Voices

Opposition to VY is not a ‘war’

BRATTLEBORO — A rebuttal of Jeffrey Lewis's piece in the Feb. 29 edition:

First of all, I dislike the framing of opposition to Vermont Yankee as a “war.”

It's well documented that many for-profit corporations in general, and Entergy in particular, oftentimes lie, litigate, and lobby (the three Ls) to privatize profits and socialize costs. Environmental safety, public health, and other concerns are secondary.

Lewis's assertion that “Vermonters are not against nuclear power” is false for all the Vermonters who would like to see a nuclear- and fossil-fuel-free energy future and for the people who have spoken out about it, and/or invested time, energy, and money in helping it come about.

Petitions and marches, solar, wind, biofuel, hydro, and other installations, and other individual and collective efforts testify to that truth.

If there is a war, it is an economic war or class war, waged by the 1 percent like the Koch brothers, against the 99 percent.

It is possible that just the cleanup costs at Vermont Yankee alone could bankrupt the state of Vermont.

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