"What Just Happened?": a view from the State House (and other musings)

Why does the legislature get to vote on Yankee?

November 12, 2009

Tags: Vermont Yankee, nuclear power plant

Some have asked me how it happens that the legislature has any authority over Vermont Yankee (VY). With thanks to Tony Klein, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and John Greenberg, independent policy analyst, here's a thumbnail sketch of that history. (Any errors are mine alone.)

Vermont law requires a positive legislative vote for the construction of any new nuclear power plant as well as for any expansion of on-site nuclear waste storage. In the late 1960s, (more…)

Vermont supports Nuclear Disarmament Day

July 1, 2009

Tags: Hiroshima Day, Vermont Yankee

On June 2, the Vermont House overwhelmingly passed (on a voice vote) the following resolution, which makes Vermont the first state to pass a statewide resolution like this--a fact I didn't know when I introduced the resolution.

Whereas, 64 years have passed since the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the civilian (more…)