Current News

by John McClaughry A popular commitment among candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for President is a declaration of the year in which the United States must be made to achieve “net -zero carbon dioxide emissions”. Joe Biden vowed to get us there by 2050. Andrew Yang bid 2049, and Corey Booker offered 2045. Bernie Sanders’ entry is 71% net-zero by 2030. 

It’s generally harmless when politicians make extravagant promises about things they say they can make happen 30 years from now, when most of them (at least Biden and Sanders) will be dead. But let’s overlook that, and examine just what steps the nations of the world would have to take to achieve that global 2050 net-zero target.

Vermont Business Magazine Spineology Inc, an innovator in anatomy-conserving spine surgery, has announced that John Chi, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Neurosurgical Spinal Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, presented 24-month outcomes data from Spineology’s SCOUT clinical trial at last week’s Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Study sites included the University of Vermont.

The SCOUT study (Spineology Clinical Outcomes Trial), conducted under an FDA-approved IDE protocol, is a prospective, multi-center, non-randomized performance goal investigation designed to evaluate safety and effectiveness outcomes in instrumented lumbar interbody fusion procedures for the treatment of degenerative disc disease (DDD).

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today met with the fifth-grade class at JFK Elementary in Winooski to discuss the legacy of Susan B. Anthony, the history of women’s voting rights, and civil disobedience. Today’s discussion is in partnership with the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission’s nationwide campaign to teach kids about the 19^th Amendment, which was added to the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is empowering Vermont businesses with an app that lets them name their price for renewable power, generated by Vermonters. Now, companies who join this new pilot program can power their business with 100 percent renewable energy by buying it using GMP’s Vermont Green app. 

Vermont Business Magazine Putting their money where their faith is, the Society of Saint Edmund in late July announced a $500,000 gift to Saint Michael’s College, challenging alumni and friends of the Colchester college to match those funds for a total gift of $1 million to secure the dedication of an existing-yet-unnamed campus residence hall in honor of the beloved late campus minister, Father Michael P Cronogue, SSE, who died in October 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine The “American Dream” of homeownership and financial independence is a hallmark of middle-class life. But earning and saving up enough money to comfortably afford a down payment and reduce financial stress has become increasingly difficult. Some states, however, offer better conditions for middle class families. In a new study, national research firm SmartAsset looked at metrics related to income, jobs, taxes and homeownership to find the best states for the middle class and Vermont ranks in the seventh spot. This is by far the highest ranking anywhere in the Northeast.

Vermont Business Magazine ’Tis the season for gift-giving and VSAC’s new Gift of College gift card is a game-changer in giving a gift that makes a difference in a child’s future. Vermont Student Assistance Corp, which oversees Vermont’s 529 college savings plan, is partnering with Giftofcollege.com, a registry for online gifts to 529 accounts, to supply the gift cards to Vermont locations of Kinney Drugs and Cumberland Farms.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Tech has announced that the college ranks first in the state for return on investment, according to a national report published last week. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce just released their First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges report, which is the institute’s attempt to quantify the value of an education in the short and long term. 

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine The City of Burlington is defined by its waterfront, and its waterfront is defined by the work of Melinda Moulton. Moulton has restored, built or rebuilt some of the waterfront’s most iconic structures, including a stunning restoration of the 1916 Union Station at the foot of Main Street. All the while, she has been proving that you can do well by doing good — really. However, life sometimes circles ‘round and bites you on the butt. Long an outspoken champion of commuter rail, Moulton is now fighting the railroads to preserve her legacy.

by Representative Pattie McCoy As the beginning of the 2020 legislative session approaches, Vermonters should be aware that a carbon tax is being revived--again. This isn’t hype or hysteria about the prospect of something that may be proposed. Rather, this is actively being pushed and pursued by Vermont elected officials and interest groups under the guise of a “fee” or “surcharge”.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General T.J. Donovan joined a coalition of states to file a lawsuit opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) attempt to revoke portions of a waiver it previously granted to the State of California permitting the state to implement its greenhouse gas (GHG) and zero emission vehicle (ZEV) standards. Friday’s action, filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, is part of the states’ ongoing fight to protect California’s Advanced Clean Car Standards. The California standards, which are more protective than those established by the federal government, are followed, in whole or in part, by 13 other states – including Vermont. They are a key part of state-level efforts to protect public health, clean air, and the environment.

Vermont Business Magazione Retail prices for 267 brand-name drugs commonly used by older adults surged by an average of 5.8% in 2018, more than twice the general inflation rate of 2.4%, according to new AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) data released by the local Vermont chapter Thursday. The annual average cost of therapy for one brand-name drug ballooned to more than $7,200 in 2018, up from nearly $1,900 in 2006.