State Sen. wants constituents to pay for her policy failures
In a recent VT Digger article with the misleading headline, “Clean Heat Standard is Dead. What comes next?” (It’s not, it’s just temporarily dormant until it can be fully implemented), Senator Anne Watson (D/P -Washington) expressed her hope and desire that the state be sued at taxpayer expense – needlessly costing us potentially millions of dollars — for not meeting the greenhouse gas reduction mandates under the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA).
The story states,
Last Tuesday, in a courthouse in Montpelier, Vermonters began to see the first skirmishes in what could be a long, drawn-out battle if the state doesn’t come up with new ideas for meeting its goal. [The reporter left out “expensive.”]
This is referring to a lawsuit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) because Vermont (A) did not meet arbitrary, self-imposed (by morons in the legislature) greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2025 and (B) those same morons put a provision in the GWSA allowing any nut to sue the state if we did not meet those mandates – even if they are impossible to meet. Which they are.
Not only are the GWSA targets logistically, financially, and politically impossible, supporters of the law like Watson don’t even have a plan to meet them. This is five years after passing the law, half a year after the first target has passed, and four years until the next target is due. Watson is the chair of the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee, and over the past legislative session did nothing policy-wise to move Vermont closer to meeting the GWSA targets. She did, however, do everything in her power to successfully block attempts repeal of the GWSA and, at very least, the “right of action” lawsuit provision contained in it.
In other words, this is how the GWSA works: If I, lawmaker Watson et al, fail to do what it takes to meet mandates I put into law, YOU, my taxpaying constituent, will be sued at your expense. As a constituent and taxpayer, does this sound like a good deal to you? I’ll answer: no it is not.
But Watson thinks this is just great! Back to the Digger piece,
“There’s a mechanism in the Global Warming Solutions Act where there’s accountability for exactly this…” Sen. Watson said. “It’s played out in Massachusetts [where CLF sued that state for failing to meet unrealistic mandates] and maybe it needs to play out here.”
For more evidence of Watson and company’s attitude on this matter, see the video below of her committee taking testimony from CLF back in January 2023, where the Senators not only highlight the right of action, but egg on and make sure CLF is going to sue you, the taxpayer.
When a constituent called out Watson for encouraging a special interest group to sue us, her emailed response (shared with me) was both a deflection and a lie. The sole two short sentences say, “I actually tried to repeal the Clean Heat Standard. Unfortunately the bill didn’t pass.”
First, that wasn’t the issue being addressed. And second…. Uh… not really, no. Watson’s committee vice-chair, Terry Williams (R-Rutland) did, in fact, try to repeal the Clean Heat Standard by sponsoring S.68 – An act relating to repealing the Affordable Heat Act. Watson refused to even discuss the bill. So, Williams resorted to trying a parliamentary maneuver relieving his committee of S.68 and bringing it to the full senate floor for a vote. Watson led the floor fight to block that from happening as well. (Willam’s attempt was shot down on a 17-13 party line vote). Following that, Watson promised to allow a committee hearing. That lasted about fifteen minutes, and she did not allow the committee to vote on S.68. So, no Watson did not attempt to repeal the Clean Heat Standard. At all.
Watson did attempt to bring forward a bill that would have shifted the cost of the Clean Heat Standard from fossil fuel purchasers to electric rate payers, but it was so ill-conceived and downright daffy that even her own party couldn’t swallow it and it quietly went away. To imply that this represented an attempt to repeal of the Clean Heat Standard is a totally dishonest representation of her position on the issue and her actions as a senator.
So here we have an elected representative who wants you to pay astronomical taxes for the privilege of heating your home in winter, set you up to be sued by any wacko who needs a project if you don’t comply, and then lies about what she’s been up to while ostensibly representing the interest of her constituents. Sadly, she ain’t the only one!
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