I took the opportunity to attend the Geothermal Energy Roundtable sponsored by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders yesterday, April 17th, at Contois Auditorium in Burlington. The place was packed upstairs as well as downstairs with folks from across Vermont. Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the United States Department of Energy, was a guest of Senator Sanders along with a panel of homeowners, academics and business representatives, who were involved in using, researching or installing geothermal energy systems.
The message that came out of this conference is that geothermal energy source systems for both heating and cooling are not just feasible in the north country, but they have been proven to work as well . I spoke with a man from Highgate who had a chart of his electric and heating fuel consumption that showed a reduction in cost of around 60%. This type of energy resource is most efficient if integrated into the design of new construction, but it is also adaptable to existing construction. Key to the latter is an energy efficient envelope, i.e. a well insulated building.
State Representative Tim Jerman of Essex Junction was also at the roundtable. Tim is a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. We chatted about the incentives provided by the state for alternative energy generation. Although there is a tax incentive for wind and solar systems, it is restricted to businesses that adopt them. Homeowners are entitled only to federal tax credits. (Those credits, by the way, are substantial, amounting to 30% of the cost of materials and installation.) However, there is no state incentive for business or residential installation of geothermal systems.
A priority in the next legislative session should be to include geothermal systems in the incentives provided for wind and solar energy production. We should also find a way to extend those incentives to homeowners as well as business. While the current budget crisis makes this a non-starter, block grants may be available as part of the federal Jobs Bill. Providing these credits would have the added benefits of creating jobs throughout Vermont, distributing energy production to reduce the peak demand on our electric grid, and helping to replace the production that we will inevitably lose with the closure of Vermont Yankee.
Geothermal Energy for Vermont
Corporations Are Not Persons!
Corporations are not people, and in my opinion are subject to regulated "free speech". The Supreme Court majority opinion in Citizens United v. FEC has bastardized the meaning of citizenship and has legalized the prostitution of Congress.
The ruling was egregious and insulting. If money represents speech, then corporations have bullhorns while individuals have mere whispers. The Constitution states "We the people..." not "We the corporations...".
Corporations are not citizens and should not be considered as such. Groups of people who have joined together voluntarily for a cause have a right to voice their opinion, but corporations are economic entities made up of investors who have too varied political perspectives. They can't possibly represent the opinions of even the majority of their shareholders. Most shareholders are mutual funds whose investors may not even know what companies they have invested in.
Congress should take steps, even if it means a Constitutional amendment, to overturn this Supreme Court decision.
Energy
Vermont's Energy Future
As if to underscore this last point, the massive oil pollution of the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates the risks of relying on "safe" processes that only need to fail once to have a devastating negative impact! The sooner we reduce our dependence on petroleum, the quicker we will take our country and its economy into a cleaner, safer future.
- Improved conservation - the least expensive energy is the energy we don't use. We need to continue to support programs like Efficiency Vermont that helps homeowners and businesses reduce their energy consumption.
- Wind - Our atmosphere itself is a great source of energy. Proper siting of wind generators so as to have minimal impact on our signature landscape is a small price to pay for the amount of energy we can generate via wind. Of course, wind can only be part of the energy equation, but it can play a significant part.
- Solar - Solar hot water systems are one of the least expensive means of making use of the sun's endless supply of energy for homeowners. Advances in photovoltaic systems is also making them more affordable both at the residential level and as power generation installations like the solar array generating electricity in Hinesburg. Federal and state tax credits for these systems should be continued to encourage further use of these clean energy generation technologies.
- Hydro power - Vermont has significant in-state hydroelectric generation, but our biggest source is our contract with Hydro Quebec. This contract will be coming up for renewal and Vermont should partner with New Hampshire and Maine to obtain the best rate possible. We should also look into negotiating the purchase of the hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut River that the Douglas administration let slip from our hands several years ago.
- Geothermal Systems - This is a viable distributed energy resource even in Vermont. Geothermal heating and cooling systems use the consistent temperature of the earth to provide heating, cooling, and hot water for both residential and commercial buildings. Water is circulated through polyethelene pipes in closed loops that are installed below the earth's surface. At this time geothermal systems are not included in Vermont's alternative energy tax incentives. I will support their inclusion if elected. (More>>)
- Bio-fuels - Vermont has large sustainable sources of renewable bio-fuels such as wood. We should encourage the use of efficient wood-burning for heating purposes as well as power generation. The energy tax credits and the rebate programs sponsored by the state are examples of the support we need to give to this energy alternative.
- Vermont Yankee - The question of whether or not to renew the operating license for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will probably be resolved during the 2010 legislative session. Given current circumstances, I would favor denial of the license renewal. The problem that I see in terms of both the reliability and the safety of VY is that our choices for renewing the license are limited to 0 or 20 years and nothing between. If we could approve the license renewal in 5 year increments, I would be more favorable. In the long run, however, there are other problems with the continued operation of VY. One is the question of the long-term storage of the nuclear waste which now sits on the banks of the Connecticut River in dry cask containment units. There is no current nor forseeable plan to relocate this material which will remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years. Why add to it? Furthermore, while VY is a relatively inexpensive source of electricity for Vermont at this time, the rate proposal its parent company, Entergy, is offering does not seem to be a good deal in the eyes of neither the legislature nor the state's electric utilities, GMP and CVPS. Finally, the proposed spinoff of VY and 4 other out-of-state nuclear power plants by Entergy into a new company could jeopardize the ability of VY to fully fund the decomissioning of the plant or to pay for any possible future environmental damage caused by a plant failure. In my opinion, the negatives outweigh the positives on this issue. The Oil spill disaster in the Gulf should also remind us that all it takes is one major failure to create a nuclear environmental disaster at this aging plant.
Issues 2010
In these challenging economic times the most pressing problem for Vermont government is how to balance the state budget. The 2009 budget was starkly reduced because of reduced revenues and passed only because the legislature overrode Governor Douglas' veto. Revenues have once again fallen behind original projections and required the legislature and the Governor to try to find the proper balance between cuts and tax increases. There is probably no one that has an definitive solution to the problem of balancing state revenues with expenditures. This problem will continue to be an issue for the 2010 election and the elected officials who will have to deal with it in January, 2011.
As pressing as the budget problem is, there are other issues that are just as important and which are directly affected by it. It is the responsibility of each legislator, whether in the House or the Senate, to weigh the pros and cons of each and every reduction in services as well as every tax increase that will be necessary to keep Vermont's government vital and viable. In addition, there are policy decisions to be made that will affect the future direction of Vermont and our ability to maintain a healthy economy, a healthy environment and a healthy population. Each of the issues below require attention and should be factors in your decision on whom to send to Montpelier in 2010.
- Taxes and Expenditures - To many the word "government" has become a bad word ever since President Ronald Reagan defined government as "the problem, not the solution." In fact government is ... more>>
- The Economy - The economic downturn of 2009 has not left Vermont unscathed, although our situation is certainly not as dire those of other parts of our country. Vermont has been ... more>>
- Energy - One thing is certain when it comes to developing an energy policy: we must reduce our dependency on oil and other fossil fuels. The reasons for doing so are ... more>>
- Health Care - After months of debate, compromise, misrepresentation, theatrics, and solid Republican obstructionism, it is not surprising that the resulting Healthcare reform legislation passed by the U.S. Senate does not satisfy anyone. Voices on the right object to any kind ... more>>
- Agriculture - Agriculture is a significant part of Vermont's economy, culture and tradition, and dairy farming, which comprises 85% of Vermont agriculture, is probably the most iconic form. As such ... more>>
Agriculture
Agriculture is a significant part of Vermont's economy, culture and tradition, and dairy farming, which comprises 85% of Vermont agriculture, is probably the most iconic form. As such it is a large component of tourism, another driver of Vermont's economy. I am not a farmer, so I have a lot to learn about this aspect of Vermont; however, I know that dairy farmers in Vermont are in crisis.
I attended the Dairy Farming Town Meeting organized by Senator Bernie Sanders on February 13th. Farmers from around the northeast, including Maine, New Hampshire and New York, as well as from Vermont, attended the meeting. It is no secret that the price farmers get for milk is well below the cost of producing that milk. What I learned at the meeting is that This unsustainable situation has led to the the loss of more than one Vermont dairy farm per month on average during the last 2 years.
The price farmers get for milk is driven primarily by milk processors with the federal government regulating minimum wholesale prices. This system puts small farmers at a disadvantage, and the challenge is to leverage their influence through cooperative agreements. After talking to several local farmers, I learned that another way to increase the value of milk production is by processing some of the milk locally.
The state of Vermont can support family farming by facilitating regional partnerships spanning state borders to counter the leverage enjoyed by major milk processors, and by providing low cost loans for local value-add production facilities.
Apart from dairy farming, the "locavore" movement has created opportunities to supply locally grown high-quality produce to consumers, thereby reducing the carbon-footprint of food consumption. State government departments with food purchase requirements, e.g. prisons, schools, cafeterias, should be encouraged, if not required, to obtain a reasonable percentage of that food from local producers.
I am open to comments about my ideas as well as suggestions for improvements or additions to the ideas stated above.
