Rep. Weston Speaks Out to Slow Global Warming While
Saving Vermonters Money
Saving Vermonters Money
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| A Fresh Perspective for State Government |
| State Representative Rachel Weston |
| This website is paid for by Friends of Rachel, 78 1/2 Pitkin Street, Burlington, VT 05401 John Patrick Tracy, Treasurer |
Rep. Rachel Weston's speech given on the floor of the Vermont House
of Representatives to override the Governor's veto of H.520, the Global
Warming bill. July 11, 2007
The time has long since come and gone where we—as leaders of the
State of Vermont—can squander our precious time by ignoring the truth
and immediacy of climate change. Failing to pass this bill will only breed
more inaction by other states and countries that have looked to us as
the brave environmental pioneers.
To those who say we are too small a state to have an impact, I say this:
We should not underestimate the power that Vermont has in setting a
positive example for the rest of the United States. We have plowed the
field on a number of social justice policies. We have plowed the field for
electrical efficiency. It is now time for us to plow the field to address our
unhealthy addiction to oil.
Our addiction to oil is bad both for our pocketbooks and for the
environment. The price of heating oil is going up and up and up. It’s
gone up 114%! It’s not coming down. That increasing price is real
money on our heating bills. At the same time our pocket books are
straining from our oil addiction, the environment we live in is changing.
We have children developing asthma, increases in violent storms,
strange warm weather in the winter. It is no mistake that our
constituents have been contacting us so frequently asking for us to step
it up and do something. Global warming observation is no longer a quiet
form of science. The people we represent have been noticing
phenomenon in their own backyards that they have never seen before.
And they want us to take the necessary steps now to avert this climate
crisis so that their children and grandchildren don’t have to. This is our
responsibility.
We live in a new world where oil is not cheap and we are no longer
blissfully ignorant of its consequences. When Vermont is strong others
will follow. I ask for you to vote to override the Governors veto.
of Representatives to override the Governor's veto of H.520, the Global
Warming bill. July 11, 2007
The time has long since come and gone where we—as leaders of the
State of Vermont—can squander our precious time by ignoring the truth
and immediacy of climate change. Failing to pass this bill will only breed
more inaction by other states and countries that have looked to us as
the brave environmental pioneers.
To those who say we are too small a state to have an impact, I say this:
We should not underestimate the power that Vermont has in setting a
positive example for the rest of the United States. We have plowed the
field on a number of social justice policies. We have plowed the field for
electrical efficiency. It is now time for us to plow the field to address our
unhealthy addiction to oil.
Our addiction to oil is bad both for our pocketbooks and for the
environment. The price of heating oil is going up and up and up. It’s
gone up 114%! It’s not coming down. That increasing price is real
money on our heating bills. At the same time our pocket books are
straining from our oil addiction, the environment we live in is changing.
We have children developing asthma, increases in violent storms,
strange warm weather in the winter. It is no mistake that our
constituents have been contacting us so frequently asking for us to step
it up and do something. Global warming observation is no longer a quiet
form of science. The people we represent have been noticing
phenomenon in their own backyards that they have never seen before.
And they want us to take the necessary steps now to avert this climate
crisis so that their children and grandchildren don’t have to. This is our
responsibility.
We live in a new world where oil is not cheap and we are no longer
blissfully ignorant of its consequences. When Vermont is strong others
will follow. I ask for you to vote to override the Governors veto.