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Chuck Ross – Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture – The Necessary (r)Evolution for Sustainable Food Systems

Chuck Ross Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture Speaks at UVM’s Conference on The Necessary (r)Evolution for Sustainable Food Systems.

We have food deserts in this state and in this country. We have significant socioeconomic barriers for some people to access the kind of food in the food system I am talking about. We have labor issues, where we are seeing an increased dependance on migrant laborers without an adequate national policy that allows them to work openly and legally, and enables us to treat them humanely, as they deserve….

Fast Food, too Much of it. We know it but we still eat it…. and in fact over the last 50 years the amount of time we spend preparing our food has decreased 40%, that is loosing our literacy with food. We know we have environmental issues, the agriculture and food systems can and do impact the environment and we need to be honest about that and we need to address that. We must continue to push for sustainable farm practices. We need to continually innovate, implement those practices, those new practices that enable farmers to make a living, while producing those products that are good to eat and are good for the environment….

…I ask you to reinvest your commitment to changing our agriculture and food systems so they will meet the needs of the 21st Century.

UVM PDF  – Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a changing climate 2012

Through the understanding of how natural systems work, how they rely and interact with one another, we can design and integrate our Food Systems into the landscape in a way that will actually benefit Ecosystem health. This method of understanding and designing systems is known as Permaculture. – VT4Evolution

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UVM – Why We’re Hosting a Food Systems Summit

Excerpt from UVM Food Systems Blog:

…Vermont is full of positive deviants. Yes, you heard it right, I said positive deviants. The definition is simple: positive deviants are people whose uncommon, but successful. behaviors or strategies enable them to find better solutions to a problem than their peers, despite facing similar challenges and circumstances. Vermont’s tradition of positive deviance and cutting-edge innovation, in the face of adversity, makes it a rich site for the creation of more sustainable food systems models adaptable around the world…

“How does a regional food system feed the world?”

To address this question and others, we have set in motion a Food Systems Summit that will bring together emerging international leaders in food systems study and work, as well as in practice with prominent national and international researchers and educators in the field, for in-depth examination of obstacles and opportunities facing us in the decade ahead. It is our expectation that the Summit will translate discussion and exploration into policy and research that can be brought into practical application — first regionally, then nationally and even globally….

A strong existing network of partnerships among UVM researchers, experimental farms, and commercial and community organizations amplifies the impacts of food systems work being done in Vermont.

For all of these reasons, we believe the time is ripe for a systems approach to a regional food system in New England that builds on our existing strengths and resources. The Food Systems Summit is the conduit to bring together like-minded leaders interested in finding solutions and then sharing them with other regions worldwide.

Are you ready for the revolution? Come join us! We will be hosting a livestream of the public conference on June 28 right on this blog and on our UVM CE Facebook Page and tweeting at the hashtag #UVMsummit. Follow us at @uvmCE or @UVMFoodFeed.

While you’re reading this blog, read some of the latest posts from our summit speakers and participants.

full article – Why We’re Hosting a Food Systems Summit.

more info – Public Conference on Sustainable Food systems

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Transparent Radiation: The Movie

August 2011 – After the March 2011 catastrophic disasters in Japan, debates about nuclear power reignited around the world and uncertainty about the costs and benefits of nuclear energy rose dramatically. Set amid the world’s historic transition toward energy sustainability, this important film looks at nuclear energy through the lens of ecological economics. It features commentary from over twenty students and fellows of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics. As an important part of the nuclear discussion, this film expounds common misconceptions about nuclear power – rendering old arguments transparent and empowering new perspectives.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Gund Institute or the University of Vermont.

This film adheres to the Documentary Filmmaker’s Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use and is strictly intended for educational and informational purposes only.

http://transparentradiationfilm.tumblr.com/

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Fairewinds ☢ Nuclear Power Conference ☢ From Fukushima to Vermont

In this video Arnie Gundersen examines the fundamental advantages and disadvantages of splitting atoms to boil water and presents how nuclear power plants work, how to cool a reactor during an accident, the effect of hot particles when inhaled, and concerns involving the long-term storage of nuclear waste. This presentation took place at the Nuclear Power Conference held at the University of Vermont July 23, 2011.

 

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Burlington Voters Approve Smart Grid/Smart Meter Bond

by Angela Chagnon                         July 6

After Burlington’s special election results revealed that the Burlington Electric Department’s $13.5 million bond request had been approved 1,808 to 1,176, the Burlington Free Press ran a story describing the celebratory mood of the measure’s supporters.

“When news of Burlington’s approval of a smart-grid bond vote reached Church Street on Tuesday night, a gathering of supporters raised glasses, tucked away calculators and eased more comfortably into cafe seats. …. Burlington Electric Department General Manager Barbara Grimes said the victory justified the 108-year-old utility’s first-ever post-bond-vote party. A dozen or so scattered supporters heartily agreed.

Scott Moody, a Burlington Electric board commissioner, kept it simple: “This is a victory for the ratepayers of Burlington.”

Past bond items for BED have been General Obligation Bonds, which require a ⅔ majority vote to pass. This time, BED managed to get a Revenue Bond on the ballot that only required a simple majority vote.

While BED parties it up, some ratepayers in Burlington are disappointed that a project they view as unnecessary is going forward. Even more disappointing were the numbers that showed up at the polls — only 15 percent of BED’s roughly 20,000 customers cast a vote Tuesday.

MJ Farmer, a former electric utility engineer and Burlington resident, expressed her disappointment with the low voter turnout. “This vote will replace all electric meters in Burlington with wireless meters,” she said. “Less than three thousand people voted.”

Farmer does not share Moody’s positive outlook on the outcome of the vote, and says she expects the transition to Smart Meters to be anything but a smooth one.

“I predict problems with installations, much higher installation costs, and much higher utility bills,” she stated. “I think they will soon be known as ‘dumb meters’.”…

full article – http://truenorthreports.com/burlington-voters-approve-smart-gridsmart-meter-bond

I reported a similar response on my post Burlington is Smart??? on June 29th

 

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Smart Grid is a Money Saver?

The White House published: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE 21st CENTURY GRID: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future this month, The stated goals are:

• Facilitating and enabling a clean energy economy with significant use of renewable energy, distributed energy resources, electric vehicles, and electric storage;

• Creating an electricity infrastructure that saves consumers money through greater energy efficiency, as well as supporting the more reliable delivery of electricity; and

• Enabling technological innovation that creates jobs of the future and new opportunities for empowering consumers to use energy wisely and reduce their energy bills

Lets look at the “savings” this Smart Grid will afford us. Excerpt from the report –

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (U S Congress 2009) accelerated the development of smart grid technologies, investing $4.5 billion for electricity delivery and energy reliability activities to modernize the electric grid and implement dem- onstration and deployment programs (as authorized under Title XIII of EISA)

Excerpt from Title XIII of EISA –

SEC. 1306. FEDERAL MATCHING FUND FOR SMART GRID INVESTMENT COSTS.

(a) MATCHING FUND.—The Secretary shall establish a Smart Grid Investment Matching Grant Program to provide reimbursement of one-fifth (20 percent) of qualifying Smart Grid investments.

So the $4.5 Billion of our Tax monies will reimburse 20% of the New Smart Grid (for the qualifying investments)? Who will pay the other 80+%? Assuming the $4.5 B. covers the full 20%, that would ONLY be $18 Billion we need to come up with. If the Utility companies front us the money for this SMART upgrade,  How many years will it take to pay them off, at what percent interest?

Saving consumers money???

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Smart Growth & Property Rights

Do you own your own home or business property? Think you have a right to own that property? Think again… Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, Eminent Domain and the Kelo law BEG TO DIFFER.

Kelo v. City of New London, was a Supreme Court Case in 2005, ruling on the issue of using eminent domain for the reason of economic development. They ruled the town had the right to take land from the private property owner with “reimbursement” (at below market value)  for economic development. Now a days, especially in VT, “economic development” is “Smart” & Sustainable development. Private Property is subject to the Kelo ruling as president. Property doesn’t even need to be labeled as blighted for the Kelo “law” to be used.

Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, and Kelo:
Organized theft, by any name – August 2005

….John Adams said,

“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God; and there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”

One would be hard-pressed to find a single word in the writings of the Founding Fathers to support the premise that it’s okay to take private property for economic development. To the contrary, they believed that the root of economic prosperity is the protection of private property….

Sustainable Development is top-down control, a ruling principle that affects nearly every aspect of our lives, including; the kind of homes we may live in; water policy that dictates the amount each American may use in a day; drastic reductions of energy use; the imposition of public transportation; even the number of inhabitants that may be allowed inside city borders. Most Americans have heard of a small part of this policy, operating under the name Smart Growth….

In order to meet such goals, federal, state, and local governments are scrambling to impose strict policies on development and land use. The use of Eminent Domain has become a favorite tool. Sustainable Development calls for partnerships between the public sector (your local government) and private businesses.

http://www.freedom.org/board/articles/deweese-805.html

Kelo Backlash Could Lead to Restoration of Property Rights…  June 2005

…On June 23, 2005, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court that private property can be taken by government for the purpose of economic development. Where Kings of England were once forbidden, the threshold is now open for a mere director of economic development to come crashing through, evict the poorest man, seize his cottage, rip it down, and sell what’s left to corporations and wealthy home buyers….

Distilled to its essence, Justice Stevens’s ruling has not just entitled the rich to prey upon the poor, but it also supports a process that encourages them to do so and thereby grants planners the resources and violence of the state to facilitate their acquisitive interests.

full article – http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2005/06/Kelo-Backlash-Could-Lead-to-Restoration-of-Property-Rights-Lost-to-Smart-Growth-and-Eminent-Domain-Abuses

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Letter to The Peace and Justice Center

International Scientists Recommend Global Governments Adopt New Exposure Guidelines for Electromagnetic Radiation—Pointing to Biological Hazards and Risks to the Genetic Code from Unchecked Proliferation of Wireless Technologies

Dear Peace and Justice Advocates!

I am concerned with your “on the fence” e-mail about Smart Meters… I am sure you must know who Sandia is… Why is NO ONE Speaking up??? VT is giving a huge contract to one of the largest WAR Profiteers Lockheed Martin! At whose expense and for whose benefit? Have you read the Sage Reports – Assessment of Radio frequency Microwave Radiation Emissions from Smart Meters? http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/

excerpt from Sage Report – Scientists who study radiofrequency radiation from wireless technologies have issued a scientific statement warning that exposures may be harming the development of children at levels now commonly found in the environment. Pregnant women are cautioned to avoid using wireless devices themselves and distance themselves from other users.

The Seletun Scientific Statement has now (Video from Scientist Embedded above – Please Watch) been published in Reviews on Environmental Health (2010; 25: 307-317). The article recommends that lower limits be established for electromagnetic fields and wireless exposures, based on scientific studies reporting health impacts at much lower exposure levels. Many researchers now believe the existing safety limits are inadequate to protect public health because they do not consider prolonged exposure to lower emission levels that are now widespread…


Have you read The W.H.O. new report reclassifying Radio Frequency as possibly cancer causing? WHO RF Press Release 

(we are) a coalition of business and property owners, concerned citizens and PG&E ratepayers in northern California who address health, environmental, and safety impacts associated with electromagnetic fields (EMF) and radiofrequency radiation (RF) technologies.
 
Network requests Commission orders that will modify D.06-07-027 and D.09-03-026 to (1) re-open Commission review of PG&E’s Smart Meter program; (2) require PG&E to submit an independently prepared RF Emissions Study; (3) schedule evidentiary hearings on RF health, environmental, and safety impacts; (4) review actual Smart Meter program performance; (5) allow customers to opt out; and (6) impose an immediate moratorium on PG&E installation of new Smart Meters pending completion of the requested study, evidentiary hearings, and the proposed Commission review.

As of now, I think VT4Evolution is the only voice of opposition on Smart Meters in Vermont. The Peace and Justice Center must appose this, do to your very purpose. This is LOCKHEED MARTIN we are talking about Sandia is Lockheed….. PLEASE Don’t be another passive peace organization that steps aside when the issues are tough! The People of Vermont need your voice on this. Thanks for all you do, I hope you choose to inform people instead of just referring them to B.E. the very ones signing the contract. The studies of Burlington Electric compare ONE Smart meter at 3 feet to a cell phones at the ear…

How many apartment complexes have many energy meters at the entry, grouped relatively close together that all residents must pass by before entering their home? This is part of the risk when they are grouped, the exposure is much higher check the Sage reports.

With Wisdom we must make our choices! After a proper moratorium with an informed citizenry we can consider Smart tech, WHAT IS THE RUSH? People I ask don’t even know what it is, yet our Federal Gov. has already allocated AT LEAST 3.4 Billion Dollars of Our money on this questionable technology… and the Industrial War Complex is going to profit…AGAIN!

In Peace, Simha Bode
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Can Vermonters Opt-out from Smart Meters? UPDATED

SEE BOTTOM OF ARTICLE FOR DETAILS ON HOW VERMONTERS CAN OPT-OUT

Why Stop Smart Meters?

Utility customers have noticed huge increases in their bill after a ‘smart’ meter is installed- in some cases hundreds of dollars more than usual. http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/12/customers-revolt-as-smart-meters-accused-of-overbilling/#

Read the interview with the Electronic Frontier Foundation about how ‘smart’ meters violate privacy.

Smart meters do not result in energy savings, according to Reuters.  They may even increase energy consumption.

Whistleblowers interview on Smart Meters

The CA Public Utilities Commission, an appointed (not elected) body who are meant to regulate utility companies, has ignored popular local opposition and recklessly continues forcing ‘smart’ meters onto the people of CA.

full article – http://stopsmartmeters.org/why-stop-smart-meters/

PRESS RELEASE from the Karolinska Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Stockholm, Sweden, February 3, 2011

Scientists who study radiofrequency radiation from wireless technologies have issued a scientific statement warning that exposures may be harming the development of children at levels now commonly found in the environment. Pregnant women are cautioned to avoid using wireless devices themselves and distance themselves from other users.

The Seletun Scientific Statement has now been published in Reviews on Environmental Health (2010; 25: 307-317). The article recommends that lower limits be established for electromagnetic fields and wireless exposures, based on scientific studies reporting health impacts at much lower exposure levels. Many researchers now believe the existing safety limits are inadequate to protect public health because they do not consider prolonged exposure to lower emission levels that are now widespread…

Many countries are promoting wireless communications on a community-wide scale for energy management and conservation. The SmartGrid concept could require every home to have a wireless electric and gas meter in place of their existing meters. If implemented, it will greatly increase the intensity of new wireless emissions in homes, schools and every other building that uses electricity and gas.

full press release – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/docs/Karolinska_Institute_press_release.pdf

Assessment of Radio frequency Microwave Radiation Emissions from Smart Meters

FCC compliance violations are likely to occur under widespread conditions of installation and operation of smart meters and collector meters in California. Violations of FCC safety limits for uncontrolled public access are identified at distances within 6” of the meter.

full report – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/

the Sage Report responds to the EPRI – linked below.

Sage Report on Radio-Frequency – Radio Frequecy Exposures from Smart Meters

February, 2011

EPRI (The Electric Power Research Institute) conducts research on issues of interest to the electric power industry, and is largely funded by electric utilities in the United States.

Currently, the data made available by the utilities that are installing smart meters is non-existent, piecemeal and without sufficient basis to verify.  In addition, there are different types of meters being deployed, so a full accounting of each one should be public information.

full article – http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/?page_id=460

No Smart Meters San Francisco Blog (videos) – http://nosmartmeters.blogspot.com/

The following link has a list of local governments within California who are opposed to the mandatory wireless  ‘smart’ meter program.  Names of cities and counties are linked t0 news coverage or official council minutes that substantiate each city or county’s inclusion.

TAKE ACTION – Tell Governor Schumlin and your state Reps. you want the option to opt-out and keep your analogue meter. Governor’s office – http://governor.vermont.gov/ Legislator’s e-mails arranged by county – http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/districts.asp?Body=S&Session=2012 House Representative’s e-mails by county – http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/districts.asp?Body=S&Session=2012

Inform your community!

From CVPS –  Can I opt out from CVPS SmartPower®?

We recognize that there may be some customers who would prefer not to have an advanced digital meter installed at their home. Customers have the right to opt out of the CVPS SmartPower® program. However, we strongly believe that together we can all benefit from updating and improving our electric system. Customers who choose to opt out must contact CVPS’ Customer Information Center at 800-649-2877, and will also be required to pay a monthly fee of $10 to cover the cost of meter reading and additional equipment expenses. (This fee has now been waived) – VPR News story

link http://www.cvps.com/ProgramsServices/smartpower/TheFacts/AnswersToYourQuestions/index.asp#answerSix

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ICLEI Representing “Local Government” at UN Environmental Program?

Burlington, South Burlington and Brattleboro are ICLEI members (an NGO that is tasked with implementing The UN’s Agenda 21 on the local level). VERMONT towns  are being “represented” by ICLEI at UN meetings. ICLEI is flying the “local Government” Flag??? Look at the title they are given “Local Authority Major Group Co-Facilitator” What? As you know the US constitution Article 1 Section 10 declares:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation;…No State shall… enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power

link – http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec10.html

Story: ICLEI pushed for Local Authority recognition at the UNEP Governing Council meeting

At the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC26/GMEF) meeting, 21-24 February 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya, ICLEI has been flying the flag for local governments as a Local Authority Major Group Co-Facilitator.

During the meeting ICLEI Deputy Secretary General, Gino van Begin, delivered two statements on behalf of the Local Government Major Group.

The President’s summary of the meeting, as a contribution of UNEP to the preparatory process towards Rio 2012, includes numerous references regarding the engagement of and cooperation with civil society and key stakeholders.

linkhttp://hosted.verticalresponse.com/413987/2140443b32/1626003033/3976945d7f/

◊ Personally I don’t want to be represented by this NGO. If you are a council, committee or planning board member within an ICLEI member town, be aware you are infringing on the sovereignty and constitutionally protected rights of US citizens, by breaking Article 1 Section 10 of the US Constitution. If you have made an oath to uphold the constitution than you are also breaking your oath.

Reference link below to see Spokane, WA’s ordinance and amendment they wrote to kick ICLEI out of their town-

http://www.freedomadvocates.org/articles/sustainable_development/kick_iclei_out%21_20100410407/

Resource Links  http://www.freedomadvocates.org, ICLEI Primer –

http://www.freedomadvocates.org/articles/illegitimate_government/iclei_p…

For a more in-depth analysis see “The Local Movement Compromised” – https://vermont4evolution.wordpress.com/human-rights/the-local-movement-compromised/

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VPR News: Vermont Reads: Leaving Eugenics Behind

VPR News: Vermont Reads: Leaving Eugenics Behind.

VPR interview (full interview)

(Wertlieb) You mention eugenics in Vermont, not a happy chapter in the state’s history.

(Bolduc) Well, not a happy chapter in United States history. But it was very well documented in Vermont, and because we’re small enough, and because the organization was small enough, and because the organization was small enough, we were probably able to document it better than other states were. But we have a book done in, it started in the 1920s and 30s by Elin Anderson a sociologist from Harvard who wrote a book called “We Americans, A Study of Cleavage in a Yankee City.” And then chronicling that was the work of UVM Zoologist (Henry F.) Perkins called “Breeding Better Vermonters.” That was a master’s thesis out of the University of Vermont history department, that was just released a little while ago by University Press of New England. It’s quite a good book, but it’s also very frightening in what we went through in Vermont, in the 1920s and 30s trying to identify races in Vermont and trying to essentially breed better Vermonters…

(Illuzzi) “Our predecessors passed a law, which as a matter of public policy, deemed Native Americans as undesirable.”…

(Illuzzi) “We actually took testimony in the early 90s from individuals who were told by their grandparents: ‘Never admit you are Abenaki, never admit you are Indian, because if state officials find out about it, you may end up getting sterilized.”

full interview – http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/90752/