To the editor: Democrats have misguided agenda
The Chester Telegraph | Oct 21, 2020 | Comments 4
Why is Vermont’s rental housing so expensive in relation to income?
Why are neighboring states’ economies much better than Vermont’s?
Why are Vermont’s taxes near the highest in the country?
Why does Vermont rank as the least friendly business state?
Why is Vermont the most expensive state for retirees?
This is not by accident nor a coincidence. The truth is the progressives’ policies are failing Vermont. People are struggling more now than any period in my lifetime. Food shelters are struggling to meet demands. The legislators completely undermined our governor by over-riding his veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act because he realized it was going to hurt lower and middle income families.
Then the Democrats run an ad saying “Position Vermont for Economic Recovery.”
How does that happen with high taxes, expensive housing costs, the loss of good paying jobs, and soon to be unaffordable energy costs? What is next in their misguided agenda?
I sure hope we don’t find out because their economic recovery is just too expensive for Vermont.
Keith Stern
Independent candidate for state Senate
North Springfield
Filed Under: Commentary • Letters to the Editor
Here is just some of the research Mr. Stern did not do as a candidate for the state senate: Solar energy jobs increased 167% in the last decade. Solar energy is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the US. Solar installations tripled in Vermont between 2015 and 2019. Forbes stated: “Renewable energy jobs are booming across America, creating stable and high-wage employment for blue-collar workers.” According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary range for solar panel installers in VT is $39,710 to $45,560. The median income of non-installation professionals in the solar industry is $105,000. While VT does indeed have the lowest carbon emissions of any state in the US it is not a factor of its vegetation. It is because most of Vermont’s energy sources are renewable, including hydroelectric, wind and solar. Not only will increasing our solar energy infrastructure help us contribute dramatically to reducing our country’s climate-altering emissions over the long term, it will also give us an edge in building a post-fossil fuel economy that creates jobs that are far more stable than many in a traditional energy economy.
Mr. Nied can’t comprehend that no matter what actions done by Vermont nothing will be changed except people’s way of life.
No one is saying that we need to be moving away from fossil fuels but to do it irresponsibly is foolish.
I guess he has never bothered to see the study that in Vermont we are close to if not carbon neutral because of the amount of CO2 absorbed by vegetation.
They keep talking green jobs but what are they? Setting up solar panels and wind turbines? Definitely not long term jobs.
And we cover all of our acres in solar fields and then what? Put the animals in zoos?
And what does Mr. Nied think about the sewerage discharges into Lake Champlain? That is more of an immediate environmental crisis than carbon emissions in Vermont.
The Global Warming Solutions Act, so adamantly opposed by Mr. Stern, is an effort to by the states to respond to the crisis of climate change, in spite of the complete failure of the Federal government under Donald Trump to do so. Vermont joins nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut as well as many other jurisdictions across the country in acting intelligently and forthrightly to ensure a livable planet for our children and grandchildren.
Mr. Stern suggests a false equivalency between responsible climate action and economic decline, ignoring evidence to the contrary that economic growth driven by sustainable, environmentally responsible policies will actually benefit the economy, not harm it. Mr. Stern seems to have adopted for his own, the myopic Republican position that the way to build the economy is to accelerate the destruction of the planet. The reality is that climate change must be addressed and can be, while developing a green economy that is more sustainable and more equitable than a fossil fuel economy the helps a few while harming many.
It is shortsighted and foolish when Trump denies the seriousness of climate change and cloaks inaction in a false economic narrative. It is no less so when Mr. Stern does the same thing.
I totally agree. However, those people in the position to change it ( aka the VOTERS) dont seem to get it, understand or even care? But thanks for voicing your opinion.