“It’s far from over.” That’s what Entergy, the out-of-state corporate owners of Vermont Yankee, said in response to the State Senate vote denying Vermont Yankee’s 20-year extension. We have won a monumental victory. But we are not done. We need to ensure that we succeed.
Since the historic Senate vote, towns all across Vermont held town meeting day votes in favor of closing Vermont Yankee as scheduled. In total, now 51 towns have spoken – they want VY closed. On top of that, a new poll came out showing that a huge majority of Vermonters want VY closed on time.1
We are dealing with a pretty horrible corporation that has already shown that lying to Vermonters is ok in their book. The corporation wants Vermont State Representatives to ignore the crumbling state of the VY reactor, the lies, the deception and give them another 20 years. Entergy executives are pulling out the stops with their hired lobbyists and slick corporate commercials in a desperate attempt to keep the crumbling plant open for another twenty years. The day after the State Senate vote Entergy’s lobbyists sent a letter to all the Vermont House members touting how Vermont Yankee is safe, reliable, good for the environment and for Vermont.
Vermont hit a big milestone when we won the vote in the Senate, but we need to bring this home. Entergy will not give up and we won’t either.