Dear Editor,
Having grown up on a small dairy farm in western Pennsylvania, I enthusiastically agree with Stu Lindberg that we should milk cows. But that’s about all I can agree with him on. I’ll stick to two issues involving science: the Covid vaccine and climate change.
Mr. Lindberg asks, “Which candidates will genuinely seek solutions to address the opioid epidemic?” In the past Mr. Lindberg has denigrated the Covid vaccine. In the June 7, 2022, edition of the VTDigger, he made egregious statements about the numbers of deaths from the vaccine, misinterpreting FDA statistics on adverse events attributed to it. His purpose was to make the vaccine look dangerous, which it is not. I’m sure many Vermont Republicans disagree with Mr. Lindberg on this, but if they do agree with him, they will discard the single most effective weapon against Covid, its vaccine.
Mr. Lindberg also asks, “Which candidates will preserve Vermont’s natural environment, instead of shilling for the corporate lobbyists in the alternative energy industry?” I’ll skip over the fact that Mr. Lindberg is “shilling for the corporate lobbyists” in the oil industry, that is, his employers. However, he enthusiastically endorses all Republican candidates. Note that, according to his website, Gov. Scott knows that “climate change poses a significant threat to our planet.” That’s one reason I, a Democrat, vote for him.
One Republican candidate in Vermont endorsed by Mr. Lindberg is Keith Stern, running for state representative for Windsor-3 and endorsed by Mr. Lindberg. He, like Mr. Lindberg, appears to have no significant education or work experience in any branch of science. Still, Mr. Stern confidently answered a question on climate change in the VTDigger’s election guide by saying, “The legislators have gone off the rails to try and fix a nonexistent problem.” In The Chester Telegraph on Oct. 23, 2024, at 8:52 a.m., after an inane statement about climate change, he comments that, “When a Nobel-winning scientist puts his reputation on the line to state that humans have no effect on the climate, I am listening.” Maybe Mr. Stern should look at the website for National Academies of Sciences, which unequivocally points to human activity as causing climate change. He should note that this highly regarded organization has among its 3,000 or so members 200 Nobel Prize winners who obviously endorse this fact. Maybe Mr. Stern should do a little more “research.”
Paid for by Kem Phillips
Cavendish, Vt.