GUILFORD — As a 19-year-old, I've spent the majority of my life living 11 miles away from Vermont Yankee.
Growing up, my awareness of what that meant was admittedly limited - it wasn't until I was about 16 that I realized why my dad mockingly called me “Yankee girl” when I left too many lights on. I started reading about the leaks and lies almost every day in the Brattleboro Reformer, but I was not yet ready to confront the issue.
Then I moved away from home. As a student in Middlebury, I started to notice that Vermont Yankee was a big deal not only in my small community, but across the state and even beyond.
I began to discuss the issue with my peers from Ohio and South Carolina and Washington, D.C. and found that they cared about our state's clean-energy future just as much as I did. We all imagine ourselves graduating from college and moving into a sustainable workforce, breathing clean air, drinking clean water, and enjoying Vermont's four wonderful seasons.
Back in February, when the state Senate voted 26–4 not to allow the Public Service Board to relicense the plant, my fellow students and I saw the tremendous opportunity that this presented. And so, the Race to Replace campaign was born.
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The message was loud and clear – Vermonters are unwilling to leave their energy needs up to an untrustworthy corporation, and are ready for a positive change. We feel confident that Vermont Yankee will be shut down on schedule and see it's closing as a tremendous opportunity for Vermont to continue to be a leader in the field of clean energy.
As young voters, we have a lot at stake not only in terms of the future of our climate, but our future as professionals in Vermont. Across the state, young people look optimistically at their futures to see themselves working in jobs that contribute to a sustainable economy. Policies that are generated now will ultimately impact our generation the most; it is imperative that we don't miss this opportunity to take our future in a new direction.
Vermont Yankee currently accounts for one third of our state's energy, and in 2012 we will need to fill this gap. We believe it is not only possible but in the best interest of Vermont's future to replace Vermont Yankee with 100% clean energy. We have constructed the Race to Replace campaign to ensure that our next governor has a solid plan for replacing Vermont Yankee and aim to make this a defining issue in the upcoming gubernatorial campaign.
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In our eyes, this election season presents us with a race to replace Vermont Yankee with 100-percent clean electricity on schedule in 2012, an opportunity that cannot be missed. While this may not be the easiest option, it is clear that now is the time for our legislature to take the state in a new direction by creating jobs that work towards a sustainable energy portfolio. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed.
We've since endeavored to ensure just that: that our state takes its energy future in a new direction by electing a governor who will work tirelessly not just to retire the plant on time, but also to replace it by investing in clean, renewable sources of electricity right here in Vermont. It did not take long to realize that there are a number of groups and individuals across the state working towards that very same goal. So we asked them, and we asked ourselves, “Where do we fit in?”
That's when we realized that we are part of a very, very important demographic, the under-30s. While our generation cares overwhelmingly about the future of Vermont's climate and economy, we've never been expected to turn out to the polls in huge numbers.
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This summer, I've made it my job, along with six other Race to Replace team members, to reach out to young voters concerned about clean energy, and make sure that we defy those expectations come election day.
We've registered new voters in all corners of the state, but more importantly, we've built a network of empowered young people who understand the influence that we could have on our legislators when we all work together.
Each conversation I've had with excited new voters has given me just a little more confidence that we do have the power to make clean energy a decisive issue in this election, and finally see our goals acted upon as a priority in Montpelier.
For me, Vermont Yankee has finally been transformed from this haunting thing that's too big to approach but lurks in the background of all that I do. It's now a challenge, a launching point for a sustainable future.