The Big Picture has once again proved that Claudia Becker and Eugene
Jarecki hit a bull's eye. The concept of a public gathering place,
entertainment palace, fine dining, casual gathering and center for
critical issues fits The Valley perfectly. In fact, it stands as a
model for community centers throughout Vermont.
But, the issue that was discussed was clouded with the decommissioning
scandal. When you separate that (and Vermont will have the smartest
people on our side to protect us from getting shafted by the nuke
corporations) from the issue of extending the license 20 years, you can
drill down to the critical questions and the final and most important
one remains. Can we make up for the loss of electricity by 2012 when it
gets shut down?
The Mad River Valley would no doubt say yes, and the effort to adapt
our life styles to meet that would be an exciting and dynamic
challenge. But sitting in a meeting with lawyers in Middlebury I asked
what they thought about shutting down Vermont Yankee. The response was
shocking; they said, "No way. Vermont couldn't afford to reduce our
electric source. It would kill the state."
State Representative Adam Greshin pointed out that it would be way into
the fall before the question of extending the license is settled. The
lobbyists will obscure the issue, the advertising and commercials will
spin and confuse the issue and the leaders of our state may cave.
This issue is too critical to leave alone. We live in unusual times; we
have a time bomb central to our state that is slowly collapsing. It is
not protectable from violence. And violence is unheard of in Vermont.
As it was in NYC. In the simplest of terms Vermont Yankee is so crude.
It is an atomic bomb in a swimming pool that gives off steam that turns
generators; a wind turbine that lasts for years untended and is
extremely sophisticated in engineering metallurgy, airflow, low
temperature physics, and dynamics. And the source of power, the wind,
is inexhaustible.
And, as we found at the forum from Laurence Mott, the costs, permitting
and replacement bonds for wind power and renewables is excessive and
unfairly slanted for nuke plants. This is wrong.
My opinion? Vermont would be best served to hold a statewide referendum
to poll by vote for all the citizens of Vermont to determine if the
Yankee nuclear plant should be renewed or removed. This is too serious
to let it slide into political backrooms. We, the people, need to voice
our opinion and that should carry the day.
Sellers lives in Warren.
