Consequences... Smonsequences!

So the good people here in the Vermont senate made news yesterday by refusing to allow the Vermont Public Service Board to re-up the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for a new 20 year license when their existing one expires in 2012. The vote was 26-4. now this in and of itself is not a bad thing. Entergy who runs the plant has been pretty shady. They have lied and deceived and there is a f*cking tritium leak. BUT... what bugs me about politicians in general and ours specifically is the zeal with which they put into their sweeping votes with no thought whatsoever as to the consequence of the vote. WCAX reports (and most of this is corroborated by multiple sources such as EIA and ISO) that VT Yankee produces 628 megawatts of power, 280 of which is used in VT. This is more than 1/3rd of the power we use in VT. The plant also employs 660 Vermonters at an average salary of $81K. Further the plant pays annual taxes of $49mm and another $19mm into the state's clean energy fund. Where do we replace all of this? Has a backup plan been thought of? Could VT Yankee been repaired, modernized, anything?! Well, hippies... either we are going to need a shit ton more wind and sun over the next 20 years or we are going to have to lock all of the hippies in the old Yankee plant and harvest their smug sense of self satisfaction to power the state. Jobs and taxes we are still screwed!