NEAL P. GOSWAMI – Bennington Banner
BENNINGTON — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Peter Shumlin said he is hoping to help Vermont cash in on a pending energy revolution as the state’s next governor.
Shumlin, from Putney, is currently President Pro Tem of the Vermont Senate. He faces four others — Sens. Doug Racine and Susan Bartlett, former Sen. Matt Dunne and Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz — for the Democratic nomination.
Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie is the only declared Republican candidate for the office.
During a swing through Bennington earlier this week, Shumlin, 53, laid out the broad principles of his candidacy. However, with the primary set for September, “only the junkies are paying attention,” he said.
Vermont is poised for great economic expansion if state officials embrace a nearing transformation, Shumlin said. “There’s going to be a huge economic boom in this country and internationally as we move off of oil and move to renewable technology,” he said.
The transformation is inevitable, Shumlin said, because the price of oil is bound to reach new heights. “There’s only one thing that drives America, and it drives Vermont too, and that’s money. I’m telling you, when oil goes back to a level that you aren’t able to afford, which is going to be sooner rather than later, everybody is going to be cashing in on the profit,” he said.
The transformation will not be the result of a “moral imperative,” he said, but rather a “dollars and cents issue.” There also are plenty of environmental reasons to embrace new energy technologies, though, according to Shumlin.
This transformation will deliver more to Vermont than clean energy jobs; it will redesign the way Vermonters and Americans live, Shumlin said.
“I’m not talking about green jobs. I’m talking about every single thing that we do is going to be transformed, from the way you got to work today to how you built this building, your home and your church … to where your food is from,” he said. “Huge money is going to be made, and the only question is, are we going to get some sliver? A teeny sliver will make us all wealthy.”
Meanwhile, Shumlin said politicians may be struggling to pass health care reform in Washington, but it could result in progress for Vermont. Even if Congress manages to pass a reform bill, it is unlikely to include a public option, and will certainly not implement a single-payer system, he said.
That could mean the federal government eases restrictions that do not allow states to implement a single-payer system, Shumlin said.
“I absolutely believe that Vermont can be the small, rural state that passes universal health care that contains costs and follows the individual, not the employer,” Shumlin said. “We need waivers. We need some help from Washington, but I think after these guys bungle it, the president and our delegation … will work with us to pass a bill.”
Shumlin said he is “pushing very hard” to have the Vermont Senate vote this year on a single-payer bill, and is “committed to getting that through the Senate this year and over to the House and hopefully signed into law.”
Racine, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, held a hearing on the bill earlier this year.
Having a single-payer system would divorce health insurance from employment, and would save money for companies, making Vermont a more attractive state for employers, Shumlin said.
With a crowded Democratic field, candidates must find ways to stand out. Shumlin said his penchant for steering landmark — and often controversial — legislation through the Legislature is indicative of his leadership and management skills.
“You might not always agree with me, but I get tough things done. I showed that again last week with a vote on Vermont Yankee. A lot of politicians are up there saying ‘Oh, don’t make us vote. We agree with you on the issue, but, geez, don’t make us vote, this is a controversial issue,’” Shumlin said. “It was the same thing a year ago with marriage equality.”
A recent poll by WCAX-TV shows only Markowitz ahead of Dubie in a head-to-head match-up, but Shumlin downplayed the poll, saying Markowitz is the only Democratic candidate to appear on a statewide ballot repeatedly over the past several years.
“No one knows the rest of us. Let’s just be honest, they don’t know me, they don’t know Bartlett, they should, but appear not to know Racine,” he said.
Shumlin ran against Dubie in 2002 in a race for lieutenant governor, a race that Dubie won. But that was “eight years ago for an office that nobody pays any attention to,” Shumlin said.
This article appeared in the Bennington Banner
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