Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO issued the following announcement.
The Vermont AFL-CIO, like our allies in the RENEW Coalition (such as Rights & Democracy and 350VT), have grave concerns regarding the so called Clean Heat Standard. Thus we signed on to a statement which, in part questions why this bill (which recently passed the Democratic Party controlled VT Senate) fails to incorporate the Just Transition principles shared by Labor & progressive environmental organizations. Our most pressing specific concern is that when fully realized, this program could drastically drive up home heating fuel costs for tens-of-thousands of working class households. And already, with inflation nearing 10%, many working Vermonters were paying $1000 or more to heat their home last month. Putting regulations on fuel suppliers which can easily be passed on to families already struggling to get buy is unacceptable and should be rejected by Vermonters (and vetoed by the Governor). The addition to amendments in this bill (which slows up implementation and forces various reviews along the way) is good, but not good enough.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers will argue that the Clean Heat Standard, once fully implemented, will create new resources for low income households to switch to cleaner and more sustainable heating systems. And perhaps for a few it will. But what about the great bulk of working class households who are not considered low income, but who are never-the-less two pay checks away from poverty? It is these working people who will suffer under this new economic attack, and for certain they do not have $5000-$10,000 on hand to install new heating systems.
Montpelier is right to recognize that climate change is real and needs to be tackled and that we have serious environmental problems that need to be addressed. It is also correct that we, as a society, as Vermonters, must transition to a more sustainable (and localized) means of energy and heat production. But instead of installing regressive measures to force changes in how we heat our homes (the kind that will ultimately create economic hardship on workers), the State of Vermont should be bold enough and honest enough to create new excessive wealth taxes, new universal corporate taxes, and to create Green New Deal Bonds to generate revenue to directly pay for all working families to upgrade and modernize their home heating systems on a massive scale. And we should also be looking at the viability of creating a state owned (and union run) fuel supply program whereby Vermonters can receive heating fuel without prices being driven up to generate profit for the owners. And at minimum working families should suffer no new regressive taxation (overt or hidden) in the process. In short, its time the rich paid their fair share and then some!
But despite all these real concerns, the Democratic Party who controls the General Assembly has once again shown that at best they are massively out of touch with the economic realities of working class people; at worst that they don't give a damn about working people and are hell bent on placing more burdens on workers while giving the wealthy a free pass.
So as we approach another General Election in 2022, as Union members, lets not forget that the Democratic Party wants YOU to pay more to heat your home, has refused to support Union priorities like Card Check, and has shown once again that they are ready and willing to advance regressive measures and false climate solutions like the Clean Heat Standards as opposed to a progressively funded Green New Deal. And all the while, both the Democratic Party & the Republican Party refuse to get what we are owed by the wealthy among us. In short, these two parties, both Democrat & Republican, are not our friends.
-VT AFL-CIO
Original source can be found here.
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