February 5, 1999

Middlebury College To Host the “Justin

Brande Symposium on Vermont’s Energy Future” on Feb. 19-21

Middlebury College will host a state-wide

energy conference timed to coincide with the 1999 Vermont legislature’s

debate over utility deregulation. The Feb. 19-21 symposium, titled

the “Justin Brande Symposium on Vermont’s Energy Future,”

will offer lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and films on

utility restructuring as well as simple lifestyle changes that

Vermonters can make in order to consume less energy. Brian Craik,

advisor to the Cree Indians of Quebec, will deliver the keynote

speech—“The Far Reaching Effects of Flicking Your Switch”—at

1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 in Mead Chapel. The symposium is

open to the public.

The three-day event will be educational

for a general audience and provide a constructive forum for different

sides of the energy debate. Speakers at the conference will include

writers, elected officials, administrators, activists, and industry

leaders. Participants range from Chris Dutton,

president of Green Mountain Power, and Dean Corren, Vermont state

representative, to Steve Crowley, president of the Vermont chapter

of the Sierra Club.

Student organizer Matt Sommerville said, “We

are very pleased with the wide range of speakers representing

all sides of the discussion on our state’s energy sources. People

who attend the symposium will have the opportunity to hear talks

as diverse as “Why Closing Vermont Yankee Makes Cents”

and “The Role of Utilities: Past, Present and Future”

to “Energy Alternatives.”

The conference has been named in honor

of an important figure in Vermont’s conservation history. Justin

Brande, who lives in Middlebury, helped to found Vermont Natural

Resources Council (VNRC) and is a former board member of the Otter

Creek Audubon Society.

A Middlebury College student organization,

Environmental Quality, is the symposium’s sponsor. The Vermont-based

environmental advocacy organization, Project Laundry List, joined

with the students to plan the symposium. Additional collaborators

are Otter Creek Audubon Society, the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra

Club, Free the Planet!, New England Nuclear Pollution Coalition,

VNRC, and the Peace and Justice Center.

The registration fee is $10 for adults.

All students, as well as Middlebury College faculty and staff,

may register for free. Interested participants are encouraged

to register prior to the event. For registration information,

contact student organizers Matt Sommerville at 802-443-4515 or

Josh Onion at 802-443-4301.

Continental breakfast will be provided on Feb. 20-21.

On Feb. 20, lunch will also be provided for all attendees. Those

attending the symposium should bring a cup or mug. Vegetarian

fare will be provided at all of the meals.

Childcare will be provided on Feb.

20-21 by members of Youth Audubon! from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Mitchell

Green Lounge in McCullough Student Center on Old Chapel Road off

Route 30.

Donations are encouraged and will go

toward meeting the cost of the conference. Remaining donations

go to Project Laundry List.

Schedule of Events:

All events on Friday, Feb. 19 will

take place in Twilight Hall on College Street (Route 125).

On Feb. 20-21, registration, meals,

and selected workshops will take place in Gifford Hall on Hepburn

Road off College Street (Route 125). Most remaining events will

take place in Mead Chapel on Hepburn Road off College Street (Route

125), with the exception of the concert, which will take place

in Ross Lounge (in the Ross dormitory) on College Street (Route

125).

Friday, Feb. 19

On the Middlebury College campus at

Twilight Hall, College Street.

5 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Registration.

6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

James Higgins, board member of the New England Coalition for Energy

Efficiency and the Environment (NECE3); and John Clark,

coordinator for the Vermont Consumers’ Coalition for Energy Responsibility

(VCCER), “Hydro-Quebec’s Effect on the Innu.

7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Films: “Cree Hunters of Mistassini” and “POWER.”

Saturday, Feb. 20

On the Middlebury College campus. Registration,

meals, and selected workshops are in Gifford Hall; all other events,

except the concert, are in Mead Chapel. The concert is in Ross

Dormitory’s Ross Lounge.

8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast.

9 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Welcome

and introduction: Alexander Lee, coordinator of Project Laundry

List. Moderator: Seth Gibson, board member of the Otter Creek

Audubon Society.

9:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Michael C. Daley, executive director of the New England Nuclear

Pollution Coalition, Inc., “Why Closing Vermont Yankee

Makes Cents.”

9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Panel: “The Role of Utilities: Past, Present and Future.”

- Chris Dutton, president of Green

Mountain Power.

- Jenny Carter, of the Vermont Public

Interest Research Group (VPIRG).

10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Morning break.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Panel: “Vermont’s Energy Future.”

- Senator Elizabeth Ready, (D-Addison).

- Senator Ben Ptashnik, (D-Windsor).

- Dean Corren, Vermont state representative

from Burlington.

12p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch and films: “Cree Hunters

of Mistassini” and “POWER” (second showing).

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker: Brian Craik, Grand Council of the Crees (of Quebec),

“The Far Reaching Effects of Flicking Your Switch.”

2:40 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Dedication: Justin Brande.

- Abbott Fenn, director emeritus of

the Otter Creek Audubon Society.

3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Afternoon tea.

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Panel: “Energy Alternatives: Sun, Wind, and Negawatts.”

- Jim Schley, editor of Chelsea Green

Publishing, Inc.

- John O’Connor, author.

- Lawrence Mott, president of New World

Power Company.

4:30 p.m. - 5p.m.

Summary session of the day: “Where Do We Go From Here?”

- Steve Crowley, president of the Vermont

Chapter of the Sierra Club.

8:30 p.m.

Concert: The Organic Groove Farmers, a bluegrass band, in Ross

Lounge, Ross Dormitory.

Sunday, Feb. 21

On the Middlebury College campus. Registration,

meals, and selected workshops are in Gifford Hall; all other events

are in Mead Chapel.

8 a.m. - 9 a.m.

Continental breakfast.

9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Welcome and introduction: Alexander Lee, coordinator of Project

Laundry List, “Why We Are Hanging Out.” Moderator:

Seth Gibson, board member of the Otter Creek Audubon Society.

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Two workshops:

- I. Steve Crowley, president of the

Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club, “Strategizing Session.”

- II. Hilton Dier, systems designer

for Solar Works, Inc., “The Nuts and Bolts of Solar Energy.”

10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m.

Three workshops:

- I. Debbie Katz, of the Citizens’

Awareness Network, “Nukebusting.”

- II. Will Everitt, of the Massachusetts

Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG), “Energized

Energy Organizing of College and High School Campuses.”

- III. Lea Terhune, of Member Services,

Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club, “Transportation.”

11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Reports from workshops.

12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

Summary and closing by Alexander Lee, coordinator of Project Laundry

List.