News out of Vermont that the state’s only nuclear power plant near the town of Vernon has announced layoffs of 165 employees on January 9th. This as part of the plant shutting down next year that was announced August of 2013. This obviously the result of an effort by local environmentalists who have sought to shut down the facility, known as Vermont Yankee.

As a result of Vermont Yankee’s closure, New Hampshire and Massachusetts electricity rates have increased from forty to fifty percent. New England has had to use oil and natural gas in order for utility plants in the region to furnish power for residents. Now, with Vermont Yankee gone, their electricity rates will spike potentially putting more of a strain on the affected state power grids.

I suppose fossil fuel use is acceptable in environmentalist’s minds if the trade off is to prevent the use of nuclear energy. However, the long term case against nuclear power is not looking good for environmentalists despite their successes in shutting down plants like Vermont Yankee. Since the northeast and much of the United States is experiencing freeing cold temperatures and snowstorms, with Vermont Yankee gone, power plants in its service region will have to resort to importing oil and natural gas in by train.

Unfortunately, there are already problems occurring on train rail lines due to the cold weather. If the problems persist and it holds up or outright prevents oil and gas being shipped to northeastern power plants, many of them will have to shut down. The nuclear plant that could have picked up the slack is closed so the only alternative is for people to (putting it mildly) brave the elements. Meantime, hundreds of thousands of people are thrown out of work and their lives devastated resulting from the efforts of eco-fascist’s war on nuclear energy. Be prepared for a Winter of Discontent.