Current News

By Deb Markowitz, Vermont Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources Heat waves, heavy rainstorms, floods. That is the long term forecast for the Northeast as a result of global climate change. The National Climate Assessment, issued last week by the White House, provides scientific information about how climate change is impacting different regions of the country and different sectors of the economy.

This comprehensive report, developed with help from hundreds of the nation’s top experts on climate change, tells us in unprecedented detail that climate change is not some future threat. It is already here, and it is affecting not just Vermont, but every part of our country and every sector of our economy. The report makes it clear that urgent action is needed to combat the threats from climate change and to ensure that our families and communities are resilient to these threats.

President Obama announced last week an expanded energy efficiency initiative that Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) has championed in Congress. Over the next two years the federal government will double from $2 billion to $4 billion the amount of energy efficiency work being performed in federal buildings around the country.

The initiative utilizes a public/private partnership known as “performance contracting” to retrofit federal buildings around the country at no additional cost to the taxpayer. Energy service companies and utilities performing the work are paid out of the savings they achieve rather than through additional appropriations.

Valener Inc (Valener) (TSX: VNR), the public investment vehicle in Gaz Métro Limited Partnership (Gaz Métro), has reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Gaz Métro owns Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas systems. Recurring net income attributable to common shareholders totalled$29.1 million ($0.77 per common share), up $5.1 million or 21.3% compared with the same period last year. For the first six months of fiscal 2014, it totalled $44.9 million ($1.19 per common share), up $6.6 million or 17.2% year over year.

Each year, more than 75,000 visitors enjoy the natural resources and recreational opportunities offered at Vermont’s 863-acre Waterbury Reservoir. Little River State Park, Waterbury Center State Park and the surrounding forest land offer visitors access to boating, swimming, paddling, fishing, camping and hiking.

“Waterbury Reservoir is one of the most popular lakes in our state park system,” said Susan Bulmer, Northeast Parks Regional Manager for Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (VDFPR). “As stewards of state land and the parks, our department is responsible for conserving and managing the natural resources within our parks while providing a safe recreational experience for visitors.”

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the state last week calling on the Shumlin administration to come up with money to implement the Lake Champlain cleanup plan. “Turning a good plan into reality hinges on getting more staff and more money for the core work of this plan,” the letter read. “Vermont will need to commit state resources to get the programs up and running.”

In order to comply with the Clean Water Act, Vermont must reduce phosphorus loading into Lake Champlain by 36 percent, the feds say. The state is working with the EPA to draft a new Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to set phosphorus pollution targets by late summer.

Phosphorus from agricultural and stormwater runoff has been linked to frequent toxic algae blooms in parts of Vermont’s largest lake.

Seven initiatives -- including two lecture series and five projects -- have been selected by UVM’s Clean Energy Fund (CEF) Committee for 2014-2015. The CEF is designed to advance clean and renewable energy on campus through research, education and infrastructure. The fund is supported by a self-imposed student fee of $10 per student per semester, generating about $225,000 per year. This year’s initiatives, approved for funding by the vice president of finance, total $152,844.

At the Alchemist Cannery today in Waterbury, Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) unveiled a two-prong bipartisan effort to block a proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that would likely end the longstanding practice of Vermont brewers providing nutritious and cost effective spent grain to farmers to feed their livestock. The spent grain would otherwise be dumped in landfills or composted at a significant cost to brewers.

The proposed rule would impose burdensome new requirements on brewers, including onerous record keeping, testing, and process requirements. For example, it would require brewers to undertake the costly process of drying and and prepackaging spent grain before it could be delivered to farmers.

As a part of the continued effort to tackle opiate abuse in Vermont, Governor Peter Shumlin, in partnership with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) and the United Ways of Vermont, announced today the Governor’s Community Forum on Opiate Addiction, to be held at the State House on Monday, June 16. The purpose of the forum will be to bring together leaders from different sectors of the community and share community-based solutions to tackle opiate addiction.

“I proposed this Forum in my State of the State Address to lawmakers in January, and we are now prepared to bring Vermonters from across the spectrum to the State House to hear about ways communities are pulling together to improve prevention and treatment, as well as law enforcement, to tackle this threat,” the governor said.

Governor Peter Shumlin today signed into law legislation protecting the identities of ‘whistleblowers,’ those who step forward to report suspected violations of law, waste, fraud or abuse of authority by public officials or employees. The legislation was proposed by State Auditor of Accounts Doug Hoffer, who was concerned that under current law he could be legally compelled to disclose the identities of whistleblowers if requested. He sought the legislative change to protect the confidentiality of people who come to his office with concerns about potential mismanagement or worse in their agencies or by government contractors.

“We take the protection of whistleblowers very seriously. Nevertheless, the possibility of public identification could have a chilling effect on reports of fraud or misconduct,” Shumlin said. “I want to hear about any problems in state government, and this change ensures that employees will feel more comfortable coming forward with that information.”

WCAX reporter Ali Freeman will become WCAX-TV’s new weekday morning co-anchor. Freeman, a graduate of U-32 High School and Clemson University, will join Steve Bottari and meteorologist Gary Sadowsky at the end of May. Freeman is the former Rutland Bureau Chief. Her most recent assignment was covering the region as a reporter out of the WCAX newsroom in South Burlington.

Nearly half of KeyCorp’s (NYSE: KEY) employees will participate in Neighbors Make the Difference Day, the company’s 24th annual day of volunteer community service, on Wednesday, May 14. Employees will spend the afternoon volunteering for a wide array of community service projects in 12 states, building on the bank’s promise to help clients and communities thrive. While two-thirds of Key’s branches will close at noon for the event, ATMs, online banking, and mobile banking will remain accessible to customers.

Burlington: Key employees will volunteer for various jobs at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelter, Committee on Temporary Shelter, Community Health Center and Vermont Youth Conservation Corp.

Essex: Key employees will be painting, installation shelves and making general space improvements at the Essex Teen Center.

Vermont Public Service Department Commissioner Christopher Recchia will appear before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Wednesday at 10 am, to testify at a hearing on stakeholder perspectives about nuclear power plant decommissioning.