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Speech by Representative Robert Dostis in receiving the 2005 Legislative of the Year Award from the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility

October 12, 2005

Thank you. It is an honor to receive this award from the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility - an association with such a great reputation.

I come before you as the Chair of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee and the Executive Director of the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. The work of these two entities is inextricably linked. Since this linkagemay not be apparent at first blush, let me explain how these two worlds overlap.

Energy, conservation, hunger, stability - these words create a circular pattern that reflects our current societal condition. Research from Boston Medical Center shows an increase in child hospitalization rates due to malnutrition during the coldest months of the year, a time when home heating fuel consumption and fuel costs are at their highest. A Boston Medical Center researcher dubbed this phenomenon the "Heat or Eat Syndrome." Fuel costs have an inverse relationship with a struggling family's ability to put nutritious food on the table - the higher fuel costs, the less discretionary
money available to purchase food. This winter, as we anticipate record prices for home heating oil and gas, I believe we will see a significant rise in hunger, and subsequently, an increase in undernourished and malnourished children visiting our hospitals.

How much we pay right now for our fuel-here in Vermont-is pretty much out of our hands. When it comes to electricity, we are fortunate to have two longer term contracts that are cushioning us from what would be even higher electricity prices. As controversial the Hydro Quebec and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plants are, the electricity they produce has kept us from the double digit increases that our neighboring states are experiencing.
However, these contracts will expire and when they do, then where will we be? How much control will we have over our energy future?

As we look ahead, the energy policies that we establish and the investments that we make now will determine the extent to which we are beholden to distant sources of fossil fuels to meet our future energy needs.

On the latter note of fossil fuels, we must take real responsibility at all levels-at the federal and state policy levels, at the business, and
individual level-for our green house gas emissions. We all know that green house emissions are changing our climate. It is not enough anymore to promise to reduce GHG by 10 percent-rather, it is imperative that we reduce emissions by no less than 50 percent.

The comparatively low energy rates we are currently paying come with a hidden price. It is analogous to the emergency food system-both are great to have in the short-term, but neither are sustainable solutions to systemic problems. Low rates and a three day supply of groceries will tide you over,
but they won't help you build a future you can count on.

Like you, the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility members, I envision a Vermont where we have an economically viable and environmentally secure energy future.

• A Vermont where we have created a future with greater energy independence.
• A Vermont where a significant amount of our electricity is generated right here in our state, from renewable energy sources.
• A future where we have maximized our efficiency - in our homes and in our offices-by instituting building standards with the highest levels of efficiency.
• A future where high usage electricity consumers are required to generate some of their own electricity - where combined heat and power systems are the norm, as are solar panels and wind turbines.
• A future where energy conservation is second nature and society treats electricity and all fuels as a valuable commodity that is not to be wasted.

Taking control of our energy and nutrition policies takes leadership. It takes the kind of leadership that Vermont Businesses for Social
Responsibility showed this past year. It was because of you and your policydirector, Scudder Parker, that we produced a renewable energy bill that ultimately became law. The core of the bill, which Scudder crafted was the crux of the energy bill. Without it, I don't believe the bill would have been signed into law.

This renewable energy bill is a small step in the right direction. However, it is only a small step. Because we lack bold leadership at the top to securing greater energy independence, it is left to us to create the groundswell. VBSR is providing both leadership and groundswell.

With so much work still to be done, I am grateful for your continued
leadership on this issue. What we do in the next few years will determine the costs we pay for our power, the costs we exact on our planet, and whether people will continue to have to choose between heating their homes, or feeding their children.