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James H Maroney Jr
Member since Aug 29, 2014
Recent Comments
Re: “Strong Storms Frustrate Efforts to Reduce Wastewater Overflows in Vermont”
Vermont has about 625,000 people. Our sewer systems treat all their effluent. Vermont farmers house about 120,000 cows, which each generate about 33 times more manure than a human. Vermonts cows generate the equivalent of 4 million peoples manure all of it untreated.
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 10/27/2019 at 5:07 PM
Re: “Under Water: Large-Property Owners Face Expensive Runoff Fixes”
The writer correctly predicts how unwelcome to large property owners large costs for runoff will be. He also correctly states that dairy is the largest source of Phosphorus going into the lake (40%) and that the balance comprises stormwater, stream banks, unpaved roads and MWWTPs. But then he joins Secretary Moore and Elena Mihaly who both say we must vigorously tax the citizens to address the last of these influences and ignore or simply endure dairys contribution. Why?
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 07/04/2019 at 1:22 PM
Re: “Scott Administration Proposes Draining Clean Energy Fund”
If Governor Scott really wants to meet Vermont's goal to reduce the use of fossil fuels and make immediate progress toward cleaning up our atmosphere and our water, he should look again at the $60/80M/year that the state has been allocating for the past forty years to the Vermont's largest polluter and its largest welfare dependent: conventional dairy. Taxpayes would not only save some very large portion of what they have been spending to prop up this industry but they would also not have to raise an additional $70M for twenty years that Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore is telling us is necessary to clean up the lake. Isn't this exactly what he has been telling us he wants: results for no new taxes and no new fees?
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 04/12/2018 at 2:33 PM
Re: “Vermont Senate to Debate Raising Legal Age to Buy Firearms to 21”
While calling the membership of the N.R.A. well meaning, Trump also said he told its leaders at a lunch on Sunday that its time. Were going to stop this nonsense. Its time.
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 03/01/2018 at 6:46 PM
Re: “Lake Carmi Pollution Triggers Call for Stricter Regulation of Dairy Farms”
Secretary Tebbetts who follows in the footsteps of his many predecessors at VAAFM, is not trying to clean up the lake. He is trying to shield Vermont dairy from the kind of regulations that would. Those who want the state to meet its water quality standards should press their legislators to look again at Act 64 and the new Required Agricultural Practices Rules and ask where in these regulations is any mechanism for reducing milk production in the watershed by 85%. The target cannot be met with buffers and keeping cows out of streams. The problem is attributable to the importation (statewide) of 40,000 tons of NPK fertilizer, the importation of 400,000 tons of feed supplements and the stocking of more than one cow for every acre on which that cows feed is harvested and her manure spread. Do not be distracted by other efforts like cover cropping and nutrient management plans. No regulation that does not constrain production will obtain.
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 11/13/2017 at 10:34 AM
Re: “Vermont Climate Panel Has Three Months to Land Three Ideas”
The Vermont Climate Council has seated a conventional farmer, who I presume will inform the public that conventional farming is the leading cause of global greenhouse gases, ahead of both electrical and heat generation and transportation.
Posted by
James H Maroney Jr
on 08/18/2017 at 4:28 PM
Re: “Big Ag Sale: Is There a Market for a $23 Million Vermont Dairy Farm?”
An old adage says that a business is worth a multiple of its earnings. A farm with 2,700 cows produces 54,000,000 lbs of milk or 540,000 cwts, which at $17/cwt earns $9,180,000 gross revenue. If the farm’s cost per unit of production is $16/cwt (a BIG if) then net revenue is $9,180,000 - $8,640,000 = $548,000. $548,000 is just 0.023 of $23,000,000, which when you consider that the owner would have to work too is a terrible return on investment.