Shumlin, Dubie Spar Over Vt. Yankee
Kristin Carlson, WCAX News
One of the five Democrats running for governor of Vermont took on the only Republican in the race Tuesday.
“Brian (Dubie) made comments on VPR last week that I am really concerned about… and I don’t think… they don’t reflect what we need from the next governor,” said Peter Shumlin, Democrat running for governor of Vermont.
Shumlin disagrees with Republican candidate Brian Dubie’s assessment of a new report about Vermont Yankee. The Public Oversight panel found last week the nuclear plant has a corporate culture problem and does not consistently spend enough on safety.
“What Brian indicated was that he trusts Entergy Louisiana, that he thinks they can change and that he thinks the report indicates that the problems are minor and can be overcome. That isn’t what the report says,” Shumlin said.
“I stand by what I said,” Dubie said. “I quoted the report.”
Republican Brian Dubie has stayed out of the spotlight. He does not have a primary race. Dubie supports Yankee and says if it’s proven safe it should keep operating and he thinks the report supports that.
“I’m not here to defend Entergy,” Dubie said. “What I’m here to say is we need to look at safety and we need to look at the importance of jobs, and when I give a pink slip to a fellow Vermonter I’m going to make sure all the questions are answered.”
All five Democrats for governor want Yankee to close in 2012. But Shumlin is the first to attack Dubie, trying to set the tone that he’s a frontrunner… already looking to the November election. But Shumlin needs to win the Democratic primary first on August 24. He admits it’s a tossup.
“It’s a wide open race,” he said.
Shumlin also said Tuesday that if Yankee closes in 2012, he would tax the plant to store its nuclear waste in Vernon. Brian Dubie’s campaign says it will have to study the issue but that Dubie supports having Entergy pay for clean up and maintenance of the site.
Kristin Carlson – WCAX News
http://www.wcax.com/global/video.asp?clipId=4979452&topVideoCatNo=63459&autoStart=true
