We are almost there.
Over the last few months, Vermonters have come together to call on the Governor and Legislature to take action on Vermont Yankee.
Two weeks ago, I held a press conference in Windham County on the banks of the Connecticut River, again calling for clarity now so we can move forward to a post Vermont Yankee chapter for our state, and more importantly, to engage all appropriate agencies to make sure Entergy Louisiana is held accountable.
The safety of Vermonters is too important for us to continue doing business with a company that has such a clear disregard for honesty and the groundwater of this state.
(My statement from that press conference can be found here: http://www.mattdunne.com/news/48-clear-action-needed-matt-responds-to-vt-yankee-leaks)
We also called for new campaign finance laws to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on campaign spending, specifically limiting campaign expenditures by companies like Entergy who do business with the State of Vermont. In the wake of the announcement of a Senate vote on Vermont Yankee’s relicensing, Entergy and the Governor had reactions that demonstrate the need for such reforms to pass this year.
The Governor made the following not-so-veiled threat last week regarding the upcoming vote:
“They can do what they want. Frankly, the next Legislature can do something entirely different.”
Entergy took out full page advertisements over the weekend to oppose this vote; one can only imagine how much money the company will spend in the upcoming election. It will do everything it can to elect those who will look the other way as it poisons the ground water and attempts to walk away without paying for cleanup.
Despite these expenditures by Entergy and the potential for more, the Vermont Senate now has the opportunity to do the right thing by voting on Wednesday to decommission the facility as planned.
I hope you will join me and other concerned citizens at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday at 9:00 AM to encourage our elected officials to vote for the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee.
Please RSVP here to let organizers know you are coming: http://tiny.cc/VYRSVP
This is a critical moment in Vermont history. Your hard work brought us to this point.
Now join with us to see it through and let big out-of-state companies like Entergy know that Vermonters will not be intimidated.
Matt Dunne
