Entergy Louisiana announced today its plan to refuel its Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor, even though it used the threat of shutting down in an attempt to pressure federal Judge Garvan Murtha into granting it permission to continue operating while its lawsuit winds through the courts.
Minutes ago Judge J. Garvan Murtha sided with the state of Vermont, denying Entergy Lousiana its request for a Preliminary Injunction (PI) to keep Vermont Yankee open past its expiration date while the court case proceeds.
On July 12th, VPIRG launched a program to make it easy and affordable for folks throughout Addison County to harness the sun’s energy. This Solar Communities program has helped over a hundred Vermonters go solar, and as of today this opportunity will be available to home and business owners in Addison County.
Today Governor Shumlin sent a letter to President Obama sending a strong message, urging him to voice support for a single, national emission standard for passenger vehicles and light trucks.
Vermont is one of 14 states around the country that have adopted emission standards and while we have the lowest emissions in New England, car exhaust still makes up 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions. This a great step forward in reducing our dependance on dirty and polluting energy sources.
The Attorney General’s decision today may come as good news to Entergy officials who were in danger of being criminally charged, but it’s hardly good news to the tens of thousands of Vermonters who count on that facility to be run by a company that is both competent and reliable. The fact that Entergy is neither reliable nor trustworthy due to its employees’ ignorance is no more comforting than if the officials had intentionally lied under oath.
Sen. Sanders had previously learned that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had held secret meetings with Entergy Louisiana and subsequently voted 3-2 in a secret meeting to urge the DOJ to take Entergy’s side in litigation over the future of Vermont Yankee.
The 2011 legislative session was filled with victories on VPIRG-backed legislation across each of our program areas. With a new governor in office for the first time in eight years, our small state suddenly had opportunities to pass the kind of major policy initiatives that our friends in other parts of the country could only …
May 25th, Governor Shumlin signed into law Vermont’s most progressive solar legislation in our state’s history. From Burlington to the heart of the Northeast Kingdom, Vermonters have shown they want solar to be a big part of our energy future. Vermont now has one of if not the best solar laws in the country and VPIRG Clean Energy Program Director, James Moore helped craft and pass it this year.
One of my favorite things about directing VPIRG is that by working with members like you and our partners across the state, we manage to get things done that my colleagues in other states can only dream about. Consider our list of accomplishments in the legislative session that just ended on Friday.
The Vermont Electric Coop board of directors just voted 9-1 to reject Entergy’s offer to sell power to them after 2012. The Coop has stood up and said they’re not interested in doing business with an untrustworthy corporation like Entergy Lousiana.
