Maybe It Does Pay To Be Green

Freep:

The Governor's Commission on Climate Change has been given a month's extension on the due-date of its final report. What was once supposed to be done by Sept. 1 will more likely be on the governor's desk in October.

"It will take us to October, but I think we're getting some really good traction," said Ernie Pomerleau, a Burlington developer who is chairman of the six-member commission.

The commission, started in December 2005, is charged with making recommendations about how to reduce Vermont's greenhouse gas emissions. A larger group offered more than 30 recommendations to the commission, which for the past month has been weeding through them. The commission's work, facilitated by a contractor, costs $200,000.

"It's going fairly slowly, which is not a bad thing," said commission member Elizabeth Courtney, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. "We're having a much-needed discussion about what each of these proposals is about."

Gov. Jim Douglas has no problem with waiting, spokesman Jason Gibbs said. "If it's going to take them a few more weeks to pull all that information together and ensure a high-quality thoughtful consensus then we're willing to wait a few more weeks to see final product," he said.

The group is intent on finding ways to stimulate the economy while reducing emissions, Pomerleau said. "It sounds impossible, but it isn't," he said.

As a result, establishing realistic price tags that go along with each option are key. "If we were to hand the governor a proposal that didn't have price tags and a means to fund, it wouldn't be taken seriously," Courtney said. "We're going to make sure it's highly implementable."

The group indicated support at a meeting Tuesday for a "fee-bate" that would put a fee on the purchase of new cars that have low gas mileage, Courtney said. Previously, the panel discussed but tabled the larger group's controversial recommendation that the state start an all-fuels utility that would focus on energy efficiency, she said.

Interestingly enough--or maybe not enough--while running errands I heard on the radio two ads, one from Green Mountain Power and another from Ultramar, my LP provider, talking about helping customers reduce their carbon footprint.  And coincidentally, our sole nuke plant, which had a cooling tower partially collapse the other day, completely shut down today.

ntodd