All these people getting sick from Coronavirus, all the people dying, all the people who were scared and unsure, they were all just very inconvenient for the Cult of Climastrology
Pandemic clouds progress on climate change legislation
Before Covid-19 hit, 2020 was shaping up to be a momentous year for climate change policy in Vermont.
After a series of publicized protests and Statehouse interruptions, lawmakers were poised this year to move ahead on a bill that would require the state to meet strict greenhouse gas reduction targets.
In addition, the state was considering joining a regional pact to reduce car and truck pollution.
But then the pandemic came.
Now, with state officials and lawmakers still sorting out Covid relief and huge budget shortfalls, the path for moving ahead on climate action is unclear.
Just so darned inconvenient. You sick and dying people shouldn’t have gotten sick and died. The rest of you shouldn’t have been so darned concerned with Bat Soup Virus, shouldn’t have quarantined yourselves and forced government to institute all sorts of restrictions, including forcing businesses to close, hence losing all that tax money. It was all very selfish, thinking only of yourselves and family members when we have a scam to solve!
But he’s not sure that getting out both complex bills in short order will be possible, and his committee will prioritize Act 250 reform.
“It’s talking about laying out a plan for the next 30 years, right,†he said of the Global Warming Solutions Act. “We’re not going to do long term planning based on very limited testimony. We need to make sure it’s a good long term plan that will achieve what we’re hoping for.â€
And it comes with a nearly $1 million dollar price tag for the Agency of Natural Resources to hire staff needed for technical components of the planning. That cost could be a challenge for lawmakers who are contending with massive revenue losses from the pandemic’s economic strain. The agency has raised concerns about hiring and training employees right now with budget constraints, said Bray.
See? Y’all should have just kept working, virus be damned.
Gov. Phil Scott has said he won’t sign on to TCI until he sees the final agreement between the states, which was supposed to come out this spring. But the pandemic has pushed that release date back to the fall. Walke, who has been Vermont’s lead on TCI negotiations, said the states didn’t feel they could have the “robust policy discussions†during the pandemic.
This fall the governor will be evaluating TCI against the backdrop of a changed economic landscape. Advocacy groups point out that because gasoline prices are low now could be a good time to move ahead with an agreement that would nominally increase gas prices, said Walke.
But, with tens of thousands of people unemployed, “now is a challenging moment to do anything that would increase the cost of basic goods,†he said.
Wait, wait, wait, what was that part about increasing the cost of basic goods? Don’t Warmists usually tell us that all these climate cult measures will not cost us anything? Anyhow, even with everyone back to work, wouldn’t it be a bad thing to raise their cost of living?
