most marketable asset.
Adding another thought here, and perhaps stating the obvious. Haskell went from journalism to government PR, to a top executive position at a major state agency, and is now going back to PR. Now, journalism and PR are two sides of the same coin — or the yin and yang of the communications trade. Management (and specifically environmental management) is a completely different field that requires completely different skills and experience.
I take this as additional evidence that she was unqualified to be deputy secretary of the ANR. No executive experience (or environmental experience, natch) before that, and no executive posting afterward.
If that’s not bad enough, she only served a little over six months as deputy secretary. Hardly enough time to get a handle on the job, even if she were qualified for it. Y’know, if our state government doesn’t work as effectively as it could, maybe we should look at the revolving-door policy and rampant cronyism among Douglas’ top executives, rather than at the supposed laziness of the (unionized) state workforce.
Pick your favorite:
Aliens live on Earth and are in constant communication and interaction with us, Bulgarian scientists told Novinar, quoted by Dnes on November 23 2009.
It was even claimed that some alien species were present during a media statement in which they had answered more than 30 questions put forward by Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS) personnel.
[…] “The aliens are very critical of our immoral behaviour and our destruction of the environment. They say that global warming is attributed mainly to infrastructural engineering. Additionally, they are very skeptical of our use of cosmetics, and artificial insemination because this is ‘unnatural,'” Filipov said.
Tough choice, huh?