State Wants Federal Permission for Farmers to Grow Hemp

MONTPELIER, Vermont — Vote Hemp, a grassroots advocacy organization working to give farmers the right to grow non-drug industrial hemp, is extremely pleased that Vermont Governor Jim Douglas allowed H.267, the Hemp for Vermont Bill, to become law without his signature yesterday afternoon. The bill overwhelmingly passed both the House (126 to 9) and the Senate (25 to 1). The new law sets up a state-regulated program for farmers to grow non-drug industrial hemp, which is used in a wide variety of products, including nutritious foods, cosmetics, body care, clothing, tree-free paper, auto parts, building materials and much more. Learn more about industrial hemp at the Vote Hemp Web site.

Smart and effective grassroots organizing by Vote Hemp and the Vermont-based advocacy group Rural Vermont mobilized farmers and local businesses, many of which pledged to buy their hemp raw materials in-state if they have the opportunity. Rural Vermont’s Director Amy Shollenberger says that “the Hemp for Vermont bill is another step toward legalizing this important crop for farmers. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t allow this crop to be grown. Looking at the Canadian experience, hemp provides a good return for the farmer. It’s a high-yield crop and a great crop to mix in with corn.”

Vermont grows an average of 90,000 acres of corn per year, a small amount compared to Midwest states; however, the need for a good rotation crop exists nationwide. From candle makers to dairymen to retailers, Vermont voters strongly support hemp farming. Admittedly a niche market now, hemp is becoming more common in stores and products across the country every day. Over the past ten years, farmers in Canada have grown an average of 16,500 acres of hemp per year, primarily for use in food products. In Vermont, the interest in hemp includes for use in food products, as well as in quality and affordable animal bedding for the state’s estimated 140,000 cows.

“Vermont’s federal delegation can now take this law to the U.S. Congress and call for a fix to this problem of farmers missing out on a very useful and profitable crop,” comments Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “North Dakota farmers who want to grow hemp per state law are currently appealing their lawsuit in the federal courts. The real question is whether these hemp-friendly state congressional delegations feel compelled to act,” adds Steenstra.

Rural Vermont’s Shollenberger states that “the Vermont law is significant for two reasons. First, no other state until now has followed North Dakota’s lead by creating real-world regulations for farmers to grow industrial hemp. Second, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, as well as a member of the Committee on Agriculture – relevant committees that could consider legislation. We also have a friend at the USDA in new Secretary Ed Schaffer who signed North Dakota’s hemp bill as Governor. I plan to visit Washington, DC and try to figure out what Congress and the Administration intend to do.”

Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, nonprofit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow this agricultural crop.  More information about hemp legislation and the crop’s many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com or www.HempIndustries.org.

(Can somebody explain to me why the Governor’s official spokesman is discussing the Governor’s campaign, and doing campaign message work on state time?? Hmmmmmm…..?????? – promoted by odum)

A Douglas spokesman clarified the issue of whether the Legislature should vote for the plurality winner or not:

Jason Gibbs, a spokesperson for Douglas, said Pollina’s speech Thursday was “angry and bitter.” He said he sees little differences between Symington and Pollina as candidates and that come November differences between those two candidates and Douglas will be clear to voters.

“Voters will have a clear choice,” Gibbs said. “On one hand there is Symington and Pollina, two political peas in a pod. On the other hand there is the governor, who is focused on making Vermont more affordable and prosperous.”

I’m glad they cleared this up, because frankly, I thought this would be a difficult discussion. But fortunately, Gibbs has very clearly laid out the dynamics of the race. If a majority of voters chose one of the two peas in a pod, they are clearly not chosing Douglas and one of those peas should be elected.

This morning, I sent this message to the Pollina campaign in response to their new donor ask on the basis of his announcement yesterday:

Dear Meg,

Frankly, I was disappointed that Anthony Pollina did not show some courage and leadership to resolve a political quagmire that seems likely to bring us a Douglas-Dubie State House for the foreseeable future.

I am un-subscribing to your newsletters, because I am losing faith that Pollina wants to be more than just another politician, taking more vague swipes at his opponents than declarations of new ideas, that I know he could use such public forums to push into the headlines.

I could regain my confidence in him — and would indeed become a donor to him for the first time ever — under two possible scenarios (now that he has refused to take on the still uncontested Lt. Gov. race).  One is that he run, as no less of a Progressive, but in the Democratic primary.  If he believes he is the better opponent for Douglas, why not give everyone who most wants to unseat the governor the chance to make that judgment.  Until we can get IRV in VT (which I strongly support, but it will take a new governor), a 3-way general is not the way to go.  Resolve these differences in a primary, and I will definitely be there for Pollina, with bells on.

The other avenue, though less preferable, would be to start running as an ally of Gaye Symington.  I’m hardly one of her fans, but they are both running against an incumbent.  In political reality, the center-left controls the legislature and the only way a 3-way race will unseat Douglas, whose faction is smaller but undivided, will be to put it in their hands.  If Pollina and Symington run as a tag-team, agreeing to endorse the other if they take the highest vote tally, I would also regain my enthusiasm for a Pollina candidacy.

Until this happens, I am disappointed and sorry to say that I can no longer support you.

Sincerely,

Tim Wolfe

I have to give Meg credit, given the content of my letter, that she wrote back.  Reprinted with permission:

Dear Tim,

Thank you for your honest comments. I am really sorry to hear you are removing your support. As much as the ideas you present are really good there are so many negatives to them that I don’t see them as viable options.

I would totally support a world and political system free of these games but that isn’t the world we live in. IRV is central and as you know an issue Progressives have long supported and promoted. The problem with running for Lt. Gov is that the discussion was not serious enough to ensure we would not change races and then still find ourselves in a 3 way race.

With regard to doing that and to running in the Democratic primary, while they may get votes the chance of people just promoting Anthony as an opportunistic person who will change parties or offices at whim to try and win an election is much greater and the damage would be to the credibility of the candidate and the campaign. I am open to any ideas you have and we do discuss them.

Peace,

Meg

Friends,

As fuel prices continue to soar, renewables and

home efficiency are becoming even more attractive in terms

of financial return on investment. The announcement below

describes how you can learn more about renewables and how to

help finance them. Next update I will send info on

energy-saving tips for around your house and SERG’s expanded

energy audit services.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Bob

SOLAR HOT WATER WORKSHOP

Sunday, June 8, 10am – 1pm

Tracy Hall, Norwich

Solar hot water systems are efficient and cost-effective and

they are easy to install as a retrofit or in new

construction.  Federal, state and SERG discounts (SERG

supporters can get discounts on renewable systems through

our Energy Alliance – learn more at:

http://www.serg-info.org/energ… coupled with

higher energy prices, are making solar an even more

affordable option. Several local renewable energy vendors,

contractors and advocates will discuss the how to’s of solar

hot water at this workshop, organized by the Norwich Energy

Committee and SERG.

The workshop is free, open to the public and refreshments

will be served. Thanks to the First Branch Sustainability

Group, groSolar, Mascoma Bank, ReKnew Energy Systems, Sun

Catcher and USA Solar Stores for their assistance with this

workshop. For more information call the Norwich Energy

Committee at 802-649-2857.

Bob Walker

Sustainable Energy Resource Group

432 Ulman Rd.

Thetford Center, VT 05075

802-785-4126

SERG@valley.net

www.SERG-info.org

From today's Times Argus:

Douglas won't veto new hemp law

May 30, 2008

By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER – Gov. James Douglas will allow a bill legalizing hemp to become law despite concerns from the law enforcement community about its impact on marijuana eradication efforts in the state.

 But the money quote comes a couple of paragraphs down:

“It's a do-nothing bill,” Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs said Thursday.

I guess we should have thought of this strategy before. “Do-nothing”? Now that's something Douglas can really get behind.

 But wait a minute. Wasn't it just days after the session that Douglas was telling us that there would be no way for him to allow bills to go into effect without signing them this year because they decided not to schedule a veto session?

• UPDATE: Forgot a bullet… major kudos to Terri Hallenbeck for liveblogging the Pollina event yesterday at vtbuzz. Would love to see more of this kind of stuff.
• Where not to go on vacation:
  

  The goal of Paulville.org it to establish gated communities containing 100% Ron Paul supporters and or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty… If you’re interested and willing to attempt to literally change the world one community at a time then please Join us if your interested.

• Must’ve been that other Vermont Democratic Convention. Shay Totten writes:
  

  The bad blood between the Obama and Clinton camps is real. Efforts by Kunin, who spoke in support of Clinton, and Obama surrogate Joe Andrews to preach unity were met with hisses and moans from the crowd.

  Interesting. As I review my memory (and video), the unity calls always met with applause – even sustained applause. The only time I heard boos was when Kunin invoked Michigan and Florida using the inflammatory rhetoric of the Clinton campaign. During Joe Andrew’s speech, one heckler popped up calling out Hillary Clinton’s name after he generically invoked the qualities Dems are looking for in a candidate – and there were some moans at that point. But that was it. Maybe I was in the wrong place (the front of the room?).

• Haik notes that BurlingtonPol is the “11th most influential blog in Vermont” according to BlogNetNews. You’re selling yourself short, Haik, as BNN is a faux objective site that promotes right wing sites under a paper thin veneer of objectivity. Maybe kestrel will chime in with their adventures in Virginia. Here’s a bio of its admin:
  

  David Mastio, formerly an editorial writer for USA Today and speechwriter for the Bush administration, has written for National Review, The Weekly Standard and The Washington Monthly. Mastio is the founder of InOpinion.com, an opinion syndicate aimed at helping newspapers attract young, net-savvy readers.

  That’s a man with a mission (so yes, I have little doubt that BurlingtonPol is more influential than Cool Blue Blog…).

( – promoted by Jack McCullough)

MONTPELIER, Vt.-Three weeks after Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed legislation seeking guarantees behind the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund, his administration is raising its own questions about the financial stability of a proposed new owner for the nuclear plant.

“Douglas seems to be requiring Enexus to show some more financial capability, which is exactly what the decommissioning bill was asking for … This has the same effect, so why did you veto the bill? Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier

It’s just different when the Governor Jim Douglas requires Entergy to show financial capability .When the legislature does it you fear rates will go up ,when Douglas does it……

Then …….

Douglas complained that Entergy would respond by charging Vermonters more for power after the current contract between some of the state’s utilities and the nuclear company expires in 2012. He said the decommissioning bill would “unnecessarily and substantially increase the future cost of electricity on both businesses and families.”

Now …..

“Fundamentally, the proposed reorganization raises issues related to the financial soundness of the new corporation, Enexus,” Stephen Wark, the department’s director of consumer and public affairs, said in a statement Thursday.

Wark acknowledged Wednesday that if the Public Service Board agrees with the department’s recommendations, Entergy is likely to perceive those requirements as similar to the legislation.

“We think it’s different but it could be perceived that way,” Wark said in an interview. “I’m sure Entergy will perceive it that way.”

http://www.boston.com/news/loc…

 An update ..the company that can’t/won’t flesh out the de-commissioning fund

New Orleans-based Entergy — which is seeking regulatory approvals to spin off six nuclear plants into the nation’s first stand-alone nuclear-power company, dubbed Enexus Energy Corp. — says an allowance price of about $30 could net the new company $600 million a year of added profit.

Carbon limits could usher in a period of “supernormal profits” for nuclear operators in markets where rates are deregulated and have more ability to rise, says Hugh Wynne, utilities analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. But he warns that profits, if perceived as excessive, run the risk of inciting a public backlash, perhaps including calls for a windfall-profits tax.

http://online.wsj.com/article/…

(We need to keep the focus on the Bush/McCain/Douglas connection. – promoted by Jack McCullough)

The following post about John McCain is taken from a post by Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake.com

No John McCain Myth Left Behind

What do you do for an encore once your Googlebomb project causes Michelle Malkin to unleash her legion of shrieking howler monkeys on you?  Well if you're Chris Bowers, you set your sights on John McCain.

When it comes to being a pandering, obedient Republican ready to rubber stamp anything George Bush demands, when it comes to a knee-jerk reflex to uncritically endorse every failed right wing policy no matter how badly discredited it is and no matter how badly if affects working Americans, John McCain is a regular “party-first & conscience -last” old-school pandering politician. 

Want to help spread the word?  According to Pew, the number one way voters use the internet is to search for candidate information.  Ergo, it makes sense to try and embed hyperlinks of telling McCain articles across the internet in order to raise their Google ranking.  So here we go:

 1 — McCain: US economic woes 'psychological'

2 — McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist 

3 — Bush, McCain plug Social Security 

4 — McCain blasts Obama's and Clinton's attacks on NAFTA 

5 — McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years” 

6 — McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

7 — Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition

8 — McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion

9 — McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy 

There you have it.  You can blogroll them, put them in your sig, add them in comments, or link one every time you use McCain's name.  Or his “huggy bear” image.

You can read Chris Bowers and his terrific explanation of how this works and the project's objectives.

The following post about John McCain is taken from a post by Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake.com

No John McCain Myth Left Behind

What do you do for an encore once your Googlebomb project causes Michelle Malkin to unleash her legion of shrieking howler monkeys on you?  Well if you're Chris Bowers, you set your sights on John McCain.

When it comes to being a pandering, obedient Republican ready to rubber stamp anything George Bush demands, when it comes to a knee-jerk reflex to uncritically endorse every failed right wing policy no matter how badly discredited it is and no matter how badly if affects working Americans, John McCain is a regular “party-first & conscience -last” old-school pandering politician.  Want to help spread the word?  According to Pew, the number one way voters use the internet is to search for candidate information.  Ergo, it makes sense to try and embed hyperlinks of telling McCain articles across the internet in order to raise their Google ranking.  So here we go:

 1 — McCain: US economic woes 'psychological'

2 — McCain housing policy shaped by lobbyist 

3 — Bush, McCain plug Social Security 

4 — McCain blasts Obama's and Clinton's attacks on NAFTA 

5 — McCain in NH: Would Be “Fine” To Keep Troops in Iraq for “A Hundred Years” 

6 — McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

7 — Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition

8 — McCain says overturn the law that legalized abortion

9 — McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy 

There you have it.  You can blogroll them, put them in your sig, add them in comments, or link one every time you use McCain's name.  Or his “huggy bear” image.

You can read Chris Bowers and his terrific explanation of how this works and the project's objectives.

WHAT IF – Gaye and Anthony had formed a coalition – a ticket so to speak

– and sold that ticket to every hurting Vermonter; such as those of us that really can’t afford to put oil in our home furnace tanks, and those of us that don’t have the money in our checking accounts to pay our kid’s college bills – then they’d probably be riding in the parade to Montpelier I describe in my blog today! Take a look!



ENJOY !! >>>> http://vt-democratic-grassroot-cynic.blogspot.com/