Reply #10: Dean Worked with Wal-Mart [View All]

[Octafish]

When push came to shove, Howard Dean did what he could to protect pristine land. How was he to know the three Vermont Wal-Marts used Chinese sweatshop products? Or would help dry up a bunch of the mom-and-pop locally owned and operated independents? — Octafish

Dean green on trail, but Vermont knows better

Friday, August 22, 2003

By LISA WANGSNESS
Monitor staff

EXCERPT...

A delicate balance

Development is at the center of most of Vermont's controversies, and in a state of just 600,000 residents, Dean often found himself embroiled in arguments between environmentalists and powerful ski areas and retailers. Balancing competing interests was not always easy.

"I would say he wasn't a raving environmentalist by any stretch, but he also wasn't pro-development at any cost, either," said Chris Barbieri, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. "He picked those political battles pretty carefully."

Environmentalists resisted the arrival of Vermont's first Wal-Mart, for example. Dean helped persuade the company to set up shop in downtown Rutland, rather than in a pristine lot.

CONTINUED...

http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/state2003/082103dean_env_2003.shtml