Green Up Vermont Tradition with a History

Vermont was the first state to designate a day to clean up the entire state. Started in 1970 by Gov. Deane C. Davis, our unique tradition continues with thousands of Vermonters taking care of Vermont.
“THE FIRST GREEN UP DAY”
As described in the words of Governor C. Davis, on August 30, 1984
“GREEN UP DAY launched Vermont’s environmental ethic and has been a strong and continuing influence in generating support for the environmental movement in Vermont.
“The first Green Up Day was on April 18, 1970. The idea came from Robert S. Babcock, Jr., then a full time reporter for the Burlington Free Press. It had its genesis on a clear spring day in March 1969 when Babcock, driving to work in Montpelier from his home in Waterbury, became appalled at the devastation caused by spring snow run-off and the unsightly litter thus revealed. Upon arriving in Montpelier he came to my office in the State House and proposed the inauguration of a statewide effort, to be supported by the State Highway Department and large groups of volunteer citizens to clean up the highways of the state.
“The more we worked and planned the more excited we all became. When the big day came we were thrilled to see over 70,000 Vermonters out on the roads picking up trash, hauling trash and supervising the action. A large number were young people whose enthusiasm was contagious and their work invaluable.

“The results were far beyond our expectations. Four thousand truck loads were reported hauled by the Highway Department comprising over 20,000 cubic yards of trash removed from the Interstate and other state roads,

Twenty years after the first Green Up Day, Vermont Green Up’s president Leonard Perry noted that: Green Up is more than a day in May. It is an attitude for a lifetime—an attitude toward our environment that Vermont is a precious place deserving our care and respect.
Green Up can occur at any time, at any place.
Together we share the goal of keeping Vermont a clean, safe, beautiful place 
to live, visit and enjoy.

Green Up’s mission is to promote the stewardship of our state’s natural landscape and waterways and the livability of our communities by involving people in Green Up Day and raising public awareness about the benefits of a litter-free environment.

Read more and learn how to participate at – http://www.greenupvermont.org/history.php

Vermont: One Tiny State’s Movement to Ban Private Prisons

By: Jonathan Leavitt, From: Toward Freedom
Thursday, 24 January 2013

Vermont, the most progressive state in America, spent over $14 million last year to lock up Vermonters in for profit prison like Lee Adjustment Center, located in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest. Private prisons like Correctional Corporation of America (CCA)’s Lee Adjustment Center offer no mental health, educational or rehabilitational services, but they do post massive corporate profits; CCA posted $1.7 billion in 2011 revenue alone. As best-selling author Michelle Alexander notes in her seminal book The New Jim Crow, more black men are under correctional control now than were enslaved in 1850. A recent New Yorker piece noted more Americans are now incarcerated than there were imprisoned in Stalin’s gulags.

Clearly a dialogue about mass incarceration, budget crises, and privatization is unfolding. A group of Vermonters working out of Church basements and living rooms is attempting to build a movement to push this conversation forward by passing a historic law banning Vermont’s use of for-profit prisons.

Behind the Profitable Private Prison Wall

Between 2002 and 2003, according to the Rutland Herald, the number of prisoners in Vermont increased at “nearly five times the national average.” The number of teenagers and young adults in Vermont jails surged by more than 77 percent. A racialized “get tough on crime” ideology, mandatory minimums, and harsher sentencing guidelines from the failed war on drugs left then Republican Vermont Governor Jim Douglas at a moment of departure: build new prisons, or start shipping Vermonters incarcerated under these controversial policies into the deep south to be warehoused without even the “rehabilitative” programs found in Vermont prisons.

Full article – http://vermontprisonwatch.blogspot.com/2013/01/vermont-one-tiny-states-movement-to-ban.html?m=1

Vermont Yankee Update

All petitions have been delivered to VY’s corporate headquarters in VT and we’ve finally got their attention. Entergy has four law firms and a pile of lawyers trying to throw out CRWC studies that debunk their case for thermal pollution of the Connecticut River.

CRWC’s four expert reports conclude that Entergy’s case is “significantly flawed” and relies on outdated science. The reports have been presented to all the decision makers in Vermont, including the Governor, and present a damning case for Entergy.

These reports are top notch. So much so that even the State of VT is using these reports in their own filings to the Vermont utility regulators who will decide later this year whether Entergy should get a new license to operate.

Thanks to the terrific legal support provided by the Vermont Natural Resources Council & VT Law School the fight’s not over yet, but it’s not a fair fight given Entergy’s deep pockets.
Make Your Voice Heard

Your support keeps CRWC in this fight, representing you and the River. Over the last year the Council – thanks to your support and that of members & friends – has put together a technically rigorous take-down of Entergy’s case. Legal & consultant fees, however, continue to accumulate. Your support is needed now more than ever.

Make a donation today to keep the pressure on Entergy and tell them that we won’t back down when it comes to protecting the Connecticut River.
Get Involved
Submit formal comments to the Vermont Public Service Board.
Read the four expert reports, testimony in support of these reports and more on CRWC’s website.
You can see all the filings in this case on the Vermont Public Service Board electronic docket.
Hearings in Montpelier, the next step in this process, are tentatively set for the weeks of February 11th & 18th. Stay tuned for more updates. As always, contact us with any questions or concerns.

For the River,

Andrew Fisk
Executive Director

http://www.ctriver.org/

Sterling College of Vermont Divests in Fossil Fuels

Decision Linked to Emphasis on Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture

Craftsbury Common, VT—Sterling College has announced that it is proud to be the first college in Vermont, and the third college in the United States, that will soon divest its endowment from the two hundred fossil fuel companies identified by 350.org in its effort to move higher education toward fossil free investment. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its February 2, 2013 meeting to instruct the investment team to take this action and to move swiftly to divest.
Bill McKibben, Sterling College honorary alumnus and the founder of 350.org, one of the organizations leading a nationwide campus divestment campaign, said of the college’s move, “Sterling College has always been a leader in sustainability and environmentalism. I am thrilled that Sterling has decided that divestment is an important tool for reversing climate change.”
Sterling College is committed to environmental stewardship. Everything about what it teaches, and how it teaches, is geared to building a world that works. In taking this important action, the College and its Board of Trustees is affirming its commitment to its mission to educate problem solvers.
President Matthew Derr said, “Sterling College is an incubator for those who care about Vermont, care about the natural world in which we all live, and who want to promote healthy and just food systems, and as such, it makes no sense for us to invest in companies that are wreaking havoc on our climate.”
Rian Fried, trustee, said, “With this action, not only will the social return of the portfolio increase, the safety of the long-term financial returns will also be significantly enhanced by shielding the College from direct exposure to companies whose production levels are unsustainable.”
President Derr continued, “Our legacy and our focus on food, water, health, energy, and governance through conservation, education, and sustainable agricultural practices absolutely compels us to take this action. We hope that we inspire other colleges and universities to take this important next step toward divestment in fossil fuels because higher education is an important bully pulpit, and we need to focus the nation’s attention on this critical issue for future generations of our students

More – http://www.sterlingcollege.edu/divestment.html

http://www.democracynow.org.

 

 

VT Raw Milk Producer Survey & Meeting

ACTION ALERT
Rural Vermont Raw Milk Meetings
and 2012 Raw Milk Producer Survey

Dear Members & Friends,

Rural Vermont is reaching out to our entire network to help us locate all raw milk producers in Vermont. Rural Vermont is seeking input for the 2012 Raw Milk Producer Survey, described below, which will greatly help us move forward in our campaign to advocate for improvements to the Raw Milk Law (Act 62).

In the coming weeks, we will be hosting regional “Milk Meetings” to help raw milk producers prepare for inspection by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, voice their opinions about ways in which the raw milk law could be improved, and to network and share a meal with other raw dairy farmers. The first gathering is on January 31st in Hinesburg, followed by four additional meetings around the state. Scroll down for additional dates and details.

If you are a raw milk consumer, please make sure that your farmer is aware of Rural Vermont’s upcoming surveys and meetings.

Raw Milk Producers Survey Information Needed

Rural Vermont has been at the forefront of advancing farmers’ right to sell raw milk and has been given the responsibility of reporting raw milk sales data to the Vermont Legislature. Now we need your help. The survey includes questions about 2012 sales, as well as issues related to the current raw milk law. Please complete the Rural Vermont 2012 Raw Milk Producers Survey today.

No matter the size of your milking operation or the length of time you have been milking, we want to hear from you. Also, if you have just recently stopped selling raw milk, we’re especially interested to hear about any impediments you may have experienced. All identifying information included in the survey will remain confidential.

Your information will help us communicate to Vermont legislators that raw milk provides significant economic opportunities for Vermont farmers. We realize that there are many challenges that still need to be addressed, so please complete your survey today and help us bring attention to these issues.

Rural Vermont Raw Milk Meetings

Rural Vermont has been informed by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture’s Dairy Section and Animal Health Division that they will be resuming inspections of farms selling raw milk direct to consumers. The agency’s stated purpose is “to ensure that they are in compliance with the statutes enacted several years ago” when the Raw Milk Law (Act 62) was passed in 2009. You can read materials related to the Agency of Agriculture’s inspection protocol and animal health requirements on the Agency’s website.

In response to the Agency of Agriculture’s plans to ramp up inspections of raw milk dairies, we will be hosting several regional milk meetings. Farmers can expect to learn tips for simple and inexpensive ways to comply with the law, as well as the opportunity to offer input about what changes to the current raw milk law would be most helpful to raw dairy producers.

The first meeting will be held in Hinesburg from 11am – 3pm on Thursday, January 31st with a potluck lunch. Rural Vermont members attend at no charge, $5 fee for non-members. For exact location, RSVP to shelby@ruralvermont.org or call (802) 223-7222.

Similar meetings will be held on February 7th in Randolph Center, February 21st in South Wheelock, and dates to-be-determined in southeastern Vermont and Poultney. Stay tuned for more info at http://www.ruralvermont.org.

Rural Vermont
Rural Education Action Project
http://www.ruralvermont.org
802-223-7222

Nuclear News Links

For any of you that are wanting to keep up on Vermont Yankee check out VY Evacuation Plans and More @ http://www.evacuationplans.org/  they do a great job posting all the related articles as they come out. For other Nuclear news check out Fairewinds Associates @ http://www.fairewinds.com/. For Fukushima news check Fukushima Update @ http://fukushimaupdate.com/.

Anais Mitchell on VT’s Farm to School Program

Video Published  by vprweb      Sep 26, 2012

Singer, songwriter, Anais Mitchell, visits the Vermont Public Radio studio in Colchester, Vermont on September 26, 2012, for a live performance and interview on VPR’s Vermont Edition. Anais Speaks of her Barn Storming tour, her partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation and their efforts to support Vermont’s Farm to table programs.

Help support Vermont’s Farm to School programs - Web Page,  Facebook Page