Vermont Governor Salmon Supports Vermont Yankee

Governor Salmon Speaks in Favor of Vermont Yankee 

On June 19, the Ethan Allen Institute celebrated its 20 year anniversary with a dinner "roasting" its founder, John McClaughry.  I am director of the Energy Education Project, which is part of the Institute. Two former governors spoke at the dinner: Jim Douglas and Tom Salmon.

Tom Salmon was Governor of Vermont from 1973 to 1976.  He is a Democrat. During his term, financial crises in Vermont caused his fiscal viewpoints to become more conservative.  More recently, Salmon testified in favor of Vermont Yankee's continued operation at the Public Service Board hearings in November 2012.

Last month, Salmon again supported Vermont Yankee, this time at the anniversary dinner. I embed the video of Governor Salmon's remarks at the dinner.

I encourage you to move the slider to the 8:30 minute mark, where Salmon talks about the policy areas in which he now agrees with John McClaughry.  He starts with a spirited defense of Vermont Yankee: the state's "assault on Vermont Yankee" makes no sense, and turning our back on baseload power will not help people in Vermont.  Governor Salmon is inspiring.




More information:

For more videos from the dinner, visit the Ethan Allen Institute website page on videos and highlights from the dinner.

Here is Vermont Digger's report on the dinner.

I feel a little guilty about not including more information about Governor Douglas or John McClaughry at the dinner. So I decided to include their pictures, at least! The video-highlights link includes their remarks.

Governor Jim Douglas

John McClaughry