Six years ago, following the incident in which a violent mob of Middlebury students chased author and social scientist Charles Murray off the stage, assaulting and injuring a faculty member in the process, I wrote an article titled “Stop Calling Them Snowflakes.”
Rob Roper
Where Talking Llamas Teach Kids the “F” Word
In September 2021, the voters in the district for Windham Elementary School narrowly voted to close the school, which only has a little more than a dozen students, allowing those students to instead participate in Vermont’s “tuitoining” school choice system.
Absentee Ballot Fraud Is Real! (When It Happens to a Democrat…)
Connecticut Democrats weren’t thrilled at the idea of a convicted felon (and, LOL, seven-term incumbent) winning their primary for the city of Bridgeport’s mayoral race. They were relieved when going to bed on election night that challenger John Gomes appeared to have pulled off a 487-vote victory.
VT Energy Policy: Saving the Planet, or Feathering Nests?
The Renewable Energy Standard Group Committee met again on October 25 to hash out what next year’s laws regarding energy policy will be, and again, utilities managers questioned the ulterior motives behind how some of the proposals seem to be favoring certain actors. And this crony favoritism, they say, will come not just at greater … Read more
Why Can’t Kids Read?
Earlier this month, Seven Days ran a remarkable story titled Too Many Vermont Kids Struggle to Read. What Went Wrong — and Can Educators Reverse a Yearslong Slide in Literacy? It’s long. 5000 words, but very much worth the time.
Former Rep Tries to Hoodwink Vermonters
Former Representative Dave Sharpe (D-Bristol) recently penned a truly execrable op-ed blaming private schools, lack of funding for public schools, and 60s era “white-flight” for the persistent and growing performance gap between higher income students and those living in poverty. He opened his piece exclaiming, “It’s no surprise….” Well, it’s no surprise to anyone who … Read more
Vermonters Really Don’t Support State Energy Policy
The Vermont Department of Public Services conducted a poll and a series of focus groups over the summer regarding state energy policy, specifically support for or opposition to using more renewable energy. They just released the 87-page report on what they found out.
Renewable Energy Standard: A “Shell Game” of “Picking Winners & Losers”
This past week’s discussion in the Renewable Energy Standard Working Group, charged with drafting legislation to be considered by the General Assembly during the 2024 legislative session, highlighted some serious problems with Vermont’s energy policies, both philosophical and practical.
Thar She Blows!
Before we figured out how to replace whale oil with cheaper, more efficient petroleum, we killed a lot of whales throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in order to light our homes and lubricate our industries, driving most species to the brink of extinction.
Why is the Vermont Media Ignoring the Slate Valley School Board Story?
About a month ago, I wrote a story about Slate Valley School Board member Curtis Hier’s battle with both the school officials he was elected to oversee and his fellow board members, who don’t seem to appreciate Hier’s desire to get to the bottom of some serious problems in the system that are negatively impacting students.
More Confusion/Delay Ahead for Carbon Credit Banking Scheme
My last article highlighted the fact that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is only now beginning to contemplate how to write the rules regarding how Vermonters can retroactively “bank” so-called “Clean Heat Credits” back to January 1, 2023, and continue to bank them until the Clean Heat Standard goes fully into effect sometime in 2025.
The Entity Charged With Implementing a Carbon Credit System Has No Idea How To Do It
The legislature passed the Clean Heat Standard (S.5) into law in the Spring of this year (over the governor’s veto) with a provision that Vermonters can start banking the so-called “Clean Heat Credits” – earned by installing heat pumps, insulating buildings, etc. – retroactive to January 1, 2023.
Conflicts of Interest in the Renewable Energy Standard Working Group
The first order of business on the agenda for the Renewable Energy Standard Working Group’s September 20 meeting was “Conflict of Interest – Discussion & Clarity.” This should be interesting, I thought to myself. What it turned out to be was ironic.
To Be Anti-Fascist, Support Our Constitution
Text from my remarks on Constitution Day There are a couple of things we hear a lot today in political speeches, on the Sunday morning talk shows, and in letters to the editor in our local papers. One is that we are in danger of losing our democracy!… And another is that “authoritarianism” or some … Read more
The “Expand the Supreme Court” Letter Is a Call for Insurrection.
As we approach Constitution Day on September 17, eighteen Vermont elected officials, including our Lieutenant Governor, signed a shocking letter calling for the expansion of the U.S. Supreme Court by four members. Signing this letter should disqualify them all from holding any public office, not for the idea of expanding the Court – there’s nothing in the Constitution stipulating the number of members the Court has to have – but for the reasons they put forward for the change.
Are $6 Per Gallon Gas Prices Coming to Vermont?
It so happens I am in Seattle, Washington, this week helping my son settle into a new living/job situation, and one of the first things you notice when driving around this city is how absurdly expensive gasoline is.
Another Example of Climate Hysteria Leading to Dumb, Misguided Policy
Wasting money on electric buses when what we need is school bus drivers. Vermont has a school bus driver shortage. We have for years. Google “Vermont School Bus Driver Shortage” (as I did for this story), and the number of news hits you get is astounding. I was looking for “a” story I recently read … Read more
When A School Board Member Actually Puts Kids First
Curt Hier, a public school history teacher and debate coach for thirty-five years who now runs a business helping students get into college, was elected to the Slate Valley School Board this past March. Hier’s background gives him more insight into the actual workings of the public school system than the average school board member … Read more
Business Group Wants 802,000 Vermonters by 2035 – (Ignores Reasons Why People Don’t Move There)
The Vermont Futures Project (VFP), a spinoff of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, is conducting a statewide tour of what they call “community conversations, and … strategic stakeholder visits in all fourteen counties” to gather input for their 2024 Economic Plan for Vermont.
Does Paying Flood Victims to Get Cars That Explode When Wet Make Sense?
Following the recent flooding throughout Vermont this summer, the state very proudly touted a response program that offers victims who lost or suffered damage to their cars the opportunity to replace them with an electric vehicle. Not an internal combustion engine vehicle, just an electric vehicle.