Rep. Tony Klein (D-East Montpelier), a 14-year member of the Vermont House and longtime chair of its Natural Resources and Energy Committee, is joining a growing roster of legislators retiring this year.
Klein, 69, said he and his wife, Jennifer Boyer, want to spend more time traveling and visiting their grandchildren.
“I decided that being dedicated to the Statehouse from January to May was getting a little tiresome,” he said. “I’ve done it 14 years. I’ve loved it.”
The charismatic former public relations executive has never been shy about sharing his opinions on the House floor, in the Statehouse cafeteria or in closed-door meetings with House leaders.
A staunch supporter of renewable energy, he cited Vermont’s growing portfolio of solar and wind power as a highlight of his career. Klein served 12 years on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, including eight as its chair. But he said he was most proud of his work helping his constituents solve problems and being part of a long tradition of public service.
“The honor and privilege of walking into this Statehouse that’s been here since 1859 is chilling,” he said. “That never gets old.”
A former school board member, Klein didn’t limit his legislative interest to energy and environmental issues. He often exerted behind-the-scenes influence on education bills and was keenly attuned to other issues in play.
Klein said he knew when he returned in January for the 2016 legislative session that this would be his last year. Now that the session is nearing its May adjournment, he’s sharing the news. Candidates for the November election have until May 26 to file petitions.
Klein’s departure coincides with other key state leaders leaving their roles, signaling a sweeping change at the Statehouse next year.
Gov. Peter Shumlin, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown), Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor) and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott are all leaving or running for new offices next year. Another House veteran, Rep. Tim Jerman (D-Essex Junction), announced his retirement Wednesday.
Prior to his service in the House, Klein worked as a lobbyist for electric utilities, Renewable Energy Vermont and Efficiency Vermont. He became a legislator in 2003, the same year as Smith, and became a close confidant to the future speaker. Leaving at the same time feels right, Klein said.
“It’s time to pass the mantle,” he said.
Klein said he hopes to remain involved in energy policy, but however that manifests itself, it won’t be at the Statehouse.
“This place got along without folks like me for hundreds of years and it’ll do just fine without me,” he said.
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Tony Klein helped to put Vermont on the path to clean energy that so many Vermonters support. His committee has consistently demonstrated that we can and must shift away from polluting and expensive fossil fuels to clean, sustainable energy produced close to home.
Thousands of Vermonters now working in the clean energy field can thank Chairman Klein for recognizing the important role they play in our state’s future economic success.
And consumers all across the state now saving money because of investments in efficiency or renewable energy can also trace many of those benefits to the work of Tony Klein.
His legacy will be a cleaner Vermont. He’s helped to ensure that our state does its part when it comes to solving the problem of global warming. And by moving us away from fossil fuels, he’s not only helped to make our part of the world more livable, but more affordable as well.
Yes, we have more work to do, but our future is brighter because of Tony Klein.
Unfortunately almost all the wind and solar people see in Vermont is NOT renewable energy for Vermonters, thanks to the policies Rep. Klein steadfastly has defended. Now we can change this upside down system that benefits only the wealthy and externalizes costs onto neighbors just like the fossil fuel industry. Long past time for change so we put in place policies that respect our communities, protect our environment and lead to real renewable energy for Vermonters.
Put a brass plaque on a Lowell or Sheffield wind tower dedicating the project to Tony.
We’ll all gather once a year to throw eggs at it.
Transitioning from more than 100 years of fossil fuels to a future of efficient renewables is, without a doubt, hard work.
Thank you, Tony Klein, for your service to Vermont to advance us forward.
Tony Klein and all other State legislators plus the members of the Public Service Board all better be very certain there are NO health problems with the low frequency sound waves of these turbines. They have ALL seen medical and scientific EVIDENCE that there are indeed REAL HEALTH PROBLEMS:
http://oto2.wustl.edu/cochlea/wind.html
On MARCH 11th, the VERMONT SUERIOR COURT weighed in on what constitutes grounds for suing VT Public Officials:
http://www.drm.com/resources/vermont-adopts-bad-faith-standard-for-liability-of-public-official
Herer is an excerpt: 2) acted in bad faith, defined as intending to benefit himself or others financially, or to cause harm to the municipality;
We, the people of VERMONT are the “Municipaliies” and if it is ever proven that Tony Klein and other reps, plus the Public Service Board continued to “rubber stamp” these Wind Turbine projects KNOWING they jeopardized the health of Vermonters, including our children, I PRAY they be sued and held personally and financially accountable for their ” BAD FAITH” actions. So, Tony, enjoy your retirement, but maybe you should set up your investment accounts in Panama least one day you face a hostile Vermont Judge and Jury becuase of your lack of ethics and integrity. This is so sad for Vermonters. Who stole the American Dream for Vermonters?
Between Tony Klein, Shap Smith & Peter Shumlin, it is hard to think of any other trio of politicians who has done more damage to Vermont’s environment. Together, these 3 (and several others remaining) destroyed Vermont’s signature land use law, Act 250, and severely undermined Governor Kunin’s Act 200, which encouraged town zoning & comprehensive plans. It is also sad because Tony Klein used to be a committed environmentalist who once cared about protecting Vermont’s mountain-tops and open spaces.
Tony Klein’s legacy is one of destruction, to people’s health and home values and to Vermont’s environment. It is also a legacy of putting Shumlin’s crony campaign donors, like Blittersdorf and Duane Peterson, ahead of normal Vermont working class and retired constituents. He helped drive our electricity rates from what should be today’s fair market 4 cents per kilowatt/hour to the insane 19 cents per kilowatt/hour we all must pay to subsidize those campaign donors.
And the hypocrisy of Klein (and Shap Smith and Shumlin) pretending to care about global warming while supporting Lockheed-Martin’s F-35 fighter jet, projected to be one of the largest annual causes of Vermont’s emissions, is truly appalling. Tony Klein had jurisdiction to examine why the Air Force explicitly said Vermont was not the preferred basing selection from an environmental perspective and he instead joined Smith & Shumlin in suppressing fellow Democrat George Cross’s very reasonable legislation to examine the pros and cons of the F-35. To his credit, at least Klein recognizes it is time to step down.
Mr. Klein had an open and notorious irritation with anybody and everybody who showed up at any “hearing” to observe and ask questions of the Presenters asking for the Certificate of Public Good. This peculiar irritation leaves unresolved the mechanism that was driving it. Certainly, it was not that the attendees were unreasonable. So you do have to ask whether the Chairman was suffering from some unknown, undiagnosed, or undisclosed medical condition that would provoke the hostility and irritability. One candidate would be “micro-strokes,” tiny little strokes, possibly a succession of them, that each had injured some portion of brain tissue that led to reasoning disabilities and irritability. This is surprisingly common among older people, although it typically arrives a decade later. Otherwise, the decision-making format of Mr. Klein remains unfathomable, beyond logic and reason.