http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070613/OPINION03/706130324/1039/OPINION03Veto override is a must Douglas plan shortsighted
June 13, 2007
By PETER SHUMLIN
House Speaker Gaye Symington and I are grateful that Vice President Al Gore endorsed the Vermont Legislature's climate change/energy bill last week. When the leader of the worldwide movement to combat climate change tells Vermonters that we have the opportunity to lead the nation by saving energy, saving money, reducing emissions and kicking our addiction to foreign oil, we know we're onto something good.
As Vermonters we face an inconvenient truth: Gov. Jim Douglas and his veto pen.
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Al Gore calls H.520 a "terrific bill" and says he hopes the Legislature can rally to override the governor's veto. The bill puts money in Vermonters' pockets, creates jobs, curbs greenhouse gas emissions, and reduces the amount of oil that Vermonters purchase from countries that mostly hate us. It provides incentives for local, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, small hydro and biomass. In short, the bill helps Vermont achieve energy independence and keep more money in the state.
The governor's objection to this bill is equally troubling. He doesn't want Vermont Yankee to pay its fair share in property taxes. In 2003, shortly after he was elected governor, Entergy, which operates Vermont's only nuclear power plant, was given a sweetheart deal that no one else in Vermont was offered. Entergy was granted permission to freeze its property tax rate at the 2003 level, shortly before it invested over $100 million in its plant. With Vermonters facing double-digit property tax increases since 2003, one has to wonder which of us in Vermont would reject a similar sweetheart deal. Last year, Entergy paid $500,000 less in property taxes then it did in 2003. The rest of us made up the shortfall in our property tax bills. Why should Entergy, with revenues of over $10 billion a year, be offered this property tax relief package, when under Jim Douglas, your property taxes have nearly doubled? It pays to have deep pockets.
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Peter Shumlin of Putney is the president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate.