Dunne argued that his support for allowing towns to vote down industrial wind projects is no different than Shumlin’s position. Not so, Shumlin countered.
“Anyone who says they are in line with my position on renewables, and who then comes out for a veto on renewables, is not telling the truth,” Shumlin said in a statement Monday.
Dunne issued a statement Friday that he said constituted a clarification of his views on siting industrial wind turbines in Vermont. “Large-scale ridgeline wind projects should only take place with the approval of the towns where the projects are located,” he said.
If a town votes against a project, Dunne said, as governor, he would do everything he could to ensure that project wasn’t built.
The stance won him praise from rival Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Galbraith, who has supported a ban on industrial wind projects. But it earned Dunne the wrath of renewable energy advocates. As Seven Days reported Sunday, environmental activist Bill McKibben withdrew his endorsement of Dunne over the issue and said he now supports Democrat Sue Minter for governor.
“Matt would use the standard that the Shumlin administration currently uses,” his statement said in part. “If a town votes the project down by Australian ballot, Matt will use all the power of the governor’s office to ensure that is the end of the project.”
Within hours, Shumlin fired off a statement contesting that. Shumlin said he signed a bill this year that allows towns that plan where projects should be built to have “a stronger voice in the Public Service Board process.”
“I would never have signed that legislation if it handed out veto power over renewables. We do not do that for any public works projects in our state,” Shumlin said.
Chris Recchia, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, acknowledged that Shumlin has previously said he didn’t want wind projects built where they weren’t welcome, but has transitioned away from that statement. “That was a while back,” Recchia said.
“We do not believe towns should have veto power over state policy,” Recchia said, noting that that would prevent the state from being able to plan energy projects to meet statewide goals.
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Another pants-on-fire pip from the Guv.
In 2012, the governor told Kristen Carlson (then at WCAX), “I have always said and I will always say I believe that no energy project should be built in a town in Vermont where the residents of that community don’t vote affirmatively to host it. We shouldn’t send them into towns that don’t want them.”
“Shumlin said he supported an industrial wind project in Lowell because the residents of Lowell supported it; if the town had said no, Shumlin would have said no. – See more at: http://newportvermontdailyexpress.com/content/shumlin-defends-lowell-wind#sthash.tSLzxVci.dpuf
Shumlin, once again, shows why he has one of the lowest approval ratings of any sitting VT governor. He is out-touch with the sentiments of his own supporters and constituents. In this very blue State, he is almost singlehanded insuring that Scott gets likely elected the next governor.
Vermonters identity, and sense of place, is on those mountain ridges. Shumlin is alienating and disenfranchising many strong environmentalists, and others, who care deeply about this State.
We are called the Green Mountain State for a reason. It’s who we are. Respect those ridges. Dunne would be wise to even call for a complete wind moratorium on ridge-top development, as Galbraith has previously done.
Town veto power over state authority. I like it.
Well, Gov. Shumlin may have at one point stated (and possibly even believed) that large-scale energy projects should not be built in towns that don’t vote to host them. But when the chips fell, the Gov. was informed by his advisors that very few towns would vote to accept such installations, especially ridge line wind. Then he would have to very publicly reverse course after a slew of binding “no’ votes by various towns. There would be no big RE projects, bringing fewer RE jobs to VT for him to stick his flag on top of and claim broad success. Bad for the legacy, that one.
Isn’t Shumlin calling you a liar sort of a back handed compliment from the biggest liar in Vermont history ?