Assuming the #TrumpTariffs actually get implemented, the impact on #Vermont is likely going be the death knell for the "Affordable Heat Act".
#Act18, unfortunately, was a nice idea that was poorly considered, and *obviously* written by a special interest group NPO (the actual text of the law is a dead giveaway that no actual legislator wrote the bill) without regard to its actual practicality or its impact on the people of #VT. It needs to be repealed.
It should be replaced with a #FuelTax.
The special interest group NPO that wrote the Affordable Heat Act and the Democratic/Progressive party #Vermont legislators that enacted the bill all know very well that a #FuelTax levied directly on Vermonters would be extremely unpopular, but it is the only logical way to disincentivize the use of fossil fuels for transportation and heating.
So, they tried to disguise it as a tax on fuel importers, as if those costs won't simply be passed directly on to consumers. #VTpol #Act18
But, the enforcement regime the bill specifies is just patently unworkable. A direct fuel tax would be simple to implement, by contrast.
Now, I am a renter, and my home is heated with oil. I keep my heat on 64°F in Winter, because I can't afford any higher. That runs me about 150-200 gallons of oil per year, and most #Vermont families burn 6-8 times that much each season.
I've been car-free for over 3.5 years, and even when I did drive, my commute was less than 4 miles. #VTpol #Act18
I do not want to pay higher prices for oil or electricity any more than any other Vermonter. I don't even have air conditioning in Summer, because I can't afford the bill to run the unit, although I am hoping to be selected in the Efficiency Vermont pilot for free window-mounted heat pumps.
My electric bill is already $90-100/mo in Winter, and I am very careful about my usage.
But, realistically, we have to raise the cost of using energy to save our civilization. #VTpol #Act18 #Vermont
The #Vermont electric grid, as it currently stands, it absolutely not up to the additional strain that #Act18 places upon it. Fortunately, that is a fixable problem, if an expensive one.
However, we also need to realize that rural #infrastructure is necessarily more expensive than urban and contributes to higher transportation and HVAC energy usage, as well, because of the distances travelled and the building types.
Our first step must be to encourage and incentivize moving downtown. #VTpol
But of course, a large part of the reason why so many people live in the #Vermont hills is because they are priced out of living in population centers, and therefore find it more cost-effective to substitute motor vehicle costs for housing costs.
Unfortunately, that's not a sustainable proposition in a world with a climate out of balance and an unstable energy market.
So, we desperately need more density in our downtowns to make the cost of living more affordable for more people. #VTpol #Act18
I'm not really interested in telling Vermonters how they must live. What I want to see happen in #Vermont is I just want to make urban living more affordable and better, which will all of its own encourage and incentivize redevelopment of our town and city centers so that more people can move downtown and create demand for more new local businesses.
If you want to continue to make the tradeoffs necessary to continue exurban #sprawl, that's your choice, but I'm not going to subsidize you. #VTpol
Gemma Seymour