Bill McKibben, known internationally for his work on climate change and the founder of the advocacy group 350.org, criticized Dunne’s position on wind siting and for hardening his stance after early voting in the primary had already started.
In a letter to Seven Days on Sunday, which first reported the endorsement withdrawal, McKibben said that “if anyone still gives a flying fish,” he would now support Dunne’s opponent Sue Minter.
The controversy began Friday when Dunne issued a policy statement saying that “large-scale ridgeline wind projects should only take place with the approval of the towns where the projects are located. As governor, I will ensure that no means no. Towns should be voting by Australian ballot, and if a town says no to a large industrial wind project, I would use all the power of the governor’s office to ensure that is the end of the project.”
Last month, in an editorial board meeting at VTDigger, Dunne voiced support for large-scale wind and solar projects.
“Climate change is real, it’s the biggest threat to mankind, and we need to continue down the path to 90 percent (renewable energy) by 2050, and I think we can,” Dunne said then.
“There are ways to do it that don’t need to lead to significant levels of anger and consternation, and I believe if communities feel like they have to take on the burden of energy production for everybody else, that’s not a good setup,” Dunne said.
He made no mention last week of allowing communities to have the final say on large-scale wind projects inside their borders.
On Monday, Dunne said his policy statement was “a clarification” of a view he’s held all along.
“My language was stronger, perhaps,” he acknowledged.
Dunne called McKibben a friend and said the Ripton environmentalist misunderstood his comments to mean he was anti-wind. Dunne then said he was taking the same position as outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin, who has said projects should be located in communities that want them. The governor derided Dunne’s attempt to say he was mirroring the governor’s stance. Shumlin said he does not believe communities should have veto power.
“I am and will continue to be neutral in this primary,” Shumlin said in a statement. “However, anyone who says they are in line with my position on renewables, and who then comes out for a veto on renewables, is not telling the truth.”
Later Monday, Dunne’s campaign issued a policy proposal outlining the candidate’s concerns about climate change, McKibben’s signature issue.
McKibben said in his letter that Dunne may be making a “shrewd political calculation” to appeal to supporters of another Democrat in the race, Peter Galbraith, a strong critic of large-scale wind projects who has called for a moratorium on their construction.
In a move that McKibben called odd, Dunne’s Friday policy statement included praise from Galbraith, who called Dunne’s position, including the community veto, “a big step in the direction” of a renewable energy policy that serves people and not the corporations that build the wind projects.
“I don’t think Dunne’s rotten or a scoundrel; I’m sure if he’s elected, he’ll make a good governor,” McKibben wrote. “And I don’t think that people should never change their minds. But I do believe there’s something to be said for consistency in public life.” He called Dunne’s shift in position an “about-face.”
Political analyst Eric Davis said he viewed the race as being between Dunne and Minter and that Dunne was clearly trying to pick off Galbraith supporters.
“I don’t think he’s getting desperate,” Davis said of Dunne. “I think he’s seeing the dynamic of a campaign where he’s seeing Galbraith as more than a nuisance candidate, but he wants to avoid a scenario where Galbraith takes votes from him and Minter wins” by a small margin.
Davis also noted Dunne and Galbraith have both tried to appeal to “progressive outsiders” as opposed to Minter, who has the backing of the Democratic Party establishment, including former governors, so it would make sense for Dunne to try to take a strong stance on an issue of importance to some Galbraith supporters.
However, Davis did question an attempt by Dunne to tie Minter to the EB-5 scandal in the Northeast Kingdom because, as transportation secretary, she signed off on a contract that allowed one of the men accused of fraud, Ariel Quiros, to run an airport.
“I think it’s reaching for something,” Davis said. “To make that connection is really stretching it.”
Minter called Dunne’s attempt to link her to the EB-5 case a “Washington-style” political hit. Dunne said it was “fair game” to ask questions involving Minter’s role when she was transportation secretary.
VTrans officials told VTDigger editor Anne Galloway there was nothing out of the ordinary with the Newport Airport contract. Trini Brassard, special projects manager for VTrans, said the contracts for airport operations are all no bid and the Newport Airport contract was no different. Documents show Q Resorts did not make a profit on the deal with the state and Brassard said the state would not have given Q Resorts the contract without guaranteeing that long-time airport operator Lakeview Aviation would perform the work.
On the wind siting issue, Paul Burns, the executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, called Dunne’s policy “out of step” with what most Vermonters want and said it amounted to a “road map to failure” in Vermont’s quest to be energy independent.
Dunne’s policy “would make it all but impossible to reach Vermont’s clean energy goals” of getting 90 percent of the state’s energy needs from renewables, Burns said.
McKibben said he and Dunne exchanged emails Friday about wind power and the candidate gave no indication he would take such a strong stand.
Dunne’s statement irked one major wind opponent, Annette Smith of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, who said Dunne was taking a “superficial approach” and was not strongly condemning the wind industry.
“He is definitely not opposing wind. Or saying anything at all about protecting neighbors. Or saying anything about the bullying and belligerent and arrogant industry. We have all learned a lot, but this particular statement shows that this person has learned nothing,” Smith said.
Dunne said his policy of disallowing projects if a community voted no would apply only to the town hosting the project, not the surrounding communities.
In his statement Monday, Dunne called climate change the biggest threat to the planet. He called for improved waterways, a moratorium on any fossil-fuel project construction, a $100 million program to improve energy efficiency and, one of McKibben’s most ardent causes, divesting pension funds of fossil fuel stocks.
