dusher's blog
Government Dependency
A friend sent the following information. Note the data is 2007 pre-recession. The dependency can only be higher now.
This exemplifies the underlying belief of those of us at VEH: Government
spending has outstripped the private sector tax base. I suspect the
data for Vermont would show even more government dependency than the
national data... certainly not indicative of a healthy economy. Of greater concern, when people depend on the government for their livlihood, an erosion of freedom is certain to follow.
The Practical Limits of Wind and Solar Electricity
Willem Post, an energy consultant, provides the following analysis of the frailities and difficulties of deploying solar and wind generated electricity. He is particulary focused on the enormous challenges of balancing the load on transmission grids when these variable sources are added.
He points to Denmark's experience, recount's France's successful and relatively inexpensive clean energy policy and exposes the shortcomings of VPIRG's recent publication that downplays/ignores the realities of managing an electric grid with large amounts of variable energy inputs
This is worth a read to understand the real-world issues that 'green' activists often ignore in their misplaced passion to close Vermont Yankee.
Jobs, Jobs, Private Sector Jobs... Continued Losses
The Burlington Free Press (Nov. 21, 2009) states:
Legislature Opted for 2008 Power Play; Massive Budget Deficits Ahead
Emerson Lynn, editor and publisher of the St. Albans Messenger, recently published this editorial describing the Legislature's failure to make tough decisions concerning the budget in the 2009 session. At VEH, we had been beating that drum throughout the last Legislative session. The problem was plain to see, yet Legislative leadership chose not to deal with it adequately
Because the Legislature failed its fiscal responsibility, prefering the power play of overriding the Governor's budget veto, they now face in the 2010 session the pain that Mr. Lynn describes:
Legislature is Impediment to Rational Electricty Planning
I attended the Associated Industries of Vermont annual meeting yesterday. The focus was on energy, particularly electricity. We heard from Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), Entergy (Vermont Yankee), Green Mountain Power and a panel the responded to the issues raised in both presentations.
Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Commission Should Take a Lesson from California
California Tax Commission Releases Ground-Breaking Plan - WSJ.com:
Our own Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission created by the Legislature in the 2009 session would do well to consider this recommendation by a similar group in California. Vermont, on a much smaller scale, has many of the same problems and underlying culture/ideologies driving the painful deficits that are staring us in the face in the next 2-3 years.