Category Archives: Commentary

Let’s Have At It

4/21/2011 – 11:14 am

Entergy, the Louisiana-based company that owns Vermont Yankee, announced Monday it will sue the state of Vermont in federal court, asking for a judgement to allow the nuclear plant to continue operating past March 21, 2012, the day its certificate of public good (CPG – a.k.a. state operating permit) expires. The company held a “conference […]

By floegel | Also posted in Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

About That Time

4/14/2011 – 4:41 pm

Skies are gray; temperatures are in the 40s. We had the first big downpour (liquid) in Burlington Sunday evening. I stood on the porch and watched the rain. Twigs on the crabapple trees glistened in the streetlights. It’s rare, I realized to see rain come down with no leaves on the trees. It’s not exactly […]

By floegel | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Burned by Water

4/7/2011 – 1:57 pm

The northeast coast of Japan was shaken by another earthquake today – 7.4 on the Richter scale this time. In Washington, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) is arguing with bureaucrats at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about whether fuel in one of Fukushima’s reactors has breached the containment vessel. Just another day in the 21st century, […]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy, Global Warming, Iraq Invasion, Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Faster Than Ever

3/31/2011 – 4:19 pm

It’s supposed to snow tonight. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, tomorrow night and into the middle of Saturday morning. Except during the warmer, mid-day hours tomorrow, when it’s supposed to turn to rain and then back into snow. Spring snow is not unusual around here, but tonight’s will probably carry radiation. It’s been dry since […]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Energy, Nuclear Energy, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Some More Than Others

3/24/2011 – 12:34 pm

We’re all Japanese now. Some of us more than others. I’m in the latter group. In Vermont, we’ve been trying for years – and we’re close to success – to shut the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vernon, in the southeast corner of the state, where Vermont joins New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It’s a General […]

By floegel | Also posted in Energy, Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Romantic Poetry

3/17/2011 – 6:09 am

BILOXI, MS – It’s five in the morning, St. Patrick’s Day 2011; I’m in a cheap motel 75 yards from the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve opened the door to let in cool pre-dawn air. I hoped to hear the surf but it’s drowned out by the hum of electric lights outside and the traffic on […]

By floegel | Also posted in Economy, Nuclear Energy, Oceans, Oil | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Too Late Smart

3/10/2011 – 5:41 pm

The envelope arrived Tuesday. The dreaded envelope, the one I knew was coming and containing the invitation to join AARP. It hasn’t happened yet but yes, I will soon turn 50. Like KFC, AARP is now just a set of initials. The initials used to stand for American Association of Retired Persons, but in 1999 […]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Electoral Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)