Two committees in the Vermont Senate will have new chairs this biennium, Senate leadership announced Thursday afternoon. But in contrast to the House, which saw a substantial makeover Wednesday, Senate committee composition is relatively unchanged.
The new chairs replace two members who chose not to seek reelection last year. Sen. Ginny Lyons (D-Chittenden) will replace former senator Claire Ayer, a Democrat, as chair of the Health and Welfare Committee. Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) will chair the Institutions Committee, a post formerly occupied by Republican Peg Flory.
Benning also replaces Flory as the only Republican committee chair. “Even with the diminished number of Republicans, we respect the minority’s point of view and want to include them in leadership roles,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). Only six of the Senate’s 30 members are Republicans; the GOP lost one seat in last November’s elections.
Senate committee seats are assigned by a three-member panel called the Committee on Committees. Its members are Ashe, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle).
The committee that got the most significant makeover is Transportation, which has been helmed for years by Mazza. Ashe is the five-member panel’s new vice chair. Freshman Sen. Andrew Perchlik (D/P-Washington), who has deep experience in renewable energy, was also named to the committee. Ashe removed himself from the Judiciary Committee to join Transportation.
“I have a growing interest in the role of transportation in carbon emissions,” Ashe explained. “The committee will have a role in reducing transportation-based carbon emissions.”
The move mirrors one in the House, where Rep. Curt McCormack (D-Burlington), a liberal Democrat who does not own a car, replaced Rep. Patrick Brennan (R-Colchester) as chair of the House Transportation Committee.
Ashe denied that the Senate Transportation shakeup meant a push toward a carbon tax, as some conservatives fear. “Rather than a debate on a carbon tax, I’d like a work product that reduces Vermont’s carbon emissions,” he said.
Replacing Ashe on the Judiciary Committee is Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden), the Senate’s most outspoken supporter of gun-control measures.
Two returning members, Lyons and Sen. Anthony Pollina (P/D-Washington) were removed from the powerful Senate Finance Committee. Lyons’ reward is her new chairmanship; Pollina ended up on the relatively low-profile Agriculture and Government Operations committees. Finance’s new members are Sens. Chris Pearson (P/D-Chittenden) and Becca Balint (D-Windham).
Disclosure: Tim Ashe is the domestic partner of Seven Days publisher and coeditor Paula Routly. Find our conflict-of-interest policy here: sevendaysvt.com/disclosure.
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Emissions from vehicles is incredibly small.
15 of the largest cargo ships put more out than every car on Earth combined.
Every year the regulations on vehicle emissions gets tighter. With how much salt VT sprays half the year, I don’t think those 70’s guzzlers can even move at this point.
“Emissions from vehicles is incredibly small.”
That is false. According to the EPA, “The transportation sector generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions…The Transportation sector includes the movement of people and goods by cars, trucks, trains, ships, airplanes, and other vehicles. The majority of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline, in internal combustion engines. The largest sources of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions include passenger cars and light-duty trucks, including sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and minivans. These sources account for over half of the emissions from the transportation sector. The remaining greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector come from other modes of transportation, including freight trucks, commercial aircraft, ships, boats, and trains, as well as pipelines and lubricants.”
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-g…
And this is true for Vermont as well. See page 3.
https://dec.vermont.gov/sites/dec/files/aq…
Doug Hoffer is right, but we should add planes as a large contributor to atmospheric disruption.
“By burning heavy fuel oil, just 15 of the biggest ships emit more of the noxious oxides of nitrogen and sulphur than all the worlds cars put together.”
Yep, cars make co2.
Turns out, there are other things that also matter.