Today’s Vermont: March—A Cold and Impatient Lion

Here in Vermont, March often comes in like a lion and goes out like a cold and impatient lion with ice-crusted whiskers and frozen paws. Days are longer in March, but snow is deeper too, with stubbornly frozen soil testing the fortitude of optimistic gardeners who are eager to plant their peas.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Town Meeting Day always falls on the first Tuesday in March, during a time of year when any idealistic notion about Vermont life is quickly dispelled by cold hard reality.

Can you imagine if Town Meeting Day were on a warm and breezy Tuesday in late September, or July, or even just ten weeks later than usual in the middle of the heady month of May? 

Frugality and thrift would go right out the (open) window. Appropriations for local non-profits would be cheerfully doubled. Library additions, new town trucks, and other capital investments would be proposed and approved without dispute, and school budgets would sail through to unanimous acclaim.

But no, Town Meeting is always held in March, when the wind is biting and stores of firewood are running low. Frankly, it’s a marvel of Vermont character that citizens routinely muster even a cautious measure of generosity in such circumstances. As Vermonters gather in towns across the state to vote on budgets, elect officials, indulge the speechifying of resident gadflies, and navigate the minutiae of Australian Ballots and Robert’s Rules of Order, the interminable chill of winter is a reminder of the need for prudent planning, and the importance of sustaining the many institutions that make Vermont communities resilient and whole.

This year Town Meeting Day happened to fall on Super Tuesday, when several states, including Vermont, hold presidential primaries. As of this writing, Vermont’s own Senator Bernie Sanders is a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Bernie returned to Vermont to cast his ballot on Super Tuesday, and capped off the evening with a campaign rally at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction. 

Unlike our neighbors in New Hampshire, who can hardly go out for coffee in the run-up to their primary without being accosted by a Presidential hopeful, Vermonters are rarely treated to a firsthand glimpse of presidential politics. Bernie’s rise to national prominence puts Vermont in a spotlight, and I’d like to share a couple of observations about the Senator that are well-known to Vermonters but that may be overlooked in the national hubbub.

The first is that Bernie and his staff excel at the under-the-radar work of constituent services. Despite his large ambitions and the outspoken role he has come to play in debates about national policy, Bernie’s Senate office has always approached the mundane job of responding to the individual needs of Vermonters with professional diligence and outstanding attention to detail. 

Granted, providing a high level of accessibility and excellent constituent services is relatively easy in a state of 630,000 or so people who are represented by the same number of senators as the entire population of California. Even so, it’s impressive that Bernie manages to handle both the small and the large aspects of the Senate job with abiding commitment and exceptional skill. 

My second observation about the Senator from Vermont is less complimentary - Bernie consistently displays an unfortunate disdain for local media, reserving particular animosity and prickly dismissiveness for the most capable and dedicated Vermont journalists. 

Bernie is a fighter, and perhaps it’s natural for politicians to have an adversarial relationship with the press. However, in an age when the whole institution of journalism is under tremendous pressure, and scrappy Vermont media outlets are managing to produce outstanding reporting against all odds, it raises my hackles to hear that Bernie has ignored yet another interview request, or dismissed a prize-winning news reporter as a gossip columnist. 

So, there you have it. If you’re a Vermonter whose Social Security check is held up in a bureaucratic snafu, Bernie’s office will go to bat for you, but if you’re a Vermont journalist with questions about local issues, you’ll likely be left out in the cold. Perhaps these are small matters in the bigger scheme of things, but I believe that how people handle the small stuff is a better indicator of character and leadership than how they act when the whole world is watching.

Loyal readers of this column won’t be surprised that climate action is my top priority when assessing the performance of politicians at local, state, and national levels. I find it encouraging to follow the efforts of the Vermont Climate Caucus as they work to advance a set of vitally important policies that include the Global Warming Solutions Act, the Transportation Climate Initiative, the Energy Efficiency Modernization Act, and the adoption of a 100% Renewable Energy Standard. 

Particular credit is due to Senator Chris Pearson and Representative Sarah Copeland Hanzas, co-chairs of the Climate Caucus, who provide entertaining and informative weekly updates about legislative climate action in YouTube videos produced by Bob Farnham, known to Vermonters as Bob the Green Guy. 

Happily, I’m now able to devote more of my own energy to climate action in Vermont. I’ve started a new job as a Solar Home Advisor with SunCommon, a Vermont company with a mission to make clean, renewable energy simple and affordable, and to use business as a force for good.

On Town Meeting Day I officially received the keys to one of the nifty SunCommon vehicles that have become a familiar sight on many Vermont roadways, and will soon begin visiting Vermonters who are interested in going solar, shifting to electric heating and cooling, and installing electric vehicle chargers and home batteries. 

During my training at SunCommon, I’ve been struck by how traditional practices and modern innovations can fit together in ways that promote climate action and honor Vermont values of frugality and stewardship. 

For example, when the relatively new technology of cold-climate heat pumps is paired with a clean-burning wood stove, the combination of technologies can eliminate the need for fossil fuel furnaces and boilers in many Vermont homes. No longer having to pay the bill for imported fossil fuels helps Vermonters save serious money, while still maintaining the profound connection to place that comes from harvesting sunlight and burning well-seasoned local cordwood on the coldest winter nights.

I believe that climate action should not be viewed as a burden, or as a set of investments that are in competition with other priorities, but rather as means of strengthening and sustaining the whole interconnected system of relationships, ecosystems, and institutions that make Vermont such a wonderful place to live. 

After all, as Vermonters we know that our fates are intertwined with the health of the natural world, and that caring for the environment amounts to the same thing as caring for ourselves. 

What issues came up at your Town Meeting this year? Do you have thoughts about Bernie Sanders and his presidential run? Want me to show up on your doorstep for a chat about going solar? Join the conversation by using the hashtag #todaysvermont on social media, and thanks, as always, for reading.

Artwork: Mixed media piece by Richard Morin.

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