Safe and Green campaign

The next one-to-two years offer an unprecedented opportunity for us to close Vermont Yankee (VY) and to embrace non-polluting, renewable power sources within the state of Vermont and the surrounding region. To succeed, this effort needs to be supported and augmented by wide-scale citizen activism at the grassroots level.

A critical place to start building citizen activism is within a 20-mile radius of the reactor—that is, among the people and towns most at risk, most “in harm’s way.” This area of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts contains much opposition to the plant, with many individuals having a history of opposing the plant during the past 35 years. When those most in danger and thus most likely to speak out are silent, it is taken as a form of passive support.

The goal of the Safe & Green campaign is to transform what many in these towns feel into the positive energy that we can close VY and make the shift to safe, sustainable, affordable energy.

We’re off to a great start this spring with organizing the towns in the 20 mile radius of VY in VT, NH, and MA!! So far, about 6 towns in VT and 15 towns in MA have had initial meetings to inform a group of interested and motivated people.

In MA, most of the towns are submitting resolutions for their town meetings to be held in April through May. The resolutions oppose the relicense of VY past the 2012 license expiration, support the workers continued employment during decommissioning and the development of renewable, sustainable energy sources. Other groups are focused on activities and hearings happening in the area which are important to attend and participate in.

Claire Chang has been named as the part time coordinator to help all the town groups and to keep abreast of the constantly changing political and governmental scene. She will be working with town coordinators and other activist groups in the area to organize the efforts and activities for focusing citizen pressure on the Vermont Legislature and other agencies. Please feel free to contact her with ideas and interest! cchang@nukebusters.org or 413-863-8952

In addition, the Bright Morning Star Reunion Tour will be holding a benefit concert for the Safe and Green Campaign on March 29 at the All Souls Church, Greenfield, MA.

Ticket info - $15 ($8 for children under 12)
World Eye Bookshop (Greenfield), Boswell’s Books (Shelburne Falls), Food for Thought Bookstore (Amherst), and Everyone’s Books (Brattleboro).
$18 at the door.

Three organizations are sponsoring the Safe and Green campaign—Citizens Awareness Network (CAN), New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution (NEC), and Nuclear Free Vermont (NFV).