Business-minded, small government groups from each New England state think it's critical to "start working together as a region" to address cost of living issues, high energy prices and economic competitiveness.
The groups met at the Hampshire House in Boston on Tuesday to discuss bringing more natural gas to the Northeast states and relying on nuclear energy, rather than wind and solar renewable alternatives, to prevent energy shortages and bring down home heating costs.
"There might be an environmental left movement out there, but there's a freedom, pro-energy movement forming here in New England as well," said Mike Stenhouse, founder and CEO of "free-enterprise public policy think tank" Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity.
Leaders of the groups also advocated generally for broad-based tax cuts, including calls from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance to eliminate the estate tax and inventory tax completely, and "soften" the corporate tax.
Attendees included representatives from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the New England Legal Foundation, Maine Policy Institute, Ethan Allen Institute in Vermont, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, the Yankee Institute in Connecticut, the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in New Hampshire, Americans for Prosperity, and WindAction Group.
