Here are the top stories at the noon hour.
Vermont joins the multi-state opposition to the building of new coal-fired power plants in Kansas, because of carbon dioxide emissions; the state has begun steps to make it easier for more Vermonters to get private health coverage; incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is handing out committee assignments, bit by bit; Patrick Leahy is giving a speech at this hour at the Georgetown University Law School in Washington, in which he’s laying out some of the goals he hopes the next Congress will achieve under Democratic Party control; a former U.S Senate candidate is vowing to fight criminal disorderly conduct charges stemming from his behavior in an October debate at the Vermont Law School.