Public Service Board Interactive TV

I went to the  Public Service Board's interactive TV hearing on Vermont Yankee last night.  I  attended the one near my home: the White River Junction studio.

There were twelve or thirteen studios involved in the meeting.  The meeting was about three hours long, and I stayed for the first two hours.  During the time I was there, there were about the same number of speakers in favor of Vermont Yankee as speaking against the plant.  Overall, however, there were more opponents present than supporters. There were many opponents in the Brattleboro studio, for example.  As the crowd thinned out and the night grew later, the balance of speakers probably tilted toward the opponents.

WCAX had a good short video on the hearing. WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-


Fox News and WPTZ also covered the story in short articles. I was interviewed this morning by another radio station.  I expect more coverage of the event will come later.

My Impression

I was most impressed by the pro-Vermont Yankee speakers.  As someone who is very concerned with air quality, especially NOX pollution, I appreciated the statements made by a man who spoke of growing up in Burlington Vermont when the electricity was supplied by a coal-fired plant.  He spoke of the bad health consequences due to this plant's air pollution.

I was least impressed by some of the opponents who said that Vermont Yankee just wasn't what they envisioned as Vermont.  They claimed that Vermont should be small farms and artisans and artists, and Vermont Yankee just doesn't fit in.  Several people spoke in terms of this bucolic image.  They ignore the part of Vermont that is Yankee ingenuity. Precision Valley? Did they ever hear of Precision Valley?  Springfield Vermont was such an important machine tool center that it was considered to have become an important bombing target during WWII.

They also ignore air quality, of course.

I don't have transcripts, but I hope to locate some of the testimony later, perhaps with the court reporter transcript.

After the weekend.