Statehouse Headliners: Senate bills would ban fossil fuel pipelines, ‘fracking’ waste disposal

By Guy Page

The Vermont Senate recently introduced legislation that would limit construction of natural gas pipelines in Vermont, unless approved by the federal government. S.66, intended to reduce fossil fuel consumption for home heating, would limit expansion of current natural gas pipelines.

Natural gas is the “cleanest” fossil fuel from a greenhouse gas perspective. Alternatives to home heat in Vermont include heating oil and split wood — both of which are higher in carbon-output than natural gas. Cleaner alternatives include passive solar, heat pumps, and wood pellets.

The following bills have been recently introduced in the Senate.

S.72 Require annual report on use of extreme risk protection orders. Police to be notified if patient poses extreme risk of harming self or another with a gun. Sen. Sears.
S.71 Establish sales tax for candy, revenue to support child care financial assistance. Sens. Perchlik, Ingram.
S.70 Prohibit instate disposal of wastewater, waste, or by-products from hydraulic fracturing. Sen. Perchlik.
S.69 Limit operation of wake boats – boats with added ballast to produce large wake – on public waters. Sen. Rodgers
S.68 Change name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Sen. Ingram.
S.67 Expand property transfer tax to include controlling interest in corporation or legal entity holding real property. Sens. Sirotkin, Brock, MacDonald.
S.66 Prohibit construction of fossil fuel infrastructure, especially oil and gas pipelines, unless certified by federal government. Sen. Clarkson
S.65 Ban baby bumper pads. Sens. Lyons, Ingram, McCormack
S.64 Establish mediation for disputes about access to landlocked property. Sen. Westman
S.63 Expand dual enrollment to students who attend schools outside of Vermont. Sens. Sears, Campion
S.62 Enable pharmacists to administer immunizations to individuals seven years old and older. Sen. Perchlik
S.61 Allows pharma companies to provide meals to health care providers at conferences. Sen. Richard Westman
S.60 Expand Bottle Bill to include water, wine, carbonated and noncarbonated drink containers, except milk. Sens. Pollina, Bray
S.59 Create Sports Betting Study Committee to determine whether/how to tax and regulate sports betting in Vermont. Sen. Sirotkin
S.57 Limit drug-related criminal liability/civil forfeiture actions for drug users, staff in ‘safe’ drug use spaces, needle collection programs. Sen. Rodgers, Pearson
S.56 Permit use of one blue signal lamp on Fire/EMS vehicles, visible from rear, only used when vehicle is parked. Sens. Perchlik, Lyons
S.55 Evaluate hazardous chemical inventories in State, identify potential risks. Sens. Lyons, Campion.
S.54 Regulate production/sale of cannabis. Sens. Sears, others.
S.53 Spend more on primary health care. Sen. Ashe.
S.52 Adjust property tax for education according to taxpayer income. Sens. Pollina, Pearson
S.51 Place moratorium on school district mergers ordered by the State Board of Education until legal issues are resolved.  Sen. Brock
S.50 Extend deadline for school district mergers ordered by the State Board of Education to July 1, 2020. Sen. Brock
S.49 Set maximum contaminant level for polyfluoroalkyl in water. Sen. Bray, others.
S.48 Allow temporarily disabled person to shoot game from a motor vehicle. Sen. Pollina
S.47 Limit campaign contributors to a candidate/political party to:  individuals, political committees, and political parties. Current law allows businesses to contribute. Sens. Pearson, Pollina, Bray, Perchlik
S.46 Create Ethnic/Social Equity Standards Advisory Working Group to advise Board of Education on adopting ethnic/social equity studies standards into statewide educational standards. Sen. Pollina, others.
S.45 Permit students attending approved independent schools and parochial schools to be eligible for dual enrollment courses. Sens. Ingram, Baruth
S.44 Enable pharmacists to administer influenza immunizations to minors. Sens. Cummings, McCormack, Westman
S.43 Prohibit health insurance from imposing prior authorization for treatment.  Sen. Lyons
S.42 Require at least one member of the Green Mountain Care Board be a health care professional. Sen. Lyons

Statehouse Headliners is intended primarily to educate, not advocate. It is e-mailed to an ever-growing list of interested Vermonters, public officials and media. Guy Page is affiliated with the Vermont Energy Partnership; the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare; and Physicians, Families and Friends for a Better Vermont.

Image courtesy of Bruce Parker/TNR

6 thoughts on “Statehouse Headliners: Senate bills would ban fossil fuel pipelines, ‘fracking’ waste disposal

  1. I proclaim the legislature should stop all law creation for 12 years to see if the world makes
    it thru AOCrazio’s prediction. (we all know even if we gave gov all our money they could solve nothing in 12 years)
    I further proclaim they should start removing all intrusive laws so our final 12 years can
    be enjoyed to the fullest…

  2. How about S.2000, the legislature can meet only for two weeks. Week one will be dedicated to taking attendance and allow each legislature to make one ten minute speech outlining how they got elected and week two adjournment speeches outlining what they plan to do with the other fifty weeks in the year. This will be far more productive than the bunch of hog wash listed above.

    • These people…regardless of which side of the aisle…are useless. And their State positions are pretty much pointless UNLESS they are there making LAWS for the rest of us to follow. That is their charge. We have enough laws. These people should convene a legislative session every other year. We don’t need these people telling us what to do AND….allowing a moral breakdown while allowing infanticide – murdering babies – in our state. Go home

  3. Guy,
    Heat pumps used in the average Vermont house would displace about 34% of the fuel oil, with the rest of the heat supplied by the traditional heating system.

    The reduction of CO2 would be minor, because the electricity drawn from the grid has CO2/kWh.

    The annual savings would be, on average, about $200/ per year per heat pump, which cost about $4500, turnkey, to install and lasts about 15 years, i.e., it is a loser, especially if service calls and maintenance contracts are added.

    Wood pellets would release CO2 in year 1, but that CO2 would take about 100 years to be réabsorbéd in colder climates, about 50 years in North Carolina.

    Thé réabsorption is slowly increasing during the first 1/3, rapidly increasing during the second 1/3 and slowly increasing during the final 1/3.

    That hardly is a proper solution, if the people aim to do major RE things prior to 2050 to save the world.

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