WESTMINSTER — Vermont needs a governor who will lead the people where they want to go. Peter Shumlin is the candidate who can provide that kind of leadership.
Vermonters do not typically need a leader to tell us what we want. We are a citizenry that knows our own interests quite well. We prefer renewable energy to nuclear power, health care for all to profits for insurance companies, equal rights for all, fair educational taxation, and a working landscape that preserves our way of life while sustaining the air, land, and water we treasure.
While the many fine democratic hopefuls share these goals, I believe Peter Shumlin has most clearly demonstrated the leadership abilities to craft the policies and overcome the obstacles that will get us where we want to go.
Take energy, for example. Vermonters have overwhelmingly shown they're ready to embrace the new, clean, safe renewable-energy technologies available today. They're ready to leave behind the failed nuclear experiment. In my own hometown, three major commercial-scale renewable projects are under construction right now. Federal credits were important, but so is Vermont's vigorous embrace of these technologies. Peter Shumlin was instrumental in getting the laws passed that provide that support.
And on nuclear. I've opposed nuclear power all my life. Peter Shumlin has not always been on my side. In this latest go-round concerning relicensing, he ultimately chose to oppose continued operation of Vermont Yankee. I'm not sure that's where he started.
Early on in the debate, his actions reflected the kind of hard-ball strategy you'd expect from a governor dealing with an absentee landlord like Entergy, who is so obviously oblivious to the key interests of Vermonters. From the outset, Peter Shumlin raised the issues most vital to Vermont and clearly articulated why they were non-negotiable aspects of relicensing: safety, waste removal, and a good price. Quite a contrast to Governor Douglas' actions, which spoke of an outrageous willingness to buy a pig-in-a-poke from Entergy at any price!
Peter Shumlin's highly visible role in the energy debate is one reason I am convinced he will lead Vermont where we want to go. Less visible to statewide eyes have been his personal actions in our local communities to preserve the Vermont way of life. His vigorous embrace of land conservation and efforts to ensure the viability of our working farms demonstrates his appreciation of the very things that I have always felt most threatened by nuclear technology.
Vermont, not uniquely in the world, faces many present and future challenges from economic collapse, environmental change, and oil scarcity. Our state is a community of citizens with impressive stores of knowledge, wisdom, and public-spirited engagement.
In meeting these challenges, it will be vital to have a governor who listens to the people, who shares as a core value the love and will to preserve our state, and above all, who has the intelligence, skills, and proven ability to overcome the powerful interests who do not.
Peter Shumlin is the person to entrust with this job. Please cast your vote for him in the Aug. 24 primary.