2008 Woodie Awards
Fire and Brimstone Big Biz Cashes in as Climate Changes
Opinion Editorial
Shane Clark - Op-Ed Editor
Issue date: 1/23/07 Section: Opinion
I arrived back in Burlington on Jan. fifth and the temperature was pushing 60 degrees, a record high. Despite the recent snowfall - we cannot continue to ignore the signs of global warming.
When the BBC asked George W. Bush why he refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol (an international treaty to lower carbon emissions that has been ratified by 165 nations in order to stop global warming) he simply replied: "The Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt."
Well Mr. President, which economy are we talking about, yours and Exxon Mobil's?
Unless Mr. Bush was truly blunted, I can assure you he was not referencing
Vermont's economy.
In its 2005 final report, the Vermont Department of Tourism (VDT) released that between 2003 and 2007 the tourism industry in Vermont will suffer a per-year revenue loss of $282 million, or a decline of 8 percent. This waning industry is due in large part to the negative impact that climate change has had throughout the region.
The travel industry remains one of the more important sectors in the Vermont economy according to the VDT. Out of the 17 major economic sectors in Vermont, travel always ranks in the top five.
Would you buy a winter time-share at a mountain resort where it's 55 degrees and raining
in mid-January?
I think not.
Resort communities, which absorb 85 percent of travel commerce, are in serious jeopardy, and that spells disaster for the Vermont economy. Money spent in and around resort communities is intricately tied with Vermont's economic infrastructure, and its success or failure has a direct ripple effect on all aspects of financial health in the state.
The VDT reports that tourism generates over $182 million in tax revenue for Vermont each year. The loss of that tax money leaves less funding for things like education and health care.
The potential revenue loss for rural communities such as Vermont (hundreds of millions of dollars) does not matter to people like Bush when it comes time to sign environmental protection measures like the Kyoto Protocol. All our leaders care about are the profit margins for corporations - and it's shameful.
When the BBC asked George W. Bush why he refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol (an international treaty to lower carbon emissions that has been ratified by 165 nations in order to stop global warming) he simply replied: "The Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt."
Well Mr. President, which economy are we talking about, yours and Exxon Mobil's?
Unless Mr. Bush was truly blunted, I can assure you he was not referencing
Vermont's economy.
In its 2005 final report, the Vermont Department of Tourism (VDT) released that between 2003 and 2007 the tourism industry in Vermont will suffer a per-year revenue loss of $282 million, or a decline of 8 percent. This waning industry is due in large part to the negative impact that climate change has had throughout the region.
The travel industry remains one of the more important sectors in the Vermont economy according to the VDT. Out of the 17 major economic sectors in Vermont, travel always ranks in the top five.
Would you buy a winter time-share at a mountain resort where it's 55 degrees and raining
in mid-January?
I think not.
Resort communities, which absorb 85 percent of travel commerce, are in serious jeopardy, and that spells disaster for the Vermont economy. Money spent in and around resort communities is intricately tied with Vermont's economic infrastructure, and its success or failure has a direct ripple effect on all aspects of financial health in the state.
The VDT reports that tourism generates over $182 million in tax revenue for Vermont each year. The loss of that tax money leaves less funding for things like education and health care.
The potential revenue loss for rural communities such as Vermont (hundreds of millions of dollars) does not matter to people like Bush when it comes time to sign environmental protection measures like the Kyoto Protocol. All our leaders care about are the profit margins for corporations - and it's shameful.
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