Members of the Equity Advisory Group (EAG), which is assisting the Public Utilities Commission in developing “fair and just” rules to govern the Clean Heat Standard (CHS) carbon tax on heating oil, propane, natural gas, and kerosene, made some surprising—and welcome—remarks during their June 11 meeting.
In a nutshell, the CHS isn’t equitable, and really can’t be made so. Why? Because, they have discovered after months of delving into the law, that it was written by certain special interests to benefit those special interests at the expense of low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Yes, as anyone who’s been reading this column for the past year and a half knows, it’s a scam.
Here’s how Pike Porter, EAG member, put it:
The whole Clean Heat Standard from before it became law, when you look back into the meeting minutes, was a boondoggle that really is designed to support entrenched interests…. This was designed primarily by Vermont Gas and Energy Action Network, which is an unlicensed lobbying organization that lobbies on behalf of Vermont Gas and Burlington Electric and others. And the white paper and the meeting minutes just demonstrate how this was designed to promote their interests.”
Next, Geoff Wilcox, who is also employed by the Vermont Department of Children and Families and focused on weatherization projects, chimed in. “When these meetings started, I was thinking I would be – I don’t want to say opposed to the Clean Heat Standard – but I am opposed to the negative effects that it will have on our low- and moderate-income clients.”
Chris Trombley, who is in the Group to represent the interests of renters and has been an early voice of skepticism in these discussions, noted, “I have struggled to understand how the Clean Heat Standard benefits low-income households. [Note: because it doesn’t.] It’s really become apparent the more we talk about ‘a just transition’ for low-income households, the tools really don’t reside inside the Clean Heat Standard.” Trombley also took a sarcastic shot at the lazy legislators who passed the law without addressing how they expected equity to be achieved within the program. “Hey, here’s the policy! Go make it equitable. There’s just a front-end assumption that it can be.”
On that last point, well, actually not. Which is why they sluffed it off on you, Chris!
Going back in time to February 9, 2023, the principal architect of the Clean Heat Carbon Tax, Richard Cowart, testified to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee that meeting the goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act via the Clean Heat Standard and protecting low- and moderate-income Vermonters via a ‘just and equitable’ transition away from fossil fuels are essentially incompatible. “The cost of doing [equity] and the degree of difficulty in doing it – the impact that that would have on slowing down our ghg reduction — are factors that we have to keep in mind,” he said.
Cowart’s carefully worded winks and nods at quietly jettisoning the equity baggage to keep the program moving apace was articulated more bluntly by Senator Mark MacDonald (D-Orange), with his infamous, callously megalomaniacal quote regarding the Clean Heat Standard, “We don’t do things based on helping poor people. We do things based on saving the world.” So, “screw the poor” has always been at the heart of this legislation and in the hearts of the people who created it.
Also going back to February 2023, Office of Racial Equity Director Xusana Davis (and it’s worth pointing out their website insists, “We are not exclusively focused on only certain racial and ethnic groups—we support equity for all of Vermont’s residents and visitors), when asked by Senators if the bill met its rhetorical equity standards, replied, “I don’t think the bill in its current version quite meets the mark on equity.”
She then supplied a list of issues that were wrong in the bill that needed to be fixed – and never were! (See: Director of Racial Equity says Clean Heat Act “doesn’t meet the mark.”) In fact, as reported at the time, as soon as Davis left the room Committee Chairman Chris Bray (D-Addison) instructed his colleagues to ignore Davis’ concerns and vote the bill out as is. Which they promptly did. And Davis hasn’t been heard from since.
So, good people in the Equity Advisory Group, it’s gratifying to see you are waking up to the fact that you are all being used as a fig leaf – a “progressive” social justice warrior façade – to cover up what is the systemic looting of one industry and its customers by another industry that happens to have a lot of friends in Vermont politics. And I sincerely hope that June 11th’s meeting is a signal you’re all going to stop playing this game and really start sounding the alarm.