BRATTLEBORO — On Monday, March 12, the Post-Vermont Yankee Task Force, made up of business leaders in Windham County, announced it will ask the state to come to the county's financial rescue when Vermont Yankee closes, with a bailout of $2 million annually.
This amount was determined by a study that cites job losses and decline in local revenue and, in general, it paints a pretty grim picture if a huge property-tax payer and the employer of 600 full-time workers is forced out of business.
I live here, too. I get that losing Yankee will be an economic disaster. What puzzles me is why there hasn't been a more determined local effort to keep this clean-power economic powerhouse running.
The only possibly “good” reason to close Vermont Yankee would be if it were unsafe. Any unbiased, non-partisan reading of the industry, regulatory, and inspection situation should lead to the conclusion that, fear-mongering aside, Vermont Yankee has been safe since it opened, is safe now, and will continue to be safe.
I suspect that some of those who recognize Vermont Yankee as a necessary economic resource have been afraid to fight the fear-mongering. All along they have hoped that someone - the feds, the state, another big employer - would bail them out after VY is closed.
As that appears unlikely, all parties concerned with the outlook of Windham County's economy might want to find the courage to stand up for their own beliefs about both the benefits and the safety of Vermont Yankee.