The Vermont senate voted on February 24 to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in 2012. The vote was 26-4. The reactor is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire. The New York Times reported that the vote means Vermont Yankee will almost certainly close in 2012. For more information about Vermont Yankee and the grassroots movement that led to the senate vote, please click the "nuclear power" tag, above, then scroll down.

The Vermont senate will vote on February 24 on whether the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant can run after 2012, said Duane Peterson, president of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group www.vpirg.org

Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone's throw from New Hampshire.

Live video of the senate debate is available at www.vpirg.org

Live audio is available at www.leg.state.vt.us

About 500 people attended a march and rally to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant February 21 in Brattleboro. Organizers asked people to contact their legislators in advance of a key vote in the Vermont senate on February 24. One anti-nuclear group is seeking donations so it can run a television commercial about the vote. Details are at www.vpirg.org

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This photo shows the February 21 march. Please click on the photo to enlarge it. photo by Eesha Williams

More than 150 people walked to the Vermont statehouse on January 13, completing a 122-mile march that began in Brattleboro on January 2. The protesters were calling on the state legislature to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power reactor. The reactor is owned by Entergy Corporation of Louisiana.

"We are tired of Entergy and their toxic waste," said a jubilant Chad Simmons of Brattleboro, one of the marchers.

Hundreds of people marched down Main Street to Greenfield town hall November 13 to protest a proposal by mayor William Martin to reduce the public library’s budget by $30,300 this month. The library recently reduced its hours in response to earlier budget cuts.

“I’m here to stand up for our library,” said marcher and Greenfield resident Ted Compton. “Having a library is civilized.”

Four women were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant Sept 28. Arrested for blocking the entrance to Vermont Yankee were Hattie Nestel of Athol, Mass.; Ellen Graves of West Springfield, Mass., and Frances Crowe and Paki Wieland, both from Northampton.

In recent years, dozens of people have been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience at Vermont Yankee and at the Brattleboro offices of Louisiana-based Entergy Corp., which owns the reactor.

On August 13 at 7 p.m. in Russell, Mass. – about a 30 minute drive from Northampton - the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public hearing about a plan by a Connecticut corporation that wants to build polluting power plants in Greenfield, Russell, Palmer, Fitchburg and Pittsfield.

Russell Biomass Corporation says it wants to discharge hot, contaminated effluent into the Westfield River, a federally-designated "wild and scenic river" that is home to endangered Atlantic salmon.

The hearing will be at the Russell Elementary School auditorium: 155 Highland Avenue.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from New Hampshire. It’s owned by Entergy Corp. of Louisiana. Vermont governor Jim “Douglas has been Entergy’s best friend,” said Paul Burns, director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), the state’s biggest environmental organization. “He has consistently put Entergy’s interests ahead of the interests of Vermonters.”

The Vermont Public Service Board, whose three members were appointed by Douglas, held a public hearing in Vernon, Vermont on July 13. Vermont Yankee is in Vernon.

More than 250 people turned out for a second public hearing on a proposed polluting power plant in Greenfield on June 25. City officials allowed only about 12 people to speak, though many more members of the public wanted to speak. Of those who spoke, only one was in favor of the proposal.

On June 20, volunteers with the Citizens Awareness Network (CAN) www.vtcitizen.org got ready to go door-to-door in Rockingham and Westminster, Vermont. They asked residents to sign a petition to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. For more on this issue, please click the "nuclear power" tag, above. To enlarge the photo, click on it. photo by Eesha Williams