Leak At Vermont Yankee's Cooling Towers Raises New Concerns
Multiple problems forced Vermont Yankee to shut down both of their cooling towers and reduce the power plant’s output to 23%. Leaks or other structural failures were found in at least three different sections of the towers including the very same tower the company claims it fixed after last summer’s collapse.
James Moore, the VPIRG Clean Energy Advocate noted that state and federal regulators are failing the public and was quoted in the Burlington Free Press raising questions that deserve our regulators attention: “It makes one wonder where else they’ve cut corners… There seems to be a culture of not doing everything it takes to fix and secure that facility.”
Simply put, Entergy Nuclear proved once again that Vermont Yankee is not the way forward for our energy future. Or as James Moore put it during an interview on VPR “The short term bribe of [saving] a few dollars a month in your electricity bill is far outweighed by the cost that we would be passing on to future generations of Vermonters in nuclear waste, in cleanup, and in risk associated with running one of the oldest reactors in the country.”
Read more about the leak from VPR here, from the Burlington Free Press here, and from the Brattleboro Reformer here.
New Report Shows Vermont Falling Behind In Global Warming Battle
VPIRG has just released a first of it's kind report detailing global warming emissions in Vermont since 1990. This report, entitled Falling Behind: New England Must Act Now to Reduce Global Warming Pollution, documents a thorough estimate of Vermont’s global warming emissions annually from 1990 - 2005, the most recent year for which full data from the federal government about fuel use, agriculture and waste disposal is available.
The report shows that Vermont will not meet its emissions goals for either 2020 or 2050. There is however a silver lining. The year 2005 actually saw a decrease in overall global warming emissions. It is critical that Vermont continue this trend and bills like the recenlty signed S.209 and the new comprehensive global warming bill S.350 are only two steps towards meeting our carbon cutting goals.
As Bill McKibben said, "It won't take a silver bullet to combat global warming, it'll take silver buckshot."
You can read the full text of the report here or the press release here.
Midterm Success!
In what can only be described as a landslide, the Vermont State House of Representatives passed S.209 by a vote of 136 to 2 on Wednesday Feb 13th. S.209 is the most current incarnation of the comprehensive global warming and energy efficiency bill. This bill will create an all fuels efficiency program that would save Vermonters millions and mandate more clean, safe and affordable renewable energy be produced right here in Vermont.
But this bill is only the first step towards the goal of creating a greener, cleaner Vermont. Having already passed the Senate and House, S.209 will shortly be on the Governors desk, awaiting his signature. Yet, we should not stop with this one bill. The Senate is currently considering new legislation in the form of S.350. This bill takes many of the reccomendations put forth in by the Governors Comission on Climate Change and seeks to turn them into effective means to combat global warming. Two of the most important parts of this bill are the creation of a strong emissions cap and trade program and the expansion of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
We've come along way since the veto of H.520 last summer. And we've done it with the help of every day Vermonters who write, call, and cajole their representatives to do the business of the people. Thanks for you support and persistence. Let's keep things moving forward!
House Passes Comprehensive Energy Reform Bill
In what can only be described as a landslide, the Vermont State House of Representatives passed S.209 by a vote of 136 to 2 on Wednesday Feb 13th. S.209 is the most current incarnation of the comprehensive global warming and energy efficiency bill. This bill would create an all fuels efficiency program that would save Vermonters millions and mandate more clean, safe and affordable renewable energy be produced right here in Vermont.
The bill, however, does have its shortcomings. Our Clean Energy Advocate James Moore, quoted in the Times Argus, said, "The bill does not move far enough, fast enough on implementing the new efficiency programs either, and gives too much say to the Administration in how they are structured."
More importantly, however, is the realization in the State House that Vermonters want such a program. Moore observed, "'Republicans, Democrats and Progressives all recognize that Vermonters want renewable energy and want help reducing their heating bills."
You can read the full text of the bill by going here or the Times Argus coverage of the vote by going here.
Poll Results Call For Clean Energy
The numbers are in and the people have spoken. Last November and December the Department of Public Service hosted a series of workshops across the state in order to learn what Vermonters have to say about our energy future. The message was loud and clear.
Vermonters supported renewable energy and energy efficiency at every workshop by overwhelming majorities. An estimated 1,000 Vermonters gave up an evening or an entire weekend to be part of directing our energy future. A majority of those polled did not favor nuclear power and were concerned about giving Vermont Yankee a new license for 20 more years.
Some early results from the polls show that Vermonters:
Support greater investment in energy efficiency
Support increasing our instate renewable energy generation capacity
Want to cut our greenhouse gas emissions
Don’t mind being able to see a wind farm from our homes
Are deeply concerned about nuclear waste
Are done with dirty coal and oil generation
While the full report won’t be published until next week, the early numbers all reinforce the message that VPIRG and its 20,000 supports have been fighting for all these years: That homegrown clean, safe, and affordable power, combined with a strong and growing energy efficiency utility, are the way forward for Vermont’s economy and its people. Dirty, dangerous, and expensive forms of power like coal, nuclear and oil are better fitted as part of our history than as part of our future.
As the legislative year begins, VPIRG warms up it's climate change campaign
Following more than two years of careful deliberation, the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change (GCCC) released its recommendations last November calling for dramatic reductions in Vermont’s global warming emissions. Governor Douglas, however, largely rejected his handpicked commission’s recommendations, so VPIRG is now taking the fight to his doorstep with new legislation to make Vermont a national leader in the fight against global warming.
The bill S.209 incorporates most of the major elements of last year’s omnibus global warming legislation vetoed by Douglas, but without the fair-tax provision for Vermont Yankee. It passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support last July, but the House did not consider the new bill during the special one-day veto override session.
VPIRG will also be focusing on cutting heating bills and global warming pollution by expanding the state's successful energy efficiency programs to cover heating as well as electricity.
Let your legislators know that these issues are important to you by clicking here!
Renewable Energy Tax Fairness
A new VPIRG report finds that the state property tax bills for power producers around the state are significantly uneven between renewable and nonrenewable energy providers. The report provides a snapshot of taxation schemes for Vermont’s electric utilities from 2004 – 2006, which shows that when generation is considered along with total taxes paid, wind producers in the state pay nearly 10 times as much as Vermont Yankee.
The report details the specific property taxes levied on 53 power-producing facilities in the state and provides a detailed comparison of how those tax schemes measure up to each other. It is clear from this report that the most favorable generation tax rates go to one of the worst polluters in the state while the cleanest producers are levied the highest taxes.
Property tax reform must be given serious consideration. State policy makers in Vermont have spoken at length about the valuable role renewable energy providers can play in providing economic growth as well as stable electricity rates to Vermont. As suggested by the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change, one of the major actions needed in order for Vermont to address the issue of global warming is “through a combination of incentives and/or mandates, expanding the role of renewable energy in Vermont and in the regional power mix.” Reform to Vermont’s state education property tax is potentially a major tool for providing incentives for renewable energy in the state.
New Report Finds New England Leads The Country In Severe Storms
Scientists have said for years that global warming was “loading the dice” when it comes to increasing the frequency of severe storms, and a new VPIRG report makes it clear that the New England is already experiencing extreme downpours and heavy snowstorms much more frequently. Specifically, the new report found that storms with heavy rainfall or snowfall are now 61 percent more frequent in the New England region than they were 60 years ago. The report entitled "When It Rains, It Pours: Global Warming And The Rise Of Extreme Precipitation In The United States"details how New England is leading the country in severe precipitation events.
"This is the kind of downpour that hurts farmers instead of helping them. It's the kind of torrent that washes away carefully groomed ski hills. It's the kind of rain that flooded out interstate highways in the northwest just today. We're good at dealing with tough weather in Vermont, but there's no reason to make it tougher yet," said Bill McKibben, scholar in residence in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College.
“Vermonters are going to pay the increasing cost associated with inaction on global warming. From our town budgets, which have to pay for the clean up after extreme weather events, to increased utility bills as we pay for line repairs, these costs are real and add up. More frequent downpours, fueled by global warming, will leave Vermont even more vulnerable to dangerous flooding and other costly impacts in years to come,” said James Moore, Vermont Public Interest Research Group clean energy advocate.
You can read the full report "When It Rains, It Pours: Global Warming And The Rise Of Extreme Precipitation In The United States" by clicking here.
You can read the full press release by clicking here.
New England Climate Change Report Card Shows Vermont Slipping to the Back of the Pack
A report released by VPIRG and the New England Climate Coalition shows that Vermont has lost its leadership role on Global Warming issues. Governmental leaders, both in the US and Canada, committed in 2001 to reduce their global warming pollution back to 1990 levels by 2010 and 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. The regional report card, which grades each state or province on their progress towards meeting these goals, shows Vermont near the back of the pack.
Vermont received an “F” on the global warming emissions section of the report because the state’s emissions have increased by as much as 28% since the reduction goal was set. Vermont received an overall grade of a “C”. James Moore, VPIRG’s clean energy advocate stated that "what's surprising in this is that Vermont is actually slipping to the back of the pack of states that are doing anything to address global warming.” Moore went on to note that if Governor Douglas were to implement the policies proposed by his Commission on Climate Change the state would be getting an A or A+, but instead the Governor seems to be uninterested in his own commission’s report.
When the second half of the legislative biennium starts in January Vermonters have a chance to make Vermont a leader once again in the fight to combat global climate change. S.209, the global warming bill passed by the Senate during the special session held this summer will be up for review in House. Contact your legislators and ask them to support this critical bill.
Thanks to your hard work - the emails you sent, the calls you made - Vermont won a huge victory yesterday when the Judge William Sessions ruled that Vermont has the right to limit global warming pollution from cars and trucks. You can see the NECN story by clicking the picture to the left, or read the news in the Times Argus/Rutland Herald here.
We often ask you to contact your leaders when they are not doing enough for the public interest. It's equally important to thank them when they do. While this victory is a big step, we need our leaders to do more to if we're going to stop global warming.
VPIRG and Senator Bernie Sanders host a Special Screening of The 11th Hour
Join Senator Bernie Sanders and VPIRG Director Paul Burns at a benefit showing of the powerful new environmental documentary by Leonardo DiCaprio, "The 11th Hour" this Friday, September 14th at Merrill's Roxy Theatre on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington (click here for directions).
Showtimes are at 6:45 pm and 9:30 pm. Matinee showings are at 1:30 and 3:45 pm.
Bernie and Paul will speak briefly with the audience after the 6:45 pm showing and before the 9:30 pm showing.
The film is a documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions from global warming to toxic contamination. It features such experts such as Vermont's own, Bill McKibben, and it calls for immediate action at all levels.
Need one more reason to go? The film showings on Friday will benefit VPIRG!
On August 21one of Vermont Yankee’s two cooling towers collapsed (more photos here). Then, a few days later, the plant was forced to initiate an emergency shut-down after several steam valves malfunctioned simultaneously.
Both failures are even more shocking because they come on the heels of state and federal regulators giving Vermont Yankee a clean bill of health to operate at 120% of its designed capacity.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy Nuclear, the Louisiana-based corporation that owns Yankee has been quick to downplay both accidents, referring to the cooling tower collapse as just “deformation in some of the wood.” The company also continues to disingenuously pushing their claim that the 35 year old plant is running like new.
In response James Moore, Clean Energy Advocate for VPIRG stated “Vermont Yankee telling us that the plant is running like new is like your hair dresser telling you that you look twenty years younger, nice to hear but far from the truth.”
To read VPIRG’s full press release on the cooling tower collapse click here. To read recent news coverage click here.
Veto Override Narrowly Defeated
It was a day of successes and failures. More than 400 people showed up at the State House to ask their legislators to override the Governor's veto of H.520, the comprehensive energy effeciency and global warming legislation, that would have done so much for the state. (Read several takes on the day's events in VPIRG's blog)
Sadly, 61 members of the legislature voted against creating a sustainable energy future for Vermont. But the fight is far from over. With the people of Vermont at our back and armed with the knowledge that science and common sense are with us, we will continue the fight to create comprehensive global warming legislation that serves the people of Vermont.
See what bill McKibben had to say after all was said and done:
Polar Bear Appeals for Help in State House
You may have heard that back in June just after he vetoed the global warming bill, Governor Douglas said,“We can do as much as possible and still not save a single polar bear or make a significant impact on global warming.” Well, on July 11th that single polar bear came looking for Governor Douglas to ask why he won't help. Click here to see Governor Douglas turn his back on the polar bear and Bill McKibben.
The good news is that even after the failed vote, the polar bear found something to dance about. The boys from X10 were in the State House with more than 400 Vermonters who vowed to keep up the fight for a clean energy future for Vermont. Watch X10's acapella performance of their hit "CO2" performed in the well of the State House yesterday, accompanied by the dancing polar bear.
New Survey Finds 72% of Vermonters Support the Energy Bill
One day before legislators will gather again in Montpelier for an historic vote on the state’s energy future, AARP, VPIRG and VBSR held a news conference on the steps of the statehouse to release the results of a new statewide poll showing 72% of Vermonters support H.520's plan to lower energy costs for Vermonters. Advocates also released the results of a business-only petition with more than 140 local employers calling for legislators to override the Governor’s veto of H.520.
“72% of Vermonters and nearly 150 businesses have spoken loudly and clearly that they are tired of out of control energy prices, inaction on global warming, and they want a better way forward,” said James Moore, VPIRG’s energy advocate. “All that is left is for our representative democracy to do its job by having the legislature vote to override the governor’s veto of H.520 tomorrow.”
The minds behind the popular '802' rap video have struck again, and this time they're taking their message global. Colin Arisman, Luke Martin, and Kevin Hartmann made local and national headlines with their humorous rap about life in Vermont.
Now the boys have teamed up with VPIRG to produce a new rap about global warming, the energy bill H.520 vetoed by Governor Douglas and our last chance to make a difference this year by convincing our legislators to override the veto July 11.
Vermont, and the rest of New England, is headed for an energy crisis driven by out-of-control energy prices, strained infrastructure and lack of long-term planning. But, according to a new report Tomorrow’s Energy Today, (click here to read the press release) Vermont and the region can avoid this crisis, grow their economy and protect the environment using existing technologies. What is lacking, especially in Vermont, is the leadership needed to implement solutions over the status qou.
"When it comes to energy policy, we've been on auto-pilot for too long," said James Moore of VPIRG. "And by vetoing H.520, the governor has turned the wheel away from the exact solutions that Vermont and New England need."
Last week Governor Douglas vetoed H.520, the comprehensive global warming bill, in an outrageous decision to defend a sweetheart tax rate for Vermont Yankee instead of a bill that will create jobs, save Vermonters money and help stop global warming. But Al Gore and a growing movement of people are calling for Vermont's legislature to override the veto (read the press coverage here, or get more info on the override here).
"This legislation would position Vermont at the forefront of this growing global movement," Gore said. "I hope you get this override and put this terrific law into place."
We hope you will join VPIRG, Al Gore, and thousands of other Vermonters in calling on our legislature to stand up for our environment and economy on July 11.
REPORT SHOWS PATH TO CLEAN, SAFE AFFORDABLE ENERGY FUTURE
Vermont can get more than half its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2016, more than enough to replace the power we currently get from Vermont Yankee or Hydro Quebec according to VPIRG research. The report, “A Decade of Change: A Vision for Vermont’s Renewable Energy Future” outlines a clear, achievable path to a clean, safe and affordable electricity future for Vermont.
“Energy has become the hot issue of this election cycle because we are too dependant on dirty, dangerous and expensive power,” said James Moore, author of the report and VPIRG’s Clean Energy Advocate. “but with enough political will, over the next decade we could see Vermont become a national leader by cutting our energy use, and getting the power we do need for clean, local sources like wind and biomass.”
NEW REPORT SHOWS PATH TO CHEAP, CLEAN AND WARM BUILDINGS
Vermont has the potential to dramatically reduce its global warming pollution and reduce heating bills by improving the energy efficiency of Vermont homes according to a new VPIRG report. The report, Building Solutions: Energy Efficient Homes Save Money and Reduce Global Warming examines the nearly $300 million dollars that Vermonters spend every year on fossil fuels to heat their homes, the resulting global warming pollution and what can be done about it.
“Our elected officials must invest in the energy efficiency of Vermont’s buildings if they are serious about fighting global warming. Cutting the amount of energy needed to heat our homes is one important way to help stop global warming while saving money,” said James Moore, an author of the report and VPIRG’s Clean Energy Advocate. “We have the potential to create hundreds of new family wage jobs in Vermont and lead the nation by investing in energy efficient building improvements.”
Leak At Vermont Yankee's Cooling Towers Raises New Concerns 
New Report Shows Vermont Falling Behind In Global Warming Battle 
Midterm Success! 
House Passes Comprehensive Energy Reform Bill 
Poll Results Call For Clean Energy
A new VPIRG report finds that the state property tax bills for power producers around the state are significantly uneven between renewable and nonrenewable energy providers. The report provides a snapshot of taxation schemes for Vermont’s electric utilities from 2004 – 2006, which shows that when generation is considered along with total taxes paid, wind producers in the state pay nearly 10 times as much as Vermont Yankee. 
New Report Finds New England Leads The Country In Severe Storms
Join Senator Bernie Sanders and VPIRG Director Paul Burns at a benefit showing of the powerful new environmental documentary by Leonardo DiCaprio, "The 11th Hour" this Friday, September 14th at Merrill's Roxy Theatre on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington (click here for directions). 
On August 21one of Vermont Yankee’s two cooling towers collapsed (more photos here). Then, a few days later, the plant was forced to initiate an emergency shut-down after several steam valves malfunctioned simultaneously. 
It was a day of successes and failures. More than 400 people showed up at the State House to ask their legislators to override the Governor's veto of H.520, the comprehensive energy effeciency and global warming legislation, that would have done so much for the state. (Read several takes on the day's events in VPIRG's blog) 
You may have heard that back in June just after he vetoed the global warming bill, Governor Douglas said,“We can do as much as possible and still not save a single polar bear or make a significant impact on global warming.” Well, on July 11th that single polar bear came looking for Governor Douglas to ask why he won't help. Click here to see Governor Douglas turn his back on the polar bear and Bill McKibben.
Vermont, and the rest of New England, is headed for an energy crisis driven by out-of-control energy prices, strained infrastructure and lack of long-term planning. But, according to a new report Tomorrow’s Energy Today, (click here to read the press release) Vermont and the region can avoid this crisis, grow their economy and protect the environment using existing technologies. What is lacking, especially in Vermont, is the leadership needed to implement solutions over the status qou.
Last week Governor Douglas vetoed H.520, the comprehensive global warming bill, in an outrageous decision to defend a sweetheart tax rate for Vermont Yankee instead of a bill that will create jobs, save Vermonters money and help stop global warming. But Al Gore and a growing movement of people are calling for Vermont's legislature to override the veto (read the press coverage here, or get more info on the override here). 
Vermont has the potential to dramatically reduce its global warming pollution and reduce heating bills by improving the energy efficiency of Vermont homes according to a new VPIRG report. The report,