Businesses falsely named as carbon tax supporters

Energy Independent Vermont claims businesses are joining the call for a carbon tax, but some business owners say they are being misrepresented by the environmentalist coalition.

On Earth Day, business leaders from across Vermont met at the Statehouse to show their support for a carbon tax. Leaders discussed threats businesses face from changes in climate, and the organizer unveiled a list of more than 500 Vermont companies that want a tax on gas, heating oil, propane and other fossil fuels to fight global warming. A partial list of carbon tax supporters appears on Energy Independent Vermont’s website.

However, when Watchdog.org independently reached out to companies on the list, some business owners were surprised to learn that they were part of the group’s campaign.

“I said I didn’t support carbon taxes,” James Bissonette, owner the Dutch Mill Restaurant in Shelburne, told Vermont Watchdog. “It would kill our business if we did that, not the way we run things. We’d have to raise soda prices and everything.”

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