Dean's record, however, shows just the opposite. Remember, when Dean took office there were no Wal-Marts in Vermont; there was no Home Depots; Burlington's downtown was dominated by local stores not the national chains that now rule the roost; there were 36% more small farmers in existence; there were no 100,000-hen mega-farms; and sprawl wasn't a word on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Interestingly, Dean told the Free Press last week that he wished the rest of "the country were more like Vermont." But it certainly seems Dean has been doing his best to make Vermont more like the rest of the country.
Stephanie Kaplan, a leading environmental lawyer and the former executive officer of Vermont's Environmental Board, has seen the regulatory process under Dean become so slanted against environmentalists and concerned citizens that she hardly thinks its worth putting up a fight anymore
http://www.counterpunch.org/colby02222003.htmlWHen I was listening to Kerrys Iowa Town Hall meeting, the Iowans were GREATLY concerned about people who were bringinng in enormous McFarms and putting small faily farms out of business.
Dean has the worse record of supporting small family famrs of any state governor.
Or how about:
The Vermont Egg Factory in Franklin County is a prime example. The Vermont Egg Factory has spent $11,000 in 1996 for lobbying. The Department of Agriculture knew about this project for at least a year before the public found out. There was ample evidence that this would be of great concern to the public. . In Maine and Connecticut, odor, traffic, fly infestation, environmental degradation and taxpayer costs have become the community's burden. And yet Graves has insisted on his option to use a complaint driven policy that gives him absolute power. Both section 4495 and the Large Farm Act take away local control and give it to exclusively to the commissioner.
Mr. Graves has worked closely with the owner of the Vermont Egg Factory: Mr. Breton, and his agents, helping them to anticipate problems. He went as far as skewing testimony at the Environmental Board hearing on behalf of Mr. Breton and factory farming in general. Mr. Graves created his own data to make the facility seem smaller. The plans filed with the Department of Agriculture show the final phase with a total of one million chickens; this was never mentioned in Mr. Graves' testimony.
Aerial spraying of Vermont's forests became an important issue when Mr. Graves did not follow the Agriculture Department's own rules for allowing a public review process, including advisement from the Vermont Pesticide Advisory Council. These rules were created to reduce pesticide dependence and usage in Vermont. Were Monsanto and Champion influencing his opinion?
USDA Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy was fired because he accepted gifts and trips by Tyson Foods. It is illegal for the secretary to accept favors from those he is supposed to regulate. Vermonters deserve the same protection. Leon Graves spent many days wining and dining Lucien Breton of the Vermont Egg Factory and he was overly concerned about Dan Smith's lobbying payments. At the very least he is guilty of the appearance of impropriety by being overly friendly with those that he, and only he, is authorized to regulate. Representative democracy should involve more than just lobbyists and state bureaucrats, but also the citizens and the communities who have to live with the results.
http://together.net/~wudchuck/987_watchman_34.htmlDeans LEON GRAVES.
Or how about:
Crisis in Agriculture in Vermont
A Special Report about Governor Howard Dean's Agriculture Department
From Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.
March 20, 2002
DAFM is not responsive, is not providing a high level of service, is not regulating pesticide use, is not providing information, and is not supportive of Vermont's dairy farmers. Something is terribly wrong when our agriculture policies expose Vermonters to unhealthy pesticides and infringe on the economic viability of our family farms. Vermonters should have a right to farm, but no one, not even farmers, have a right to pollute the waters of the state, nor do they have the right to expose neighbors to the increased risk of birth defects or cancers by their misuse of highly toxic pesticides. The right to farm that DAFM is protecting in Highgate is factory food production, at the expense of the family farm. Allowing collateral damage is not acceptable agricultural practice.
The legislature set up the Vermont Pesticide Advisory Council “to suggest programs for wise and effective pesticide use that lead to an overall reduction in the use of pesticides in Vermont.” In its 15 years of existence, VPAC has not dealt with the subject of the use of pesticides in agriculture.
Our Governor, our legislators and our courts have failed to protect Vermonters from the big money, corporate farming and chemical company interests whose agenda is being carried out by the current Agriculture Czar.
http://www.vtce.org/deancrisisagvt.htmlThis stuff is not widely known in Iowa...
The small Iowan farmer is terrified of things like the Vermont Egg Farm of Lucien Breton.
This stuff about Dean is not widely known in Iowa...
But I can promise you...It will be soon.
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