By Brian Dubie It was my honor to serve as Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor for eight years. While I was in office, I was invited to tour the site of a proposed industrial wind turbine complex in Ira, Vt. My tour guide […]
Category: Op – Ed
Op - Ed
Bigger than Christmas
By Lee J. Kahrs This Christmas may feel a bit off, edgier than Yuletides past. It’s not just the unseasonably warm December we’ve been having, or the lack of snow. Oh, it’s the climate, all right, but there is more […]
Op - Ed
A very tough job
By Lee H. Hamilton You know who I feel sorry for? Today’s politicians. You’ll laugh at this, but hear me out. This is a very tough time to be a politician—whether running for office or trying to lead while holding […]
Op - Ed
Blood drive represents best in Rutland County
By Steve Costello With war, terrorism and violence topping the news pages and newscasts on an almost daily basis, social media and ordinary conversation of late has been rife with disillusionment. For anyone discouraged by national and world affairs, one […]
Op - Ed
Despite hype, legalizing pot will not be a revenue windfall for Vermont
Dear Editor, Vermont, like many states, is dealing with a budget deficit; this year, legislators are grappling with an estimated $40 million shortfall. New sources of revenue are increasingly hard to come by, so the idea of increasing tax revenues […]
Op - Ed
The heat in Paris
Limiting global warming to under two degrees By Deb Markowitz, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources The last time I was in Paris, the temperature was unbearable. The country was suffering through a record-setting heat wave that caused the deaths […]
Op - Ed
Time for common sense gun safety
By Sue Minter Three dead and nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Fourteen dead and more than 20 wounded in San Bernardino, California. In less than one week. Gun violence is a crisis in our country. […]
Op - Ed
Legislature must focus on the fundamentals
By Lt. Governor Phil Scott At the start of every legislative session since being elected Lt. Governor, I’ve urged legislators to evaluate every proposal based on whether it helps our economy, improves efficiencies or reduces costs. If the answer to […]
Op - Ed
Reversing the trend of rising incarceration rates in Vermont
By Gov. Peter Shumlin For most of the last two decades, Vermont’s prison inmate population has been rising. Between 1997 and 2008, it grew by 86 percent. Projections made in 2007 said that Vermont’s inmate population would grow to 2,619 […]
Op - Ed
Washington’s latest deal: little cause for celebration
By Lee H. Hamilton You can understand why President Obama and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle sought to cast their end-of-October budget deal in the best possible light. They avoided a potentially catastrophic national default. They reduced […]