Current News

Manchester, Vermont's Ai Squared, the maker of ZoomText and sitecues; and GW Micro of Indiana, the creator of Window-Eyes, have merged into one company. With this merger, the companies will combine their talents to better assist computer users who are blind or visually impaired.

A report published this week in Nature Climate Change indicated that ethanol made from corn residue can reduce soil carbon and increase CO2 emissions, indicating the harvested leftovers from corn are “worse than gasoline for global warming,” according to the Associated Press, who released the study results.

In Vermont the term “biofuel” and “bioenergy” are commonly used to refer to woody biomass (e.g., chips and pellets), anaerobic digestion (e.g., new manure and food scrap digester at Vermont Tech), and on-farm biodiesel production.

At a charging station in Montpelier this morning, Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) unveiled new legislation that makes electric vehicles more affordable for middle-income Vermonters and easier to purchase. Welch arrived at a Statehouse electric vehicle charging station driving a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid Energi provided by Lamoille Valley Ford.

“One of the biggest contributors to climate change in Vermont and across the country is vehicle emissions. It is essential that we transition to cleaner, more efficient transportation like electric vehicles,” said Welch. “The battery life and fuel efficiency of electric vehicles are steadily improving making them more accessible and practical to drive. This legislation will make them more affordable while saving Vermonters money at the gas pump and reducing their environmental footprint.”

Energtek Inc (OTCBB: EGTK), a leader in hi-tech natural gas solutions and Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) technology, announced today that two high profile experienced managers, Dr Timothy Nulty and Leslie Nulty have joined forces with Energtek. Towards its commercial activities in the USA, Energtek has established a fully-owned subsidiary, Energtek USAInc. In turn, Energtek USA has created Energtek North Country Inc for activities in the Vermont Region and Northeast United States. The company serves natural gas customers not directly on a gas pipeline by trucking compressed natural gas to the customer or localized distribution facility. Tim Nulty is still listed as the CEO of ValleyNet in White River Junction and was the General Manager of Burlington Telecom until stepping down in 2007.

To celebrate ash tree awareness, Governor Shumlin has designated Friday, May 2 as Vermont’s official 2014 Arbor Day. This year’s Arbor Day theme celebrates Vermont’s 160 million ash trees (genus Fraxinus) and the benefits they bring. Vermont’s official Arbor Day celebration will be held in Johnson this year to recognize the community’s proactive initiatives and support local efforts to prepare for the possible arrival of emerald ash borer (EAB). Arbor Day also marks the culmination of Ash Tree Awareness Week in Vermont.

by Don Gilbert, President and CEO of Vermont Gas No doubt about it, Vermonters are passionate about the Green Mountain State. That’s a healthy sign of an engaged citizenry. One project, the Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project, has been vigorously debated. Unfortunately, sometimes the facts can get lost.

In Vermont, there is no project – proposed or underway – with the combined economic and environmental benefits of the Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project. The first of three phases has earned a Certificate of Public Good from state regulators, regulators are reviewing the second, and the third is in the planning stages to expand services to Rutland.

With this progress, now is the perfect time to review the facts showing how customers, communities and our state will benefit from the long-term savings and other advantages of the Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project.

Affordability

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Navigators helping Vermonters understand and enroll in health coverage through the state’s insurance exchange reached people more than 1.5 million times in the past year, according to state estimates. “That includes outreach by direct mailings, staffing tables in libraries and farmers markets … and obviously helping individuals one-on-one,” said Donna Sutton Fay, with the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security Education Fund. The state figure includes many individuals who interacted with navigators on more than one occasion.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to a wide-ranging health care bill that supporters say positions the Legislature to pass laws during the next session that will underpin Vermont’s planned universal health care program. A debate on the House floor late Wednesday hinged on a provision to compel Governor Peter Shumlin’s administration to deliver a financing plan for Green Mountain Care, as the program is known. The administration’s financing plan has become a flashpoint for concerns about the potential fallout from the state’s transformative effort to pay for health care through taxes instead of private premiums.

by Ayla Yersel The housing market in Vermont showed further signs of recovery in 2013 as consumer confidence continued to grow in the aftermath of the housing bubble of 2008, with an increase in pending home sales and total housing transactions. According to the RE/MAX of New England February Monthly Housing Report, Vermont experienced a boost in total housing transactions, up 18.2 percent, while median price decreased 6.4 percent year-over-year. Pending sales were up 12.9 percent year-over-year.

This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved two more bills from a series of bipartisan energy efficiency bills authored by Rep. Peter Welch in the 113th Congress. Welch is a member of the committee and the House leader on energy efficiency issues.

“I am pleased that the House is taking further bipartisan action in support of energy efficiency. These two bills will reduce carbon emissions and save taxpayers money by cutting energy use in federal buildings and local schools. And they will create jobs through the use of American-made energy efficiency products,” said Rep. Welch. “Energy efficiency is a practical idea that has brought Democrats and Republicans together in Congress to achieve real progress for the American people.”

by John Herrick vtdigger.org When Vermont’s Olympic cross-country ski racers started skiing as children, they could set out from their doorsteps on a solid surface of snow. Now, they say the snow is disappearing, and their professional careers are threatened by climate change. After returning from the ski season in Europe, 2014 Olympic Winter Games biathlete Hannah Dreissigacker and other Vermont Olympians came to Morse Farm Ski Center in East Montpelier to call for action on climate change.

“We need to put a price on carbon emissions,” Dreissgacker said.

The 27-year-old Morrisville native, who often flies around the world to race and visit friends and family, said even her own carbon-intensive lifestyle is disguised by the low cost of fossil fuels, which doesn’t reflect the larger cost to the environment, she said.

Seventh Generation's Toxin Freedom Fighters (child-superheroes advocating for chemical regulation reform) and parent advocates from California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Vermont and Idaho, stormed the halls of Congress on Wednesday with petitions in hand, meeting with members of the Environment and Public Works Committee and other interested senators. Seventh Generation's, CEO and President, John Replogle, parent advocate and author Kristi Marsh and David Levine, CEO and Co-founder, American Sustainable Business Council will be joining the Toxin Freedom Fighters at a press conference this morning to call on Congress to make meaningful re form of TSCA.