Politics or principle? Sen. Bartlett's stance on Yankee set her apart
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Sen. Susan Bartlett |
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: February 26, 2010
MONTPELIER – Efforts to postpone Wednesday's vote on the future of Vermont Yankee came from an unlikely source earlier this week when Sen. Susan Bartlett issued a press release urging legislators to delay the landmark decision.
Her position wasn't unique – the state's Republican governor had told lawmakers the plant needed more vetting before a responsible vote could take place. A business lobby, of which Entergy Corporation is a prominent member, also asked lawmakers to delay the vote pending additional information.
But Bartlett's objection was the first – or at least the most public – criticism of the Senate vote from within the Democratic Party. And her condemnation of the vote as "political theater," many observers noted, was particularly surprising given her involvement in a five-way gubernatorial primary campaign in which the Yankee issue is expected to play heavily with left-leaning voters.
On Thursday, Bartlett said her attempts to delay the vote stemmed not from confidence in Entergy's ability to prove its worth, but rather to protect the historic decision from the taint of political grandstanding already being lobbed by critics.
She said she was particularly unsettled by the brisk timeline set out by Senate President Peter Shumlin – also a gubernatorial candidate – who provided Senate leaders only eight days notice prior to the vote, according to Bartlett.
"When this vote got sprung on people, it's like, 'Wait a minute, this doesn't feel like we're being treated well or the process is being treated well,'" Bartlett said Thursday.
Bartlett said Democrats had the opportunity, though a more thoughtful and deliberative legislative process, to convince current Yankee proponents that the plant was indeed unreliable and unsafe. She has said she wants to see the plant shuttered in 2012 and voted against its relicensing Wednesday.
"There was lots of grumbling (among lawmakers) going on but no one would stand up and say anything about it. I'm not afraid to stand up and say things. And if people felt strongly, I was giving them an opportunity to go in a different direction," she said.
Her colleagues demurred, opting instead to proceed with Shumlin's timeline by defeating, by a landslide margin, an amendment that would have sent the Yankee bill back to committee.
On that vote, Bartlett surprised yet again by siding with the majority and voting 'no' against the move to recommit – a reversal from a position she'd established just 60 hours prior.
Bartlett defended that vote by saying that once she realized she didn't have the support to delay, she wanted to make sure the Senate spoke in as unified a voice as possible.
"I wasn't interested in having Entergy believe that miraculously by the end of the session they'd be in a spot where any of us would change our minds," Bartlett said. "The more clear the message is, the better. And that was definitely a clear message."
Shumlin on Thursday rejected claims that he rushed the vote. He'd indicated as far back as December, he said, that he intended to move on the Yankee issue. Committees of jurisdiction – Senate Natural Resources and Senate Finance – have been taking testimony on the issue for four years, he said. And when the chairs of those committees told him two weeks ago they were ready to vote, he determined the time was right.
"If anyone's been consistent on the desire to resolve the this issue over the last three years, if anyone's been consistent about the resolve to act on this issue in order to plan for our energy future, it has been me," Shumlin said. "I understand that Sen. Bartlett is running for governor, but we can do gubernatorial politics after the Legislature adjourns."
The rhetorical barbs traded by Bartlett and Shumlin in recent days – she called the Yankee vote "more political theater than making good public policy" and Shumlin, in turn, called into question Bartlett's political courage – has offered the highest-profile in-fighting between any of the five Democratic hopefuls.
Bartlett said it remains to be seen whether her call to delay the vote will hurt her politically.
"I guess only time is going to tell," she said.
But she said the press release generated positive responses, and suggested it cemented her status as the most moderate option in the crowded Democratic field.
"You get people who say a moderate can't win primaries and I thought about that," she said. "And before I got in the race, I talked with a lot of moderates who said they have no reason to vote in the primary because they don't feel like they have a choice. They said it would be wonderful to finally have a moderate voice in the mix."
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