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April 27, 2019
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Climate-economy discussions had mixed results
COUNTDOWN UNDERWAY TO GREG’S REOPENING
By Lou Varricchio EDITOR
MIDDLEBURY | In 2017, a series of public discussions, spearheaded by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD), was an attempt by the nonprofit environmental-action group to influence select Vermont communities in adopting climate-change economic plans. The multi-town discussions, billed as a grassroots initiative, included local residents and activists heading up panels to explore everything from a statewide carbon tax to changing modes of transportation and the use of fossil fuels locally. VCRD’s climate-change economy discussions got off to a contentious start in Pownal in July 2017 when some residents felt that the big hand of “progressive” state government was coming to town with an international green agenda. Today, Pownal Selectboard member Bob Jarvis, who was an early critic of VCRD’s climate-economy change discussion, is still thinking about what happened two years ago. Jarvis recalled that his concerns, as well as the concerns of other local voters about the climate-economy plan, came from the “Progress for Vermont” report crafted by the VCRD. The guide included objectives for “compact and smart growth development” and “a carbon pricing or trading structure for Vermont.” Jarvis said he’s still skeptical about the effort which, ironically, didn’t make much of an immediate impact in Pownal’s town plans. “Of course it’s over now, but I still assert that this was an example of ‘climate change’ being used for increasing government power and control,” Jarvis said. “It’s a point of fact: the climate economy idea is really a state (government) program. But the VCRD effort was being portrayed here as a ‘grassroots’ initiative. » Climate-economy Cont. on pg. 3
By Lou Varricchio ByLou1 EDITOR EDITOR
MIDDLEBURY | Middlebury MID businessman Tony Neri said his plan busines to to restore restc and reopen Greg’s Meat Market Marke1 to its former glory has been the biggest undertaking of his long the big career in Addison County. “Th is is the toughest project Middlebury businessman Tony Neri said that he hopes the new and improved Greg’s Meat Market will have a soft opening by mid May. Photo by Lou Varricchio
ever,” Neri told the Eagle last week. Neri talked with the Eagle while overlooking interior renovations underway at the popular neighborhood market, located at 3 Elm St. He was feeling stressed but upbeat. “There was six years of bedlam left behind for me to deal with by the previous owner,” Neri added. “I won’t say anything more. But you can’t make those kinds of repairs overnight.” Neri’s vision for the 8,000-squarefeet retail space will finally see the reopening of the market in mid May, that is, if all goes to plan this month. » Greg’s Cont. on pg. 2
More campus controversy at Middlebury By Lou Varricchio EDITOR
Ryszard Legutko
Wikipedia public domain image
MIDDLEBURY | Middlebury College received multiple black eyes in the news last week over two incidents covered widely in the international media. The first controversy erupted over the invitation of Ryszard Legutko, a Polish right-of-center academic and politician, to speak on campus. Last Wednesday, student protests were planned against Legutko. To nip a potential problem in the bud, a reminder of the “Bell Curve” author Charles Murray controversy in 2017, college officials called off the event, citing safety concerns. “Legutko is a professor of philosophy at Ja-
giellonian University, in Kraków,” according to Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. “He is also a member of the European Parliament and is associated with far-right views that have growing support in eastern Europe. He has offended many groups, and criticism at Middlebury has noted his support for discrimination against gay people. His fans note his stance against dictatorship in the era when the (leftist) Soviet Union controlled Poland.” A campus-wide email last week informed Middlebury students of the decision to cancel Legutko’s speech: “In the interest of ensuring the safety of students, faculty, staff and community members, the lecture by Ryszard Legutko scheduled for later today will not take place. The decision was not taken lightly. It was based on an assessment
of our ability to respond effectively to potential security and safety risks for both the lecture and the event students had planned in response.” The second controversy in a week erupted over the suspension of a Middlebury College chemistry professor, Jeff Byers. Byers had asked his chemistry students to answer an exam question about how to calculate the killing dose of Zyklon B, a deadly gas used by Nazis concentration camp administrators during the 1940s Holocaust. Zyklon B was a German-made pesticide containing a large amount of hydrogen cyanide and other compounds. It was used to murder millions of Jews and other minorities during World War II. » Campus controversy Cont. on pg. 2
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