Things must be looking pretty bad for Vermont Yankee right now. When they lose the economic royalists, what do they have left?

Vermont Tiger:

Yankee May Have Pulled Its Own Plug

by Jack Harding

Vermont Yankee may have blown it.  The “miscommunication” about the nuclear waste, if true, provides the enemies of nuclear power all the ammo they need to swing the debate their way. More importantly, it has sent Yankee supporters, who have relied upon Entergy’s honesty and integrity, running for cover.

Emerson Lynn:

Yankee Needs To Change To Recoup Credibility

 Politics by Emerson Lynn

In the swamp-speak of Pogo, Vermont Yankee has met the enemy, and he is them.

Credibility is the grist that drives the legislative wheels forward; they grind to a halt if it’s absent. Right now, it’s gone.

 And even the economic royalist in chief:

O'Brien said Douglas called Entergy Corp. CEO Rick Smith on Thursday to express his displeasure. “Right now, we're not very trustful of the operation of the plant,” O'Brien said. “Does this mean the plant can't be relied on? I don't think they're necessarily linked.”

Now can we really believe that any of these guys actually have a problem with what Vermont Yankee is doing?

Of course not. It's all for show, and they pretty much have to say this stuff about how shocked, shocked they are that VY hasn't been entirely forthright.

It's just this small point: VY can't lose the Douglases and O'Briens of the world, no matter what they do. What VY needs, though, is to get the support of a majority of the legislature. I'm starting to question how they do that. If you're in the Legislature, don't you have to wonder what else VY has been lying about? Or if you're a voter? And in that case, if it won't cost a representative or senator anything to vote against VY's license extension, isn't it game over for them?