http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110213/FEATURES15/702139899
Published February 13, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Vermont Yankee and Republican values
By Denis Rydjeski
On Feb. 6 Republicans celebrated the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. We should do more than celebrate; we should reflect on the fact that President Reagan’s “conservativeness” included “conservation.”
One example of this was Reagan’s prudent handling of the problem of the depletion of the ozone layer. It was his administration that negotiated the treaty to begin phasing out the refrigeration chemicals — the CFCs — that were depleting our atmosphere’s protective ozone layer. Reagan called the resultant Montreal Protocol a “monumental achievement.” It was the basis for the prudent Clean Air Act amendment that continues to protect us all.
Today one still looming issue here at home provides an excellent opportunity to continue the conservation tradition that President Reagan represented. We need to ensure that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant ceases operations as scheduled in 2012.
In February 2010 the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 to prohibit our Public Service Board from proceeding with its docket regarding Entergy Nuclear’s request for a 20-year license extension for Vermont Yankee. In that exemplary bipartisan effort, most of our Republican senators voted with the majority. That responsible Republican stance enhanced the party’s credibility and demonstrated adherence to the traditional Republican values of independent-mindedness, fiscal conservatism, conservation and states’ rights.
Now Entergy is spending considerable money, time and energy lobbying to reverse that vote and scorning consensus public opinion. Vermonters have overwhelmingly expressed their preference — in Department of Public Service polls and other public surveys — for closing Vermont Yankee and replacing its polluting nuclear energy with renewable energy resources. In corporate America it is understandable that Entergy continues to value its own bottom line over the interests of Vermonters, but our elected representatives have a different set of values.
Blocked from spinning off its Vermont Yankee ownership to an underfunded, debt-ridden startup corporation, Entergy has announced plans to sell the plant. Simultaneously, Entergy has been contriving to bait Vermonters with a new power purchase agreement. This Louisiana-based multinational is also hinting that it may seek to nullify its agreement to abide by the legislative decision by filing a federal lawsuit seeking federal pre-emption over Vermont’s rights. States’ rights are a fundamental Republican value.
Meanwhile the facts remain that led to Vermonters’ consensus views and the Senate vote.
n The plant is old, designed in the 1960s to run 40 years until 2012. In fact, Vermont Yankee’s design specifications if proposed today would not pass the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process.
n The plant is no longer reliable. In the last six years alone, Vermont Yankee has seen a fire, the collapse of part of one of its cooling towers, and intermittent accidents, including persistent radioactive leaks. No electricity price is worth the risks associated with continued operation of this aging, unsafe and unreliable plant.
n The plant is contaminating our groundwater. Vermont Yankee officials continue to find new, significant leaks of radioactive tritiated water from underground pipes into our state’s groundwater.
n Vermont Yankee’s owners are not trustworthy. Entergy officials have repeatedly misled lawmakers, regulators and Vermonters, denying the existence of any underground pipes at the plant. This deception has irreparably undermined any ability to trust the plant’s owners.
n Entergy has balked at fully funding the trust fund for decommissioning the plant once it ceases operation. In fact, recent estimates show the decommissioning fund is about $500 million short.
Together, these facts point toward the most responsible option. Now is an appropriate time for all our elected representatives — Republicans, Democrats, Progressives and independents — to stand firm with the Senate’s decision and move on to a cleaner, green energy future and at the same time defend our constitutionally granted states’ rights.
In reaffirming this consensus Vermont Republican lawmakers would remind us that they still honor our great conservation tradition.
Denis Rydjeski of Springfield is Vermont coordinator of Republicans for Environmental Protection.
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