vermontliving

Vermonters, especially Native Vermonters, understand how much the state has changed in recent years.  Salaries have remained even, fuel prices have skyrocketed and environmentalists and certain politicians have halted big business from coming into the state and setting up shop. 

 To start a large business in Vermont, companies must apply for dozens of permits, go through stringent approval processes and swear on their mother’s life that they will not cause any pollution.  It’s been more than 15 years that Walmart has tried to open shop in St. Albans and the store is still facing numerous appeals and criticism.  One of key arguments has been that if Walmart came in, Ames and Woolworths would be driven out of business.  Guess what?  Both stores went bankrupt years ago.  St. Albans has no discount department store left and shoppers are driving 30 to 40 miles one-way to reach the closest discount retailer - either Williston’s Walmart or South Burlington’s Kmart.  Not much of an option.

One thing has really been bothering me.  My house is heated with propane.  We do everything we can to keep the cost down.  My thermostat is never set over 62 in the winter.  We’ve been burning wood for the past year.  We hang our clothes outside to dry and use the dishwasher when it is packed full a couple times a week.  Recently, a friend said he’d been given a rate of $3.29 a gallon for propane from Ultramar.  Meanwhile, I’m paying $4.50 a gallon and it’s killing our finances.  Turns out because we cut our fuel usage so much, we are not longer qualifying for any of the discounts.  Only if you use more than 700 gallons of fuel per year will you qualify for a discount.  The less you use, the more you pay.  Where is the logic in that?

 Hasn’t the government asked people to start conserving?  You see it on the news, in television ads and you hear it on the radio.  You’re being urged to car pool, turn your thermostat down, beef up your insulation, put in an energy efficient furnace, buy energy efficient appliances…  Where did it get me?  I’ll tell you, it put me into a class of people who are so efficient that we are going to be charged through the nose for propane because we DON’T use enough.

That stinks and truly demonstrates the greed of the oil companies!

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