December 28, 2005
A Question for the New Year
by
Daniel Hecht

Which would you prefer to see in Vermont in 2006?

1) Growing anxiety about fuel prices and availability, rising employment insecurity as jobs flee the state and country, increased dependence on luxury retailing in an uncertain national economy, faltering farms, box stores gobbling up fields and forests, and escalating concern about the degradation of Vermont’s landscape and the global environment.

2) An economy based on locally-derived renewable energy, secure jobs in community-anchored companies, more job opportunities in high-paying technology R&D and manufacturing, profitable farms, reduced sprawl and wiser use of natural resources, and optimism that we can keep the natural environment, clean, healthy, and beautiful.

Incredibly, this is not a rhetorical question. Vermont faces a decision. We must commit ourselves to building our future on sustainable businesses, innovative technology, and sound stewardship practices -- or to trunding down a risky path based on outmoded development models.

In recent weeks, this issue has been brought to the fore by many voices, notably that of UVM President Fogel. He and others propose that state government must encourage “green” enterprises, especially the development of high-paying environmental tech jobs. With the assets of a widespread environmental ethic and a “cachet” as a clean, green state, they say, Vermont has an opportunity to become a leading source of environmental goods and services.

Vermont Environmental Consortium (VEC) is pleased to hear the chorus of support for this vision, because we have has been working to realize it for five years. VEC is a statewide alliance of 45 businesses, educational institutions, public agencies, and organizations. Our Green Valley vision is not a marketing ploy or a plan to turn the state into a cute, artificial Green Disney World. It’s a pragmatic, market-based agenda intended to provide our citizens with the basic securities of energy, food, jobs in sustainable enterprises, and a healthy environment.

The idea relies on innovation and change, yet it continues Vermont’s long tradition of respecting its farms and forests and the communities that depend upon them. It builds on Vermonters’ historic independence and willingness to do things their own way.

The elements are here, now, to accomplish this goal. Vermont’s timber, crops, and herds provide abundant (if used wisely) natural resources; the new technology is increasingly effective and affordable. The market is ready, and there’s a wealth of expertise and entrepreneurial spirit in our hundreds of green enterprises.

And exciting developments are happening all over the state. It’s not just UVM and its wonderful Rubenstein School or Gund Institute. It’s Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, with its array of marvelous programs including its new funding program for biodiesel development. It’s Middlebury College using sustainably-harvested wood from small-lot forests and buying into biodiesel. It’s Washington Electric Coop’s landfill power plant in Coventry, producing electricity from trash. It’s Central Vermont Solid Waste Mgt. District’s Zero Waste program, Vermont Law School’s expanding environmental law programs, and scores of other companies and community initiatives.

The point is, we now have all the elements needed to attract green businesses, give existing companies a competitive advantage in out-of-state trade arenas – and assure a healthy, beautiful Vermont in perpetuity.

But the time for decisive action is now -- Vermont must establish leadership in this sector soon, or it will be superseded by states or regions with more funding and other resources.

Importantly, this is not just the responsibility of state government. What’s required is smart coordination between state agencies, private businesses, the non-profit sector, and communities. Invest in incentives and support for the environmental business sector. Consolidate the many as-yet-uncoordinated efforts to establish Vermont’s green “brand.” Promote new models of economic development that foster security, sustainability, and community in preference to the defeatist, divisive choice of “box stores or no new jobs.” Craft energy policies based on the many clean, renewable sources in Vermont. Demonstrate that environmental protection and economic growth are inherently interdependent.

Finally, think freely about emerging potentials and bring diverse ideas to the table, but work together across sectors and disciplines to minimize intra-state competition while gaining marketing advantages beyond our borders. Freedom and Unity: a good idea. Says so right on the flag.

Daniel Hecht is executive director of the Vermont Environmental Consortium and the author of five novels; his sixth, Bones of the Barbary Coast, will be published in June by Bloomsbury. A resident of Central Vermont for 30 years, he lives in Montpelier.

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