Per Chris Garofolo / Brattleboro Reformer:
Representatives from Associated Industries of Vermont, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Vermont Energy Partnership released an open letter to the governor to express their concern about the closing window of opportunity to allow the PSB to complete its docket on Yankee’s continued operations.
So sure– these groups are free to issue their opinions and present their side of the case, and they’re free to work for or against the continued operations of Vermont Yankee as they see fit.
What they are not, however, free to do is to do so without it being pointed out that Entergy Louisiana, the company that owns Vermont Yankee is a member of the Vermont Energy Partnership.
So perhaps it can be forgiven this caused my eyebrows to raise just ever so slightly (again, per the Reformer)…
On the same afternoon the letter was released, Yankee owner Entergy Corp. announced that its charitable contributions committee agreed to funding requests from more than 100 local organizations in 2010, totaling more than $300,000.
But, of course, I could just be paranoid. It’s not as though there could possibly be any sort of coordinated PR campaign between Entergy Louisiana and the Vermont Energy Partnership. It’s just pure coincidence at work.
Since ‘paranoid’ usually means getting to the bottom of the matter or close to it, come join the club.
VT media is waking up. VTDigger started @ some point to provide a note to their readers accompanying the slanted & erroneous missives dispatched to VT media ad nauseum that ‘VTEP is sponsored by Entergy’ & that Guy Page and Brad Ferland, VTEP staffers, are lobbyists. Sourcewatch lists VTEP, along w/NEI as a nuclear booster & nuclear front.
http://www.vtep.org
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind…
I nearly barfed when reading Brad Ferland’s 1/18/2011 address to legislature that “Vermont Energy Partnership was formed in January 2005 largely through the foresight of Governor Thomas P. Salmon.”
http://www.vtep.org/documents/…
One appeared as a letter to the editor of the Herald but an op-ed in the other papers. Hoping Herald at least, finally pulled the plug on the free advertising donated to Entergy, via their propaganda ministry VTEP. Patrick Moore had no problem snowing the Reformer though.
Interestingly, today’s Herald story headline in S.VT section was: “Entergy zeroes in on tritium leak”. It touched on Shumlins’ mandate & deadline of today for plan to deal with & stop leaks, Smith says that ‘Their company hadn’t submitted a formal plan, but had devised its own ‘action plan’ which remains proprietary.” Uh oh. How very typical.
Vermont is being bombarded with leaks & lies. All of the players have one thing in common-they deliberately & purposefully lie like a rug. There is never an op-ed, blog post or some such thing which does not contain grave factual errors, erroneous & misleading information which then becomes a total distortion of the truth.
Since researching the issue & staying on top of each development, it has been an eyeopener to say the very least. Being gob-smacked w/technical info, news of mishaps,safety snafus & continuing drama on a regular basis has a traumatizing effect.
VT will rue the day plant was sold to Entergy. I cannot wait until they’re gone & VT is no longer under Entergy’s occupation of our state.