Douglas touts green record, Parker says it's not enough

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gov. James Douglas talked up his environmental record in a debate Monday night, saying he had increased spending on cleaning up Lake Champlain by 60 percent and been a leader in the fight against global warming.

Democratic challenger Scudder Parker said the Republican governor hadn't done enough. The lake is getting dirtier, suburban sprawl is worsening and Vermont is facing an uncertain energy future without sufficient planning, he said.

Douglas, a Republican, touted his "Clean and Clear Action Plan" for Lake Champlain, his participation in regional initiatives to combat global warming and his work on legislation designed to enhance growth in urban centers while keep open land undeveloped.

"During the next couple of years I think we can build on these successes," the governor said.

Parker sought to draw the attention of the full house at a Montpelier hotel ballroom to what he said were Douglas' failures. He contended that Vermont missed a good opportunity when it passed up the possible purchase of a series of power dams on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers two years ago, and that had he been governor, he would have used more forceful leadership to make the deal happen.

Douglas said he was not prepared to have the state "double or triple" its bonded indebtedness to purchase the dams.

Some of the sharpest disagreement in the forum, hosted by the Vermont Natural Resources Council, came over Douglas' recent expressions of concern about federal legislation that would have increased that acreage within the Green Mountain National Forest that is designated as wilderness and closed to logging and motorized vehicles.

Douglas wrote to key Republicans in Congress two weeks ago about those concerns, a move that many environmental groups maintain is what kept the legislation from passing the U.S. House before congress adjourned its regular session for the year.

He accused Douglas of ducking responsibility for that move. "Vermont needs a governor who will take responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his administration," Parker said.