Proposition 3: Advancing Opportunity, Renewal, and Innovation was impressive. I appreciated the recognition not only has everything changed but that everything must change; we cannot go back to “normal.” I also appreciated the recognition that climate change demands that much must change and that debating the reality of the problem is a waste of time that disregards the science that can help us understand the problem and how to solve it and undermines the ability to create economic opportunities out of our response.
Seven years of life in the Upper Valley have shown me that Vermont has the resources, talent, and expertise, not only to deal creatively with climate change but to model solutions to the rest of the nation. The nation desperately needs such models. My background in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio also helps me appreciate that one of this state’s greatest resources is its political climate. Politics in Vermont are less divided, more respectful, and more deeply rooted in science and facts than in many other states. Vermont has the opportunity to offer not only model outcomes but a political decision-making process from which most other states could follow to their benefit. That’s my hope for Vermont’s future.
