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April Monthly News and Views -  uploaded 3/31/07, and updated 4/13/07
This page is updated monthly.  Please send submissions by the third week in each month.  Next update scheduled for Apr. 30th.  Contributions on Peak Oil, Relocalization and Sustainability issues and efforts in Vermont welcome!  THANK YOU to all of our contributors; special thanks to Moshe Braner, Henry Swayze, and Thomas Weiss.

Special Events
Vermont's Energy Future
April 14th National Global Warming Demonstration
    - Action Opportunity - Step it Up, Vermont! Petition
2007 Sustainable Agriculture Semester at Sterling College
A Going Local Colloquium: “The Challenges and Opportunities in Promoting Local Food and Local Food Systems”
2007 ADDISON COUNTY CONSERVATION CONGRESS: Fueling Our Community: Building Local, Sustainable Energy Solutions
Jared Diamond: “Will Our Society Collapse?”
The VPON Calendar

Under the Golden Dome:
Weekly Energy Related Legislative Activities
"Much Unresolved Under Golden Dome..."
Policy Watch Updates from VT Clean Cities Program
Tracking Legislation in Vermont
Contact Vermont State Legislators
Live Audio Streaming of VT Legislative Proceedings
Tracking National Legislation

Quote of the Month:  
from David Orr

Editorial:  
Change the Course

Guest Editorial:
Public Transportation lacks Adequate Funding

Articles:
VPON Community Pages
From a Peak Perspective:  Articles Featured this Month on the VPON Community Pages
Climate
Vermont Legislative Activities pertaining to Climate Change
The Global Warming Survival Guide - 51 Ways to Save the Environment
Gore Warns Congress of 'Planetary Emergency'
Culture
Don't Jersey Vermont!
7 Days for the Earth (Mad River Valley)
World without Oil
Front Porch Forum continues to build Strong Neighborhoods
Leonardo DiCaprio's eco-project
Economy
Local First Vermont
Deep Economy - a new book by Bill McKibben
Energy
Monpelier Energy Forum Report
Background for Building Efficiency Bill (S.94)
    - Action Opportunity on S.94
Portland (OR) Peak Oil Report (first of its kind)
First Branch Sustainability Project Update on Solar Water Heater Campaign
Cow Power Update from CVPS
Peak Coal?
REV Updates
Food
Localvores, Local Eaters, Local Birds...
More on our friends, the Bees
Health
A Healthy Dose of Media Lit!
Peak Oil Medicine Website
Transportation
Statehouse Hearing on Support for Public Transportation (April 3rd)
Update from Idle-Free Vermont
Transportation Updates from Vermont Clean Cities Program
Bus Buzz
The City of Bikes
Faux News 

As the Crow Flies:  Reports from Around the State
ACoRN
Bennington Sustainability Outpost
Cabot Peak Oil Network
First Branch Sustainability Project (Tunbridge)
Greater East Montpelier Peak Oil Group
Mad River Sustainability Group
Plan C - Chittenden County
Post Oil Solutions
Route 12 Loop Group
Rutland Peak Oil Concerned
Sustainable Energy Resource Group

Gold Stars to...
Brattleboro Students in the Fight Against Idling!

Action!
VECAN Activist Toolkit, and Town Energy/Climate Action Guide
Support the Oil Depletion Protocol
Idle-Free Vermont Campaign
Idle-Not Flyers for Idling Cars
Organize a Peak Oil Book Display
Write a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper
Write a Letter to a Representative

Plan Ahead
Imagining our Common Future
Resources - Click here to get there!
    New this Month on our VT Resources page  
    Clean Cities Newsletter
    Climate News Digest
    What's a Citizen to DO? Newsletter
    Welcome to Peak Oil CD
VPON Community Pages - Discussion area for Vermont citizens concerned about peak oil.
VPON Archives (February, 2006 - present)
VT Resources - Sustainability, Food, Farm & Garden, Energy, Local Economy, Community Building, and Transportation. 
National Links/Educational Resources - charts, DVDs, posters, and more.

Fair Use Notice
Information about copyrighted material appearing on this site
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 Special Events
Vermont's Energy Future
April 4th, 7 pm, Carpenter Carse Library, Hinesburg
Come join us for an ENERGIZED evening! See the movie "Kilowatt Ours" and discuss Vermonts Energy Future with Drew Hudson from VPIRG.

With Al Gore's compelling testimony in Congress last week and Earth Day this month, this is a great time to focus on global warming and the environment. Towards that end, Chittenden South Democracy for America (DFA) group will be showing the film "Kilowatt Ours, followed by a conversation with Drew Hudson, from Vermont Public Interest Research Group, on the status of current energy legislation and a vision for Vermont's future energy strategy.  Please join us for an informative and fun evening!

Kilowatt Ours is a documentary film produced by Jeff Barrie and the Southern Energy Conservation Initiative. The film demonstrates the connections between a homeowner's energy use and mountain top removal, coal mining, global warming, and nuclear power. A key aspect of the film is that it demonstrates actions that apartment renters, homeowners, schools, and governments can do to save energy and reduce demand for unsustainable energy.

The Vermont legislature is currently debating H225 and S94, two bills that would: improve weatherization to reduce heating fuel use, streamline the permitting processes for doing assessments of small  scale renewable projects, permit net metering, assess biofuel potentials, provide incentives for small scale renewable projects, allocate funds for communities to assess their renewable energy potentials and much more. Drew Hudson knows the bills and the legislators and has a wealth of experience with mobilizing citizen involvement. Come hear what you can do!

Decade of Change is a report (available at VPIRG website) which looks at current and future projected energy supply and demand in Vermont. It lays out a plan to move us away from "dirty" energy and into a clean-green future. With Vermont Yankee licensing and HydroQuebec contracts set to expire in the near future, we are at a crossroads. This is our opportunity to contribute dramatically to reducing carbon emissions, protecting the climate, setting an example for other states!  Info: Rachel – 482-2848 
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April 14th National Global Warming Demonstration
Organized by Bill McKibben and Step It Up 2007
Dear Friends—
This is an invitation to help start a movement--to take one spring day and use it to reshape the future. Those of us who know that climate change is the greatest threat civilization now faces have science on our side; we have economists and policy specialists, courageous mayors and governors, engineers with cool new technology. But we don't have a movement—the largest rally yet held in the U.S. about global warming drew a thousand people. If we're going to make the kind of change we need in the short time left us, we need something that looks like the civil rights movement, and we need it now. Changing light bulbs just isn't enough.

So pitch in. A few of us are trying to organize a nationwide day of hundreds and hundreds of rallies on April 14. We hope to have gatherings in every state, and in many of America's most iconic places: on the levees in New Orleans, on top of the melting glaciers on Mt. Rainier, even underwater on the endangered coral reefs off Key West. We need rallies outside churches, along the tide lines in our coastal cities, in cornfields and forests and on statehouse steps. Every group will be saying the same thing: Step it up, Congress! Enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions, and pledge an 80% reduction by 2050. No half measures, no easy compromises-the time has come to take the real actions that can stabilize our climate. As people gather, we'll link pictures of the protests together electronically via the web-before the weekend is out, we'll have the largest protest the country has ever seen, not in numbers but in extent. From every corner of the nation we'll start to shake things up.

By its very nature, this action needs all kinds of people to help out. We can't make it happen-it has to assemble itself. Sign up to host an action (http://www.stepitup2007.org//article.php?id=38). We'll coordinate the responses, introducing you to others from your area, and give you everything you need to be a leader, from banners to press releases. You don't have to have ever done anything like this-you're not organizing a March on Washington, just a gathering of scores or hundreds in your town or neighborhood. We need creativity, good humor, commitment. If you are active in a campus group or a church or a local environmental group or a garden society or a bike club-or if you just saw Al Gore's movie and want to do something-then we need you now.

And by now, we mean now. The best science tells us we have ten years to fundamentally transform our economy and lead the world in the same direction or else, in the words of NASA's Jim Hansen, we will face a "totally different planet," one infinitely sadder and less flourishing. The recent elections have given us an opening, and polling shows most Americans know there's a problem. But the forces of inertia and business-as-usual are still in control, and only our voices, united and loud, joyful and determined, can change that reality.

Please join us.
Bill McKibben
Stepitup2007.org

P.S.—It would be a great help too if you could forward this plea to anyone you think might embrace it.

Action Option - Step it Up, Vermont!
SIGN THE PETITION ASKING VERMONT LEADERS TO "STEP IT UP!"
Step It Up Vermont Leaders: Cut Carbon 80% by 2050
I call on my Federal Representatives, to support legislation in the 110th Congress introduced by Senator Sanders in the Senate and Congressman Waxman in the House that would cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050.   

I call on my Legislators and Governor Douglas, to enact policies to establish:
    *An energy efficiency utility with a mandate to help Vermonters conserve electricity and heating fuels backed by the funding it needs to be successful;
    *A renewable energy requirement that prioritizes the construction of wind, solar, hydro and biomass facilities to replace the 55% of our power that currently comes from polluting sources.
    *Transportation funding that invests in public transit and transit alternatives.

**SIGN PETITION HERE!**
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2007 Sustainable Agriculture Semester at Sterling College
Sterling College is currently accepting applications for the 2007 Sustainable Agriculture Semester scheduled for June 10, 2007 to August 17, 2007. 
The Sterling College Sustainable Agriculture Semester immerses students in the daily rhythms and realities of farming. This 6-8 credit integrated program of work and study explores ecological management of plants, animals, and land. Classroom instruction, hands-on training, and work on the farm are combined to teach sustainable practices and to foster discussion about agricultural issues. Our farm includes certified organic vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, a movable hoophouse, a small orchard, solar and wind powered barns, and a variety of livestock including sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, poultry, and draft horses. We implement a mixed-power model, using both tractors and draft animals in our gardens, pastures, and forests. College students, academically advanced high school students, and adult learners are eligible to apply. Enrollment is limited to twelve.  Application deadline is April 16th. For more information go to www.sterlingcollege.edu/sas.html
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A Going Local Colloquium: “The Challenges and Opportunities in Promoting Local Food and Local Food Systems”
April 18th and 19th, UVM
Presented by UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; supported by a grant from the USDA.
April 18th,7:00 pm - Opening address by Madeleine May Kunin, in Memorial Lounge, Waterman Hall
April 19th, 9:00 am-5:00 pmColloquium in UVM’s WATERMAN building; please come enjoy panel discussions, display booths, taste tests, film fest, raffle prizes, and MORE!
FEATURING: Michael Shuman, keynote speaker and author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age.
For more information contact Jennifer Green jlgreen@uvm.edu or Patrick Wood pwood@uvm.edu
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2007 ADDISON COUNTY CONSERVATION CONGRESS:
Fueling Our Community: Building Local, Sustainable Energy Solutions
Saturday, April 28th, 2007: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Mount Abraham Union High School, Bristol
Mark your calendars! Join Vermont Family Forests, local community and non-profit organizations, local businesses, and community members for a lively day of information-sharing about building local, sustainable energy solutions. Learn about local efforts to cultivate energy self-sufficiency and how we can build upon those successes. Keynote speaker Scudder Parker, who brings years of public service experience in energy efficiency and energy planning to our event, will provide the context for the day's discussions. Morning concurrent sessions will focus on optimizing local energy efficiency, with session topics including transportation alternatives, improving wood burning efficiency, maximizing energy efficiency in farm operations, and optimizing the energy efficiency of your home. Afternoon concurrent sessions will focus on cultivating local energy sources, from agriculture-based sources like methane digestion, grass pellets, and biodiesel to small-scale hydropower, wind, and solar. During both morning and afternoon sessions, participants can tour the new Mount Abraham Union High School Wood Gasification heating system. We'll have a full schedule of the day available shortly. Please join us for this exciting community event! For more information info@familyforests.org.
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Jared Diamond: “Will Our Society Collapse?”
Mead Chapel, Middlebury College, 7:30 p.m. 
Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winning author, will speak about and sign copies of his recent book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.  This event is free and open to the public.
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Consult the VPON Calendar regularly for events this month and beyond; updated weekly.
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Under the Golden Dome

The most important political office is that of the private citizen.
 - Louis D. Brandeis  


Energy Related Legislative Activities
submitted by Vermont Citizen Thomas Weiss
Weiss' legislative updates feature announcements of hearings and activities as well as reports on energy and climate change hearings, initiatives and proposals in the Vermont Legislature.  Please go to this section of the VPON Community Pages for the most recent announcements and reports, as well as the report archives. You may want to bookmark that page; Weiss updates weekly. Thank you, Thomas.

Legislative Activities this month included hearings on affordable housing, energy efficiency and affordability, state sovereignty on international trade agreements, energy conservation and generation using renewables, establishment of an energy efficiency utility, and so much more.  Thomas' digests are a tremendous resource.  You may want to refer to them as you prepare letters, phone calls, and emails to your representatives under the Golden Dome.
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Much Unresolved Under Golden Dome... including S.94
Exerpts from Burlington Free Press article,  
By Terri Hallenbeck and Nancy Remsen
Free Press Staff Writers
. . .
Senators said they expect the legislation creating a new energy efficiency program to pass the full Senate next week without a funding source. Their goal is to come up with something more politically palatable by the end of the session and add it back into the bill when it comes over from the House.

"We'll come up with a funding source," said Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, D-Windham. "A number of us have ideas."

This is one of several unresolved issues facing the Legislature as the session enters its fourth month. Also pending is an education cost containment bill hung up in the House because of a lack of votes and a public transportation bill idling in the House Transportation Committee because of controversy over a proposed tax on gas-guzzling vehicles.
. . .
The fuel surcharge, which would have started at 1 percent but likely would have increased, was intended to pay for a new energy efficiency program. The charge hit a political roadblock in the last few weeks. 

"I think as we started to work through the details as to how it would work out, this wasn't a tax on big oil companies but a tax that would be passed on to real people," (Sen. Ann) Cummings said. "I'm concerned to hit people when they're having trouble paying for their fuel."

Cummings (D-Washington) said political reality killed the surcharge, at least for now. The charge did not have support from a majority of the Senate, she said, and it faced a likely veto from the governor.  Gov. Jim Douglas has strongly criticized the charge, saying it would only make Vermont a less affordable place to work and do business.

Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden, whose Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee proposed the charge, was resigned to the political reality. "That's what happens sometimes," she said. "I still believe a surcharge is the right way to go."  Lyons contends the charge makes sense because it would pay for efficiencies that will save Vermonters money on their fuel bills, plus create jobs for contractors doing weatherization work.
. . .
The House Transportation Committee went home Friday without voting on a bill to establish a spending plan for public transit -- which includes a controversial proposal to impose a surcharge on cars that get fewer than 20 miles per gallon and trucks between 6,000 and 10,099 pounds that get fewer than 17 mpg.

"People need to think," said Chairman Richard Westman, R-Cambridge, abruptly ending the committee's afternoon session without a final decision on the bill.

Some members of the committee object to the proposed surcharge, which is intended to raise money to allow for more new bus purchases and more rides for Vermonters who need help getting to critical health care appointments such as dialysis treatment.

"I do support public transit," said Rep. James Fitzgerald, D-St. Albans. "I just don't agree with the way we are funding this."

The committee has scheduled a public hearing on public transit for Tuesday evening at the Statehouse.

"After that hearing, we will vote on the bill," Westman said.  Read article.
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Policy Watch Updates
courtesy, Vermont Clean Cities Program
To subscribe to VT Clean Cities Newsletter: send a blank email to clean-cities@snellingcenter.org with "subscribe" in the subject line.

Policy Watch: Transportation fuels in the Governor's Commission on Climate Change
Transportation, biofuel, and land use policy options are being considered by the Governor's Commission on Climate Change (GCCC). To see these options, visit the Transportation and Land Use  and the Agriculture, Forestry, & Waste Management technical work group sites.  [Source: GCCC]
 
Policy Watch: Climate change hearings online
The 2007 legislative session kicked off with three weeks of hearings on climate change. If you weren't able to attend, you can now listen to much of the testimony online at VPR here (scroll to the very bottom of the page). Dates which included transportation-relevant testimony are 1/17, 1/18, 1/24, and 1/25.  [Source: VPR]

Policy Watch: Rail in eastern Vermont
A pilot project to boost Amtrak service on the Vermonter route to two roundtrips a day is being considered by the Legislature. Service would originate in St. Albans and White River Junction and end in New Haven, Connecticut. The initiative hinges on whether to purchase five state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly rail cars known as diesel multiple units (DMUs). [Source: Time Argus]
 
Policy Watch: Multimodal Montpelier?
The city of Montpelier is launching a project called Envision Montpelier to engage those who live and work there in what they want the city to be like in 5-30 years. Among the projects considered are improved bike-friendliness and a multimodal transit center. The city planner is currently looking for survey volunteers. [Source: Times Argus]
 
Policy Watch: CAFE standards for cars
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has received testimony from the Government Accountability Office on CAFE standards. It discusses 1) recent and proposed changes to the standards; 2) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's capabilities to restructure the standards, and 3) how the CAFE program fits in the context of other policy approaches to reduce oil consumption. Click here (pdf) to read the testimony. [Source: Transportation Research Board]
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Keep Track of what's happening with legislation in Montpelier:  http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/database2.cfm  
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Contact your Vermont State Legislator:  http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/legdir2.htm
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Hear live audio streaming of Vt Legislative proceedings on Vermont Public Radio's "Listen to the Legislature" webpage:  http://www.vpr.net/legislature/  
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And, on the National front, you can follow the trail of activity at:  http://www.govtrack.us/  - GovTrack is a noncommercial project unaffiliated with the U.S. Government or any other group. You're welcome to reuse any material on their site. "Transparency in government is key for a healthy democracy. Transparency is achieved through spreading information about government, and making that information accessible to everyday citizens."
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Quote of the Month

We are generally nicer than economists and the mass purveyors of selfishness would have us believe. The best kept secret of Homo sapiens is that when not
corrupted by stupid ideology of one kind or another, or bad parenting, we are sociable, caring, and capable, often, of genuine nobility.
Those who profit greatly from fear, foolishness, and nonsense don't want us to know such things.
- David Orr.

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Editorial
Change the Course
by Annie Dunn Watson
This past month in Montpelier, despite efforts by well-intentioned, hard working citizens and legislators on a number of energy-related bills, the bugle call for retreat seems to have been sounded, at least temporarily.  Now, I understand that legislators have to address the needs of multiple constituents (a local politician, who shall remain nameless, recently called them "customers"). Legislative changes take time to enact; and, I know that, much as they might not want to admit it, fear of losing an election motivates the occasional act of political timidity.  But good heavens, gang, who is going to lead us in facing the many challenges bearing down upon us in a timely manner if you do not find the moral courage and political will to do so?  

Things are not going to get better.  Things are going to get different.  We need visionary leaders, able to see what those differences mean, willing to interpret them unflinchingly for the rest of us, and bold enough to translate them into effective, meaningful laws.  I'm not convinced that a fuel surcharge is going to make Vermont a "less desireable place to do business."  It is when the conversation gets stuck at that level that we lose ground; we are called upon to think beyond that, and all such polarizing remarks.  We are called upon not to create further division, but to approach what seem to be mutually exclusive ends (either/or) with a commitment to discovering mutually inclusive means (both/and).

What we are talking about is the rising costs of energy, whether for use in the home (heating and electricity) or for transportation of individuals and goods.  No one wants to pay more for heating fuel or gasoline.  Increasingly, many Vermonters and their families are hard hit economically, and rely on affordable transportation to keep what jobs they have. Those jobs ensure (to some extent, and among other equally important things) that their homes will be heated in the winter.  Adding gasoline and heating fuel taxes to the already steep burdens caused by poor economic opportunity in a rural state does, indeed, seem unfair (although one should do the math before assuming it is a net burden).  But no matter what we do to avoid any kind of energy-related taxation, the fuel bill is going to climb; peak oil means less oil, and more expensive oil at that.  The ramifications affect more than home heating and prices at the pump.  Call me a Luddite, but I don't agree that avoiding our responsibilities regarding the true costs of transportation and heating are going to answer our economic and energy woes; they are only going to mask them.  

More effort should be made to cultivate localized economic opportunities that pay living wages, improve public transportation throughout the state, increase public education concerning energy use (including gasoline), and encourage telecommuting.  In terms of the economy, the establishment of "green" industries in Vermont will make a difference for some, but we need to do much more.  For starters, we need to increase energy efficiency in EVERY Vermonter's home, and in our commercial and municipal buildings as well; think of the job opportunities (with transferrable skills!) that would be provided by an expanded energy efficiency and weatherization program.  Eventually, we will have to re-vision the way we do all of our business in Vermont.  Essential goods and services will have to be produced closer to home if we really want to reduce transportation and related costs; but that is another essay.
  
Let's develop an energy efficiency program now, as has been proposed in S.94.  Tweak away if you think it isn't quite the right fit, but realize we need to stop pretending we won't all benefit, and don't all have a share in funding it.  We need to come up with use-based, point of sale methods for determining each citizen's share, to make the relationship between use and cost a tangible one.  We need to teach ourselves and our children to conserve the resources we have by increasing efficiency and reducing consumption, plain and simple.  Methods that teach conservation, both carrots and sticks, are what is called for, and for everyone.  We must stop pretending that the world we live in today is the same world we grew up in (for those of us born in the 50s, 60s, and 70s... it is definately NOT the same world!), or that it in any way resembles the world we will live in tomorrow (it doesn't).  Since World War II, human beings have used more natural resources than at any other time in recorded history (see McKibben, Meadows, Heinberg, others). Shouldn't this concern us?  Isn't this an unsustainable trajectory?  Some economists and politicians believe exponential growth in production and consumption will actually lead to more availability of resources, and a healthier natural environment as well. It's a seductive vision; after all, our human cleverness made all that growth possible.  But our human tendency to be shortsighted rendered us blind to the consequences (overshoot, climate change, rising costs, social and global inequity, and more).  Let's use our human cleverness to change, not stay, the course.

Our state and local governments need to demonstrate a commitment to developing transit-oriented, walkable communities, localized economic opportunity and better options for public transportation. I grow weary of politicians who shrug their shoulders and declare public transportation undesireable, as their "customers" still want to drive their cars --- especially here, in Essex, Vermont, an area that could certainly develop better public transportation services.  Last year, our town's planning commission quietly shelved a mixed-use, transit-oriented design proposal for a vacant shopping mall along a congested feeder road to Route 15 --- where, one year later, Lowes is proposing to build a big-box store.  Penny wise, pound foolish.  We need to do more than rubber-stamp the status quo.

I'm not going to give you the reasons why we should do these things.  Instead, I'm going to suggest you read Moshe Braner's comprehensive Commentary on Recent Energy-Related Bills in Vermont, and Jim Moulton's Guest Editorial, a response to Vermont's proposed Fiscal Year 2008 budget (which reduces public transportation funding in spite of the fact that transit ridership in Vermont in fiscal year 2006 rose by over three times the national rate).  Brush up on the background for S.94 (the proposed energy efficiency program) by reading Bob Walker's fine summary in this edition, and take a peek at the Portland, Oregon, Report on Peak Oil - the first of its kind plan at the municipal level to face the facts and act accordingly.  

There is a lot that we can do, once we recognize the challenges and develop the will to meet them.  Let's change the course.
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VPON Monthly News and Views Editorials are now archived on the VPON Community Pages.


 Guest Editorial
Public transportation lacks adequate funding
Published: Tuesday, March 27, 2007, in the Burlington Free Press
By Jim Moulton
As the director of a public transportation provider, I was excited to see this front-page headline in the March 12 Burlington Free Press (Public Transit Ridership Sets Record).

Of course I wondered, "How did Vermont fare compared to the rest of the United States?" When the article noted that the 2.9 percent increase was larger than any seen since 1957, my jaw dropped. Why? Because in Vermont, public transportation ridership in fiscal year 2006 rose by over three times that rate -- 9.3 percent! We weren't performing just a little better than the nation -- we were way ahead.

So, despite this obvious desire for public transportation within our state, why does Vermont's proposed Fiscal Year 2008 budget reduce public transportation funding by over 6.0 percent, from $20.1 million to $18.9 million?

This is difficult to understand. In an era of rising fuel prices, global warming, an aging population and the need for ways to make Vermont more affordable, investment in public transportation should be increasing, not decreasing.

In California, fuel prices have once again passed $3 per gallon and Vermont prices are rising steadily: 30-40 cents in the last month alone. In a state where the average car travels 17,000 miles annually, a Vermonter will soon be spending over $2,500 each year on fuel alone and, with peak oil coming, it will only get worse. Limiting our options by reducing public transportation funding is not making Vermont a more affordable place to live.

In fact, if Vermont expanded its public transportation investment and services, then individuals could save on more than fuel. The annual cost of owning and operating a vehicle here is about $6,000 and, these days, most families need two working adults to make ends meet -- and two cars to get them there. Wouldn't it be great for those families to be able to give up one car and save $6,000 because they had a better bus system to ride?

In the fight against global warming, using public transportation is by far the number one way to reduce carbon emissions. In Vermont, 46 percent of those emissions come from the transportation sector and most is caused by driving to and from work. What is not well-known is that if only four commuters ride the bus, instead of drive cars, then emissions are reduced. In addition, buses with new diesel engine technology actually run 60 times cleaner than buses built in the early 1990's. Vermont should replace its oldest buses with low-emission vehicles instead of allowing them to continue polluting our environment. Without adequate investment in public transportation, however, those older buses remain on the road.

Surprisingly, public transportation is a relatively cheap investment and relatively easy to achieve. Vermont now spends less than $32 per capita on public transportation. For someone whose average one-way commute is 10 miles per day, it would take only one trip per month by bus to have that $32 back in your pocket.

What about the future? Every demographic study about Vermont points to our rapidly aging population. The need for public transportation will only grow as more of us are unable to drive ourselves. If the state is going to be adequately prepared to serve our senior citizens, then public transportation funding will need to increase.

Of course, public transportation will not solve the transportation needs of all Vermonters. But it is clearly solving the needs of an ever-growing number of us and the demand for more is undeniable. With so many benefits to be realized -- economic, social and environ- mental -- I have to ask, "Where is government's commitment to public transportation?"
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Jim Moulton of Middlebury is executive director of Addison County Transit Resources and chairman of the Vermont Public Transportation Association.
NOTE:  Beginning next month, all Guest Editorials will be archived on the VPON Community Pages after publication here.


 Articles
PLEASE NOTE:  Occasionally, an article referred to in one of our stories is no longer available through the link given.  Please contact the original source, or check their archives, for that article.

The VPON Community Pages!
The VPON Community Pages have been created!  This new, interactive area of the website offers visitors a chance to read and, if so desired, engage in discussion of ideas and actions pertaining to peak oil, relocalization, and sustainability.  Registered users can post comments and create their own contents in the Discussion area; members of VPON Regional Groups are invited to create their own pages, and to store documents that may be of use to individuals and groups around the state - and beyond! - in addressing the consequences of Peak Oil. The VPON Community Pages have their own site administrator.  Information about how to contact the administrator and access posting privileges is provided here.  Please note that the VPON Community Pages are a separate area from the main VPON site:  they look and behave a little differently.  Reading the "Purpose" and "Usage Guidelines" will help you find your way around.

From a Peak Perspective:  This Month's Featured Articles on The VPON Community Pages
Commentary on Recent Energy-Related Bills (VT Legislature)
Moshe Braner delivers a comprehensive, no-holds barred examination of recent VT Legislative energy-related proposals.  Braner offers a "big-picture" context for viewing these initiatives (rising energy prices, generally anticipated economic downturn, realities of carbon emissions, the scope of public responsibility), then zeros in on the aims of the bills now being debated at the Statehouse - and the issues they intend to address - in light of this larger context.  Reducing fossil fuels' percentage share in the total energy use is not enough (does not reduce emissions) if we do not reduce the absolute amount of fossil fuels used; read why.  Well-designed taxes should tax "bads" rather than "goods."  What does this mean, and how does it apply to the bills being proposed in the Legislature?  Read about it here.  Whether a surcharge or a tax, the system should be set up so that each citizen making any decision to use, or save, energy resources gets a direct cost feedback. Research has shown that the more visible and immediate that feedback is, the better, in terms of increasing conservation of natural resources, reducing emissions, and lowering overall energy costs.  Efficiency and conservation are not the same thing; and, contrary to what some believe, conservation does not have to mean "freezing in the dark" - in fact, it may be just what we need to do to prevent it.  A surcharge on inefficient vehicles is not necessarily the best way to go:  it does not ensure that drivers, once they pay the surcharge, will drive less; only an actual percentage-based tax on gasoline will accomplish this.  Read Braner's well-reasoned and supported arguments here, if you want to round out your own arguments on what Vermont can do to move forward on the issues of reducing our carbon footprint, creating fair energy use taxation, and grappling with the realities of an oil-depleted future for rich and poor alike.

Henry Swayze of First Branch Sustainability Project discusses the average American household's Fossil Fuel/CO2 Footprint.
How many total tons of CO2 are produced each year by the average American household?  How does that compare to CO2 production per household in the rest of the world?  How many pounds of CO2 are released in a gallon of gasoline?  Can we reduce our CO2 emissions?  Henry draws upon facts generated by the aptly-named Stern Report and figures from the Hinkle Charitable Foundation to offer us a glimpse of our fossil fuel and carbon footprint... as well as some ideas about how these can be reduced.  Various resources are recommended.   Read more on the First Branch Sustainability Project pages.

Top-Level Folders
Discussions - all registered users are welcome to start or join a discussion thread
Regional Groups - VPON local groups are invited to develop pages for group news, events, minutes, shared documents, etc.
Events 

Recent Articles Posted on the Community Pages
Legislative activites in March, by Thomas Weiss
Overview of our carbon footprint by Henry Swayze
Commentary on Recent Legislative Energy-Related Bills
Archive of VPON Monthly News and Views Editorials

Coming Soon
Archive of VPON Monthly News and Views Guest Editorials
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(ed note:  The Community Pages are an open discussion area; contents presented are the sole responsibility of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the ideas, beliefs, or actions of the VPON Network, its member groups, or the VPON website/newsletter editor. )


Climate
Vermont Legislative Activities pertaining to Climate Change
Thomas Weiss' weekly reports on hearings and other activities at the Statehouse include frequent discussion of initiatives to address climate change.  This link will take you to Weiss' reports.  Be sure to check that folder weekly for these helpful announcements and summaries.
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The Global Warming Survival Guide - 51 Ways to Save the Environment
This comes to VPON courtesy of Climate Today... the Editor of Climate Today's comments appear in brackets.
See article here
(Exerpts from the list):
5. Pay the Carbon Tax- Mentions both carbon tax and cap and trade << No defined action. >>
12. Capture the Carbon- Discusses carbon sequestration from coal plants << Coal has other problems. >>
1. Turn Food Into Fuel- Discusses pros and cons of biofuels, with optimism about using wastes
4. Light Up Your City- Gives advantages of using LEDs for city lights- and does tell you to talk to your mayor
6. Ditch the Mansion- Why smaller housing is better << Some references would have been nice. >>
7. Hang Up a Clothes Line- Doing laundry more ecologically- << Of course using a drier is old-fashioned! >>
11. Take Another Look at Vintage Clothes- Points out the embodied energy in new clothing << Buying used for ALL material possessions can reduce CO2 emissions- not just clothing. >>
13. Let Employees Work Close to Home- Presents some quick statistics- important idea  << Drastically reducing ALL transport- not just commuting to work- is critical. >>
19. Buy Green Power, At Home or Away- Idea of green power
24. Just Say No to Plastic Bags- Tells you to BYOB- bring your own bag- YES!
25. Support your local farmer- Eat locally because of petroleum miles, with website- YES!
28. Have a green wedding- Explains being more responsible for a wedding << ALL celebrations and events need to be green- not just weddings. Funerals, birthdays, conventions, etc. >>
35. End the Paper Chase- Advises the use of recycled paper << Good- and ALL purchases need to incorporate recycled! >>
51. Consume Less, Share More, Live Simply- Advises to live simply and consume less << From a lifestyle point of view, the last item is THE most important one! The most wasteful society on this planet needs this message loud and clear. A shame it was last!
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Over the past few months, we have frequently excerpted from this excellent newsletter here on the VPON Monthly page.  The editor of Climate Today does a superior job of staying abreast of climate issues and initiatives around the globe; please consider subscribing to this newsletter --- we can not do justice to the wealth of topics she is covering!!  To subscribe:  send an email with "subscribe" in the subject line to: ClimateToday@aol.com


Gore Warns Congress of 'Planetary Emergency'
Courtesy Climate Today
It was part science class, part policy wonk paradise, part politics and all theater as former Vice President Al Gore came to Congress this past month to insist that global warming constitutes a "planetary emergency" requiring an aggressive federal response. Mr. Gore, accompanied by his wife, Tipper, delivered the same blunt message to a joint meeting of two House committees in the morning and a Senate panel in the afternoon: Humans are artificially warming the world, the risks of inaction are great, and meaningful cuts in emissions linked to warming will happen only if the United States takes the lead. Beneath the carefully groomed surface of the House and Senate committees' scripted production, a rift was evident. Republican committee leaders, including Mr. Barton in the House, and Mr. Inhofe in the Senate, seemed somewhat isolated from their rank-and-file colleagues, who appeared more receptive to Mr. Gore's message and the scientific consensus on climate change. Mr. Gore also proposed a 10-point plan, calling for initiatives like a tax on carbon emissions, a ban on incandescent light bulbs and another on new coal-fired plants that cannot be designed to capture carbon. He also called for a national mortgage program to underwrite the use of home energy-saving technologies. Waving his finger at some 40 House members, he said, "A day will come when our children and grandchildren will look back and they'll ask one of two questions." "Either", he said, "they will ask: what in God's name were they doing? or they may look back and say: how did they find the uncommon moral courage to rise above politics and redeem the promise of American democracy?"  

For Reuters video of Gore; For video showing Gore facing Republican conflict.
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Culture
DON’T JERSEY VT
as seen in "Letters to the Editor" section of Seven Days.
I’m writing this from our LEEDS certifiable office building in Montpelier [“Built to Last,” Seven Days, February 28]. I love the ambient light, thermal slab and minimal AC use in the summer. I get the green part, but green construction does not automatically result in “Vermont’s sustainable future,” because if we keep plunking down green buildings on undeveloped land, we’ll end up in a “built-out” situation like the one New Jersey is facing now. What’s sustainable about that?

Sustainable green construction implies renovation or reclamation of existing structures coupled with a societal commitment to population and housing caps. Otherwise we’ll sustainably green ourselves all the way down to Newark.

Carl Carlson
MONTPELIER
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7 Days for the Earth in the Mad River Valley
April 14-22, 2007
...While global warming is certainly front and center as a threat to our well-being, the (Mad River) Valley is also imperiled environmentally, economically and socially by a host of issues ranging from peak oil and affordable housing to energy and food security.  Taken collectively this set of challenges threatens the very fabric of the Valley and puts our ability to thrive or even survive—our sustainability—at risk.

Efficiency Vermont, Friends of the Mad River, Green Mountain Global Forum, Mad River Chamber of Commerce, Mad River Housing Coalition, Mad River Localvores, Mad River Path, Mad River Sustainability Group, Rural Vermont, and Yestermorrow Design/Build School have entered into a discussion about organizing a series of events to educate, facilitate meaningful dialogues and identify workable local solutions. 

Underlying all of this are two questions.  The first is, what do we need to make the Valley our “Lifeboat” so we not only survive but thrive regardless of what happens elsewhere?  And the second is, how can we be leaders and engage in actions that serve as shining examples for others?  The "7 Days" event will explore and attempt to address these questions.

The event will be organized around the following 5 principles of sustainable living:
•    Live where you work (Associated topics: affordable housing, transportation, telecommuting, flex-time, etc.)
•    Conserve energy and make it where you use it (Associated topics: insulation, lighting systems, renewable energy, etc.)
•    Reduce wastes and process those you do make where you make them (Associated topics: recycling, bulk purchasing, alternative sewage systems, etc.)
•    Grow food where you eat it (Associated topics: farmer’s markets, eating local, agricultural land preservation, transportation, etc.)
•    In all actions respect nature and preserve natural systems (Associated topics: water quality, habitat protection, species restoration, land trusts, etc.)

The event organizers welcome volunteers to help carry out this week-long project; contact Bob Ferris at Yestermorrow Design/Build School (bob@yestermorrow.org) if you can lend a hand.
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World Without Oil
Everyone knows that “someday” there will be less oil than the world needs. What if that day was sooner than you thought? How would your life change? On Monday, April 30, ITVS and the Writerguy design team will launch WORLD WITHOUT OIL, a live interactive month-long alternate reality event that explores this very real possibility. Players are invited to creatively document their lives in the new reality, with blog posts, images, videos or phone calls.

“Alternate reality gaming is emerging as the way for the world to imagine and engineer a best-case-scenario future,” says WORLD WITHOUT OIL’s participation architect, noted futurist Jane McGonigal. “It’s been summed up this way: ‘If you want to change the future, play with it first.” “No one person or small group can hope to capture the complex rippling effects of an oil shock,” adds Creative Director Ken Ecklund, “but the collective imagination can.”

WORLD WITHOUT OIL is an Electric Shadows Project produced by the Writerguy design team, presented by ITVS Interactive and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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Front Porch Forum:  Building Strong Neighborhoods, one Neighbor at a time!
MONTHLY FORUM CHECK IN
By Michael Wood-Lewis, support@frontporchforum.com
Sat, 31 March 2007
Congratulations to every member of Front Porch Forum.  Your participation in this new-style community-building service is producing winning results.  Not only do people continue to join and make great use of their neighborhood forums, but now you all are garnering awards... two this past week!

Preservation Burlington singled out Front Porch Forum for its annual Ray O'Connor Community Improvement Award.  And, the City of Burlington recognized us with a Neighborhood Leadership Award, which puts FPF among wonderful company.  Congratulations and thanks to all who make this possible.

Other news...

1.  Local groups are seeking Front Porch Forum for speaking and training engagements too, including recently the Burlington Sunrise Rotary, the Charlotte Senior Center, and the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington.  I'm glad to address groups like this about how this service is working in various communities... call (540-0069) or email if your group or event is interested.

2.  After just seven months, more than 4,200 local members have signed on to their neighborhood's forum.  Please help spread the word.  Send anyone interested to FrontPorchForum.com to sign up.  If your neighborhood forum has not caught on yet, don't despair!  The simplest way to ignite a spark is to distribute flyers door-to-door... a one-time investment that will likely be very rewarding over time.  Contact me if you'd like details.

3.  Please UPDATE your email address with us if it's changing.  Go to http://frontporchforum.com and log in to get to your Account page (or send a note to our support address).

4.  More than 100 local officials (state reps., city councilors, selectboard members, school commissioners, police representative, etc.) have joined Front Porch Forum.  More are welcome.  At this time, these folks have access to all the neighborhood forums in their jurisdiction/ward/district.

5.  People ask what type of message is "allowed" for them to post... really almost anything.  The point is to engender conversation among neighbors.  Any message that does not significantly detract from our mission of helping neighbors connect and foster community is fine.  Recent examples from the 10,000 messages posted by members to date:

-School bake sale
-Plumber recommendation
-Neighborhood poker game forming
-Dog lost; dog found!
-Free spare Flynn ticket
-Illegal drug activity in neighborhood
-Teenager available to babysit, cut grass
-Summer kid camp offerings
-Car for sale; car sold
-Free used jungle gym
-Seeking B&B recommendations for weekend get-away
-Excavation advice
-Local elected official explains thinking on key vote
-Theft from car and attempted home invasion on same block
-Block party planning underway
-Free portrait offer to neighborhood
-Local broadband advice
-Neighborhood perennial swap
-Lost glasses; found glasses
-First crocus of spring sighted!

-and on and on.

Neighbor-helping-neighbor stories: http://frontporchforum.com/blog/?cat=9
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Leonardo DiCaprio's eco-project has produced two short films, watchable on-line - one on Global Warming and the other on Water Resources.
They can be accessed from DiCaprio's website  or in full-screen at: global warming and water movie.  
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Economy
The goal of life should not be limited to production, consumption, more production and more consumption.
There is no necessary relationship between the level of possession and the level of well-being.
- Thakur S. Powdyel
Bhutanese Ministry of Education
 
Local First Vermont
Local First Vermont is a group of Vermonters committed to supporting Vermont's locally-owned independent businesses. Our vision is a robust and sustainable economy fueling vibrant communities, built on the cornerstone value and practice of thinking "Local First." Thinking Local First extends to every corner of Vermont's economy - from buying locally produced food to hiring a local accountant or buying books from an independent bookstore. Every purchase we make is a vote with our dollars. Are we voting to keep money in-state, in the hands of community-committed local business people, or are we shipping our money - and our economic strength - out of town? These are important questions, and as Vermont looks deeper towards its own future, they will become more critical ones. We will be working hard to raise awareness of the value of locally-owned independent businesses. Local First Vermont welcomes business members who meet the criteria listed on our website. We also welcome support from anyone in the community who wishes to help maintain the uniqueness and livability of our special corner of New England. More information is available here
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Deep Economy
by Bill McKibben (from Bill's website)
In my new book, Deep Economy, I’ve set out to challenge the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, “more” is no longer synonymous with “better”—indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. I want us to think in new ways about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases need not be at odds with the things we truly value.

The time has come to move beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and begin pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with cities, suburbs, and regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. This concept is already blossoming around the world with striking results, from the burgeoning economies of India and China to the more mature societies of Europe and New England. For those who worry about environmental threats, there are solutions to work through the worst of those problems; for those who wonder if there isn’t something more to life than buying, I encourage you to consider your life as an individual and as a member of a larger community.

Deep Economy offers a realistic, if challenging, scenario for a hopeful future. I believe that the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.
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Learn more about Bill, his new book, and where you can order it locally here. 

Vermont Commons' Rob Williams offers this review of Deep Economy.

Exerpts from an interview with Bill spice up a review of his new book in AARP Magazine, May/June 2007 issue ("Live Better With Less", by Mark Matousek).  Talking points included:
    * Once measured to have the happiest citizens in the developed world, the US is now number 23, according to research compiled at U. Leicester;
    * All that material progress - and all the billions of barrels of oil and millions of acres of trees that it took to create it - seems not to have moved the satisfaction meter an inch;
    * Human beings have used more raw materials since World War II than in all previous recorded history;
    * The ability to produce as fast and cheaply as possible has ruined countrysides and abused people and animals.

Perhaps the Baby Boomers will finally get the message? 
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Energy
Renewable energy and energy efficiency can have the most immediate and longest lasting positive effect on energy availability, stable prices, and greenhouse gas emissions.
- from the Congressional letter to President Bush, December, 06


Report on Montpelier Energy Forum, March 5
(Adapted from a description by Ken Jones.)
On a stormy, cold night in early March, 150 people turned out to help Montpelier control its energy future, attending the Montpelier Energy Forum on March 5. Confronted by a combination of economic and environmental realities, the group arrived at an exciting list of possible actions to pursue (ed note: and we share these with the hopes they will inspire similar groups in their own community efforts). At least 12 teams will continue working to improve energy options, expand availability of alternative energy supplies, and reduce the overall use of fossil fuels in the City.

The meeting took place at National Life's headquarters - an appropriate location because of that organization's commitment to reducing energy use. New roof and window installations have resulted in a 30% reduction in fuel oil use, and electricity use has decreased over the past 20 years, even with the addition of office equipment requiring electricity, such as computers.

Mayor Mary Hooper kicked off the meeting, and Planning Commission Chair Ken Jones provided a brief context for the participants to consider. He noted the continued rise of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. In order to slow the changes, American users, with Montpelier possibly taking the lead, need to reduce emissions by 80%. Jones noted that economic reasons support the movement to a new energy future as well. In the past ten years, Vermont has increased its annual expenditure on oil and gasoline by more than $500 million-money that leaves the Vermont economy.

The action teams, along with information about their point people and next meetings, are below. If you want to join an action team and require the information on the next meeting, contact the point person.

Team Name: BIKES
Point person: Carrie Baker Stahler 229-9409 / carrie@onionriver.com and  Sarah Galbraith 229-5985 / sdgalbraith@yahoo.com
Team goal: Increase bike usage in Montpelier (double in two years) and reduce carbon emissions
Initial action steps: Collect and discuss info about existing bike programs
Need info on Bicycle Friendly Communities Program (Becca has powerpoint presentation), SafeKids program (has money for bike infrastructure), info on results of first meeting of Free Ride Bike Co-op, any existing data on bike use in Montpelier

Team Name: COMPOST COMPADRES
Point person: Kate Clemente 229-9383 x302 / schoolcompost@cvswmd.com
Team goal: Set-up a community collection / promoting backyard compost

Team Name: DISTRICT ENERGY
Point person: Rich Sedano rapsedano@aol.com
Team goal: Deploy district energy in Montpelier
Initial action steps: Meet to do mission statement, evaluate state of fact sheet/business plan, hear from downtown prospective customers, longer term mayor, T. Wallis

Team Name:       ENERGY COOPERATIVE
Point Person:     Jon Budreski  jbudreski@solarworksinc.com
Team Goal:        Establish a market for renewable products (i.e. B20) that are not widely available/accessible.
Initial Actions:    Research B20 / Other Coops / Financing Options / Costs of Fuel Distribution / Invite Noatak (per Leigh).   

Team Name: GREEN BUILDING ORDINANCE /CODE / INCENTIVE GROUP
Point person: Jay White 793-1850 / jayrcwa@vermontel.net
Team goal: Research best practices, explore tax increase for vacant buildings, explore time of sale energy requirements 

Team Name: GREEN BUILDING RETROFIT
Point person: Donald deVoil 229-5919 /  devoild@ccv.edu
Team goal: Reduce residential energy usage by 20%
Initial action steps: Develop educational clearinghouse for homeowner resources

Team Name: GREENEST CITY IN USA
Point person: Thesa Murray-Clasen 229-5917 / mtme@together.net
Team goal: Will make energy plan recommendation to Gwen's 18 month planning team (based upon town meeting notes)'Initial action steps: Synthesize tonight's notes, circulate to Greenest City in USA team for edits, forward final draft recommendation to Gwen for planning committee review, Greenest City members will join planning committee effort

Team Name: LIGHTBULBS
Point person: Catherine Bowes 225-5985 / <mailto:bowes@nwf.org>bowes@nwf.org
Team goal: Replace lightbulbs!
Initial action steps: See flipchart

Team Name: LOCAL ENERGY GENERATION
Point person: Gwen Hallsmith 223-9506 / ghallsmith@montpelier-vt.org
Team goal: Make Montpelier energy self-sufficient
Initial action steps: Convene a set of informational meetings in neighborhoods around the city on topics such as micro-hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, etc

Team Name: LOCAL FOOD
Point person: Johanna Miller, 223-2328 ext. 112 or jmiller@vnrc.org
Team goal: Increase production and consumption of locally grown food while at the same time decreasing the consumption of foods from far-off places.
Initial action steps: Sift through all the good brainstormed ideas from the Energy Summit and identify the 2-3 initial actions to take (and lead people to organize etc).

Team Name: MONTPELIER TRANSPORTATION
Point person: Katie Joseph 774-272-3511 / kajoseph@vt.edu
Team goal: Transportation within Montpelier - improved traffic flows, transit center
Initial action steps: Prioritize, meet, establish goals, figure out who to connect with (planning committee, city council, etc)

Team Name: REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION
Point person: Bill Finnegan 238-9355 / wmfinnegan@gmail.com
Team goal: More regional buses, incentives
Initial action steps: Organize meeting, figure out priorities, explore bus/train/other options  
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Background for Building Efficiency Bill (S.94)
from Bob Walker of SERG
 
1. Cost of Energy and Global Warming
Heating our homes and businesses is the largest contributor to Vermont's
global warming pollution after transportation.  Adding insult to injury
it is costing Vermonters too much.  In 2002 a gallon of home heating oil
cost $1.18. In 2006 it cost $2.59, an increase of 114% in just 4 years.
The cost of heating fuel increased faster than gasoline (90%); health
care (33%); homestead school taxes (11.28%). Something must be done to
reduce heating bills over the long-term.

2. Governor Douglas
The Douglas administration issued a report stating that we could save
over 3 dollars in reduced fuel cost for every dollar invested in making
our homes and businesses more efficient. The study estimated $486
million dollars in savings for Vermonters over 10 years. The Douglas
administration has made no proposal to fund this program.

3. Building Efficiency Bill (S.94)
S. 94 would allow Efficiency Vermont, which has helped thousands of
Vermont homes and businesses lower their electricity bills, also help
them lower their heating and hot water bills. This new help would be
funded by a tax on oil and propane companies that is 1% of current
heating fuel sales. The 1% gross receipts tax would raise an estimated
$4.5-$5 million dollars a year. If the oil and propane companies passed
this on to consumers it would be $20 a year for the average homeowner
spending $2000 on heat.

4. Reduced Heating Bills
Most homes that invest in comprehensive building efficiency reduce their
heating bills by at least 25%. That means an annual savings of $500 a
year. Some Vermont homes, because our buildings are so old, can save
more than $1000 dollars every year after efficiency. Commercial
buildings in Vermont's traditional downtowns can reap even greater
benefits.

5. Keep $ in Vermont and Create Jobs
This is a jobs bill, probably the best jobs bill in this session.
Dollars shipped out of state to import oil and propane produce almost no
in-state employment. Dollars spent on insulating homes, installing new
windows, upgrading furnaces, etc will employ our neighbors instead of
sending Vermont's $$ to multi-national oil companies and other nations.

6. Impact on low-income Vermonters
The state's Weatherization Program, like Efficiency Vermont, is a great
success, and it has helped thousands of low-income households. We have a
lot of experience to build on as we expand the program to serve more
households. We need energy-efficiency programs to enlist the interest of
landlords and to upgrade tenant-occupied housing, lowering their heat
bills and improving life safety. 

ACTION OPTION -- INSTRUCTIONS TO SUPPORT S.94 VIA THE WEB:
Please make your letter personal by adding in your own thoughts and concerns. Every letter makes a difference, but customized letters have the greatest effect! Go to the following URL:
----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----
Dear Governor,

I urge you to support bill S.94. Creating an energy efficiency
program for heating would help Vermonters fight global warming
while lowering our energy bills and helping make our homes and
workplaces more comfortable.

About one third of our global warming pollution comes from the
fossil fuels we burn to heat our homes and businesses. Research
by your administration indicates that this measure would cut
nearly two million tons of global warming emissions and
estimates that Vermonters could save $486 million dollars over
the next 10 years.

This bill will create hundreds of new jobs in the contracting,
plumbing, and construction trades. It also means that up to
$100 million dollars over the next decade will remain in the
state and support Vermont's economy. It's a win-win for Vermont
and the nation.

Please support S. 94 to protect our environment and support our
economy.

Sincerely...
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The Peak Oil Crisis: The Portland Report         
By Tom Whipple       
Thursday, 15 March 2007    
Last week Portland, Oregon became the first governmental body in the US to not only acknowledge that imminent peak oil is a reality, but also to publish a plan as to what the city should be doing to cope. Breaking new ground has both its perils and its rewards. The peril is that you have no guidelines to the road ahead. The advantage is that there is no standard of comparison so your efforts instantly become the textbook to mitigating the effects of peak oil at the local level.

As someone who is familiar with the literature and follows the peak oil story on a daily basis, I can report that the folks on the Portland Peak Oil Task Force have produced a succinct, outstanding report that should be read by every local official everywhere. While there will naturally be many local variations, Portland’s approach to the problem contains much that seems universally applicable.
Read more here.

See the full pdf of report (85 pgs).
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First Branch Sustainability Project Update on Solar Water Heater Campaign
First Branch held a very successful meeting last Saturday.  135 attending, 30-40 up for taking action soon.  We plan to do one more meeting and then move on to other projects.  If you are interested in having our PowerPoints and learning our methodology, please contact us.  If we are successful in meeting our goal of 50 instillations they will save 9,000 barrels of oil over 20 years.  Contact Henry at:  swayze (at) pngusa (dot) net  and visit the First Branch Sustainability Project on the VPON Community Pages.
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Cows on the Moove... Press Release from CVPS' Cow Power Team
Contact: Steve Costello (802) 747-5427 (802) 742-3062 (pager)
For Immediate Release: March 22, 2007
Green Mountain Dairy Farm joins CVPS Cow Power™
    SHELDON – Green Mountain Dairy, a family farm owned and operated by brothers Brian and Bill Rowell, has joined CVPS Cow Power™ (NYSE:CV) as the program’s third manure-to-energy producer – just as the program has earned national accolades.
    “Dairy farming is in crisis all across this country.  Milk prices are far too low, around what farmers were paid 30 years ago,” Brian Rowell said.  “We view Cow Power as an opportunity to diversify our farm business, which is critical to our long-term success and keeping our land in productive agriculture.
    “The Cow Power program could prove to be a crucial link to survival for many farms, and will help sustain agriculture in Vermont as we know it.  Without it, we fear for the family farm.”
Bill Rowell said the environmental benefits of Cow Power were also critical to their decision to join the program.
    “We face serious environmental challenges in the farm industry, but Cow Power will help us, and Vermont, address many of them,” Bill Rowell said.  “This will improve our manure management, reduce greenhouse gases, and provide a renewable energy choice to CVPS customers.
    “We feel that Cow Power will vastly improve our economic outlook, while significantly improving the environment that is so critical to Vermont,” he said.
Green Mountain Dairy’s 1,050 cows are expected to produce 1.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to power 300 to 400 CVPS Cow Power™ customers.  Customers who enroll pay a premium of 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.
    To generate electricity, manure is held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow’s stomach. Bacteria digest the volatile components, creating methane while killing pathogens and weed seeds.  The methane fuels a generator, and the energy is put onto CVPS’s power lines for delivery to customers.  The remaining waste can be separated into solids and liquid. The solids can be used as cow bedding or composted for home and garden use, while the liquid, which is virtually odorless, will be spread as fertilizer on the farm as it has been for hundreds of years.

The environmental benefits are significant.  They include:
    Improved manure management, and air and water quality.
    The destruction of methane, which is roughly 20 times worse than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
    Significant reduction of pathogens, including e coli, and weed seeds, which may reduce the need for herbicides.
    Reduced fossil fuel use through the use of generator waste heat to produce hot water.
    Replacement of sawdust bedding with dry solids, and reduced fossil fuels for hauling sawdust from as far away as Canada.
    Virtual elimination of odor when spreading liquid manure on fields.
 
CVPS Named Finalist for Edison Award, Industry’s Highest Honor
    Green Mountain Dairy’s first generation coincides with a major CVPS Cow Power™ honor.  The Edison Electric Institute has named Central Vermont and the Cow Power program a finalist for the industry’s highest honor, the Edison Award, along with Great Plains Energy, ITC Holdings Corp., and Northeast Utilities.  The winner will be announced June 17 at EEI's annual convention in Denver.
    “These companies have demonstrated leadership by addressing some of the important issues our industry faces, including emissions reduction, new fuel development, infrastructure improvements and demand growth,” EEI President Tom Kuhn said.  “Their efforts reflect the dedication to service and innovative spirit that embody our industry.”
    “Central Vermont Public Service has developed its trademarked CVPS Cow Power™, the nation’s first farm-to-consumer renewable energy choice based on biogas fuel derived from cow manure,” EEI said in a statement.  “The renewable energy program is one of the fastest-growing in the U.S. and offers a win-win solution for farmers, customers, the environment, the utility and the industry. Benefits include helping to resolve the significant environmental challenges relating to manure disposal, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the financial outlook for Vermont family farms, and generating extensive, positive national and international media coverage for the process and the industry.”
CVPS President Bob Young said he was pleased with the honor, but said it was the result of a cooperative spirit that touched everyone involved. 
    “CVPS Cow Power™ would not be a success without an incredible collaboration between CVPS employees, state and federal agriculture officials and utility regulators, farm owners, environmental groups, and more than 3,800 CVPS customers so far,” Young said.  “Our hope is that Cow Power continues to be an example for other states, other utilities and other customers who want to do something for the environment and the farm economy.”
    Skimmer Hellier, who co-owns Stark Mountain Woodworking with Louis Dupont in New Haven, Vt., recently enrolled his business in Cow Power to support the environment, renewable energy and farming.  With more than 60,000 kilowatt-hours of energy use annually, enrollment will cost Stark Mountain about $2,400 per year.
Stark Mountain produces one-of-a-kind furniture pieces, museum displays, interior millwork and historic restorations, and is closely tied to the Vermont landscape and environment.
    “When we take on a job, we focus on every detail, whether it’s in our workmanship or how we interact with the environment,” Hellier said.  “We pride ourselves on the work we do, and our relationship with the customer, the state of Vermont and the environment.
    “Enrolling in Cow Power ties all those things together.  By enrolling, we feel we’re doing the right thing for the company, for the customer and for Vermont.”
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Peak Coal?
Burning the Furniture, by Richard Heinberg
MuseLetter #179 / March 2007
A soon-to-be-released study by the Energy Watch Group in Germany on the future of global coal supplies has implications so surprising and far-reaching that energy policymakers may take years to digest it. This essay is intended to help speed that process. The report’s central conclusions are that minable global coal reserves are much smaller than is commonly thought, and that a peak in world coal production is likely within only ten to fifteen years.

I will first offer some context for appreciating these conclusions, by way of some general information about global coal usage. Then I will describe the basis for the report’s conclusions, and finally will attempt to draw out some of the implications (not discussed by the report’s authors) for world energy supply and climate policy.  Read the article here.
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Renewable Energy Vermont's Links to this past month's Notable Sites and Stories
visit REV at:  http://www.revermont.org
(These were not in at time of publication; please check back in the next few days. - ed.)
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Food
Localvores/local eaters/local birds - birds of a feather, let's flock together!
(ed note:  Update on this legislation follows... )
New Vermont legislation (H.522)  is in the works associated with the Ag. Bill to allow the sale of "uninspected" poultry at Farmers' Markets and restaurants up to 1000 birds.  This puts Vermont more in line with other states, and with USDA regulations that exempt growers from inspection up to 1000 birds.  This legislation has qualifiers and is being offered by the House Agriculture committee thanks in part to Addison County representative Will Stevens, and local representative Chris Bray.

This legislation begins to restore the opportunity to legitimately purchase/sell poultry openly from local small scale growers. It also asserts the reponsibility of the grower and the chef to produce healthy and healthful foods (on a limited scale).  Consequently this new legislation would expand the availability of organic poultry, Misty Knoll, Stonewood and Adams Farm all inspected but not using organic methods.  I am aware of only one slaughterhouse in the state that accepts birds for inspected custom slaughter, a cost prohibitive option, as is the option of building an on farm inspected facility (the reason there are so few).

With that for an introduction, it may take some encouragement to get this legislation through.  Our governor immediately stated his opposition.  On an individual level please consider offering support to this effort.

If anyone is interested in more details on any aspect of raising and slaughtering poultry on a small scale please contact me.  I am also sure Will or Chris can offer all the nuanced details on who exactly is in charge of food safety rules and farm regulations and how the legislature works within this.  (ed note:  you can also find out how the legislature works with this at Rural Vermont Website.)

Thank you for this forum.
Scott Greene
Singing Cedars Farmstead
Orwell, VT 05760
802.948.2062

UPDATE:   THE CHICKEN CAN CROSS THE ROAD!
POULTRY REGS PASS THE HOUSE WITH UNANIMOUS VOTE!
(update courtesy of Rural Vermont)
A big THANK YOU to all of you who called, wrote letters, testified, and volunteered to help with the effort to pass H.522, the omnibus agriculture bill, with the poultry provisions intact! Late Thursday afternoon, the full House passed this bill with a UNANIMOUS vote of 119-0. This vote was a result of YOUR CALLS! Just before the vote on the whole bill, an amendment was offered that would have taken restaurants out of the exemption for selling farm-processed poultry. This amendment was soundly defeated with a 22-65 vote. Many legislators indicated that their vote was a direct result of hearing from their constituents that the poultry provisions were an important part of the bill.

Although the House vote is a significant victory for the bill, we still have a long way to go. This week, the bill will begin its journey through the Senate...

1) WRITE SOME THANK YOU NOTES! Please take some time now to write some thank you notes. These notes are critical to ensuring our long-term success in the statehouse, and they are also a way for you to let our legislators know that they are appreciated when they stand up for Vermont family farmers.  119 Representatives voted for this bill; find out if yours was among them, and send a note of thanks.

2) VISIT THE RURAL VERMONT WEBSITE to find out more about the bill, and what you can do to help get it through the Senate.  A PUBLIC HEARING has been SCHEDULED at the Statehouse as the bill begins the second leg of its journey:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH
10 AM - NOON
ROOM 11 (first floor)
You are invited to speak out for h.522, the Omnibus Agriculture Bill, and particulary Sections 7 & 8 of this bill, which would allow farmers raising fewer than 1000 birds to sell poultry processed on the farm (and not inspected) from the farm, at farmers markets, and to restaurants. You can get a copy of the bill at www.ruralvermont.org, as well as a factsheet detailing Sections 7 & 8, and another factsheet summarizing the whole bill. You can also call 223-7222 for more information, or email amy@ruralvermont.org. You will have 2 or 3 minutes to speak, and you can sign up to speak when you arrive. Written comments are also ok.

3) JOIN RURAL VERMONT! If you are not already a member of Rural Vermont, please consider joining today. Our members not only take action to achieve our goals, but their financial support helps us to make sure the work gets done every day to move toward our vision of living soils, thriving farms, and healthy communities. You can join by calling 802-223-7222, or mailing a check to Rural Vermont, 15 Barre Street, Ste. 2, Montpelier, VT  05602. Our dues are a sliding scale - any amount you can offer will really help!
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More on our friends, the Bees...
1.  Are GM Crops Killing Bees?
See article here.
A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.  In the United States, bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor. In an article in its business section in late February, the New York Times calculated the damage US agriculture would suffer if bees died out. Experts at Cornell University in upstate New York have estimated the value bees generate -- by pollinating fruit and vegetable plants, almond trees and animal feed like clover -- at more than $14 billion.

2.  Bad time for beekeepers
See article here.
... The hot topic right now is Colony Collapse Disorder, which was first reported in November and is rapidly killing bee populations across the country. Strangely, affected hives still contain stocks of honey and bees that can brood, but those that die leave the hive beforehand. One possible theory, he said, is that low-level exposure to certain pesticides has lowered bees' immune systems and exposed them to more common illnesses. Some problems, such as unusual winter weather, are easier to explain. Typically, bees hibernate through the season, saving most of their honey supply for the spring. For the last few winters, Connecticut's warm weather has kept them awake, and they're cutting into their food early. When it runs out, they die, and beekeepers have to order replacement bees in the spring. The weather has a great influence...
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Health
Media Lit - It's Good for You!
Read article here.
Advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, beauty products and fast food won't fool the Shelburne Community School students who recently completed a study of the media and how it targets young people.
...
About 40 middle school students at the Shelburne Community School participated in the program, which was led by Champlain College professor of history and media studies Rob Williams. He said it's important to teach students how the media work so they can make healthy choices.
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Peak Oil Medicine Website
Peak Oil Medicine was established by Dr Paul Roth, a medical professional from Australia. He works in family medical practice and also has post-graduate qualifications in western-style (evidence based) acupuncture and integrative medicine. He is concerned about the looming effects of peak oil, and has been environmentally-minded since his teenage years, when he first joined the Australian Conservation Foundation. He invites you to read and comment on his posts, and to use them as a starting point for your own peak oil ponderings.
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(ed note: It would be great to hear from folks who are working on local health initiatives... contact us with your resources and stories!)


Transportation

Commuting by train or bus, when that choice is available, will make the biggest difference. Consider the average round trip to work — 23 miles. In the average sedan,
which gets 23 miles to the gallon, that is 250 gallons of gas a year and about 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
- Matthew L. Wald, NYTimes, 12/30/06

VT Statehouse Hearing on Support for Public Transportation
Tuesday, April 3, 6-9 pm
At the Vermont State House
The House Transportation Commitee is considering a proposal to provide more support for public transportation in Vermont by adding a fee to the purchase of the most gas-guzzling cars and trucks. VPIRG has testified in support of the proposal because it will cut global warming pollution, help close a $150 million dollar shortfall in the Governor's transportation budget, and give consumers an incentive to choose more efficient vehicles. We hope you will join VPIRG and the House Transportation Committee for a public hearing on this proposal.  If you can't make it, please click the link above to email the transportation commitee and support the proposal. For more information contact Drew Hudson at 223-8421x4787 or drew@vpirg.org
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Update from Idle-Free Vermont
from Wayne Michaud
Idle-Free VT has a new email address: info@idlefreevt.org   Although the old email address is still active, you're encouraged to update.

LEGISLATIVE. Currently one bill has advanced. S.13: The idling of motor vehicles on school property, passed in the Senate and is now in House Education. For a current overall assessment of the idling bills, visit: http://idlefreevt.org/legislative.index.html

BUSINESS IDLE-FREE. After the 2007 legislative session ends, Idle-Free VT's main concentration will be a business awareness campaign: Business Idle-Free. http://idlefreevt.org/business.index.html Idle-Free VT is seeking grant money for this initiative. A grant request will be submitted to the New England Grassroots Environment Fund by May 1.

Idle-Free VT welcomes Dave Polow of Hyde Park and Tom Piper of South Burlington as Business Idle-Free coordinators.

Idle-Free VT also welcomes the endorsement of the Sierra Club, Vermont Chapter and Denis Rydjeski of Springfield, Political Chair of the Sierra Club, Vermont Chapter as an advisor.

CITIZENS IDLE-FREE. Unfortunately, due to time limitations, Idle-Free VT will not be able to participate directly in this effort. This is the chance for an organization or individual to spearhead a very worthy awareness campaign that will improve air quality and lower carbon emissions in Vermont. Idle-Free VT can assist in setting it up and providing materials. For details on what is envisioned, visit: http://idlefreevt.org/citizens.index.html

MEDIA. Check the latest Vermont idling news including a letter from Governor Jim Douglas, and the idling awareness activities of students from the Compass School in Windham County. http://idlefreevt.org/mediaother.index.html

Thank you,
Wayne
IDLE-FREE VT
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Updates from Vermont Clean Cities Program (excerpts only)
To subscribe to VT Clean Cities Newsletter: send a blank email to clean-cities@snellingcenter.org with "subscribe" in the subject line.

Fuels: Hydrogen and biofuels research grant for UVM
University of Vermont's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences has received a $700,000 grant for transportation research focused on the adoption and use of hydrogen and bio-based fuels. Supported projects will include optimizing safety and operations of future hydrogen fuel networks in cold climates, creating electric power for hybrid vehicles with farm bio-waste; and developing nanostructured materials for hydrogen fuel cells. [Source: UVMs The View; article on the hydrogen project: Times Argus]
 
Fuels: Biodiesel On-Farm Production in Shaftsbury
An aging dairy farm is breaking ground growing test plots of oil-producing seed crops to make its own fuel in Shaftsbury. UVM Extension and UVM’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture have been providing technical assistance. [Source: UVM]
 
Fuels: Biodiesel and basketball
Vermont's own American Basketball Association (ABA) basketball team, the Frost Heaves, ride a biodiesel-powered bus. Sports Illustrated mentions the fact in a recent article here (on page 3). The team opens the playoffs this Saturday in Burlington with the League's best record – is it the fuel? 
 
Alternative Modes: Bus commuting
Ridership on the inter-county LINK Express bus services just keep growing. This corresponds with national trends in increasing bus ridership. [Sources: Seven Days, Burlington Free Press]

Fuels: Veg oil and maple syrup
A Westminster maple syrup producer is pioneering the use of vegetable oil from fast food restaurants to power his sugaring operations. The project got off the ground with a grant from the Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NE SARE), whose grant deadlines are typically in November; one is coming up in May. [Sources: Brattleboro Reformer, NE SARE ]
 
Fuels: Biofuel activities
A recent article summarizes many of the exciting farm-based biofuel initiatives happening in Vermont, including sunflower ventures in Randolph Center, Newbury, and Westfield, a passive solar biodiesel production facility, an Alburgh design that produces electricity and biodiesel using a crop digester and algae, and a *proposed* mobile seed-pressing unit that travels to farms. Organizations which have facilitated some of these activities are the Vermont Biofuels Association and the UVM Extension Service.  [Source: Times Argus]
 
Fuels: Biodiesel plant opens soon
Biocardel's Swanton plant is set to open at the end of the month. The biodiesel will be sold to local fuel blenders. Annual production is expected to be 4 million gallons and increase to 12 million by 2009. [Source: UPI ]