The governor weighed the benefits of the state health care bill, Shap Smith reflected on his first term as Speaker of the House, Senator Bernie Sanders called for an offshore oil drilling moratorium, the effects of climate change on Lake Champlain were studied and (uh-oh!) bed bugs have made a comeback!
These were some of the voices in the news this week:
Douglas Torn Between Likes And Dislikes Of Health Care Bill (5/17)
(Governor Jim Douglas) "The Blueprint effort is recognized nationally as a model. In fact some of the elements are included in the legislation that passed the Congress this year but the other sections, spending 100s of thousands of dollars on a study that probably is unnecessary because we’ve had lots of studies. And the drug provision are problematic so I don’t know yet which will outweigh the other."
Shap Smith On Legislative Issues (5/18)
(House Speaker Shap Smith) "Oh, I learned a lot about politics that I didn’t know before. Many of those lessons I can not share."
Sanders Wants To Restore Offshore Oil Drilling Moratorium (5/21)
(Senator Bernie Sanders) "One of the issues that I will be fighting very hard for is that the American taxpayer should not spend one penny to have to clean up the environmental disaster or the economic damage that this terrible oil spill has caused. That’s something that BP and the subcontractors are going to have to pay for."
Study: Climate Change Will Worsen Lake Pollution (5/18)
(Rose Paul, ecologist, Nature Conservancy) "There is likely to be less of a deep cold water area for the kind of species that need cold, well-oxygenated water, so their habitat in the warm summer months simply shrinks. So species like lake trout and burbot – they’re going to get more crowded in to the deep, cold water part of the lake."
Experts Say Bed Bugs Are Making A Comeback (5/19)
(Jon Turmel, Vermont’s state entomologist) "I’ve been at it 35 years and we would get one or two bed bugs every three or four years – we’d never see them. As it is now, I’m getting anywhere from 2 to 6 calls a week."