TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS AT THE OPENING of this legislative session Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin announced that this would be “The Jobs Session” -- a means for getting Vermonters back on their feet and our economy out of this recession.

So here is what the Senate has done for hard working Vermonters to stimulate our economy; they fired 800 State employees (some 800 service jobs), then they tackled the difficult question of selecting a date for Vermont’s primary election so candidates will have more time to campaign prior to the general election. Great - they want job security for themselves. Score 770 fewer jobs; 30 Senators minus 800 state workers.

Next, the Senate decided to preempt the Public Service Board’s duties and present legislative findings resulting in the termination of one-third of Vermont’s base load power supply and the elimination of 1,300 workers. Industry leaders, organized labor, and the agricultural community all stood together urging the Vermont Senate to postpone the Vermont Yankee relicensing vote until the completion of ongoing investigations regarding the Vernon plant’s operation and future. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers membership at Vermont Yankee have prepared for the eventuality that their job might not continue to exist after March 2012 and will apply for employment elsewhere within the industry; paying income taxes and property taxes elsewhere. Yet the Senate apparently disregarded the economic consequences that will result from their decision.

The Vermont economy is not producing new jobs. Vermont has borrowed millions of federal dollars to pay unprecedented unemployment claims. In this environment it is unconscionable and -- yes -- reckless to knowingly eliminate many hundreds of high-paying, high-tech, private sector jobs.

Electricity rate increases create higher fixed expenses for industry, forcing tough decisions. The job losses will spread beyond those lost at Vermont Yankee. Employers on the brink of closing their Vermont operations cannot stay afloat when legislators make their futures more costly and uncertain.

John O’Kane of IBM said it well: “The cost of energy is a critical factor in IBM’s operating expense and changing the source of one-third of Vermont’s energy portfolio without a well thought out plan for alternatives seems reckl ess.” A day before the Senate vote, Senator Shumlin rejected Entergy’s “Power for Jobs” offer, an additional 25 megawatts of 4-cent power for job creation, which would save Vermonters an estimated $20 million. Just disregarded without consideration.

When asked how much the new power to replace VY would cost ratepayers, Shumlin said he didn’t know. To reject in state, low-cost, low-carbon electricity for largely unknown alternatives simply amounts to spending other people’s money – taxpayers and working people of Vermont.

Some would argue that Vermont Yankee’s problems with trust and tritium justified the Senate’s no vote. These are indeed serious problems, but patience could lead to acceptable solutions. As for the breach of trust, Entergy’s new management team has taken serious steps. They have removed and/or disciplined 11 employees, met with opinion leaders and media, opened the plant for tours, commissioned an independent investigation, announced the findings, and issued daily reports on the tritium search. The company appears to be putting its best foot forward in a thoughtful and deliberative way in order to restore public confidence. The IBEW has and will continue to hold Entergy to the highest standards of accountability.

I urge the Senate to change course and address the economic disaster they created in a short two-month period of this so-called “Jobs Session.”

GEORGE CLAIN President IBEW, Local 300