Better not take our eye off these guys until the last minute, when “it’s” finally over.

How many regulatory time bombs are being slipped quietly into regulations in the last glory days of the Bush /Cheney administration ? The Dept.of Labor in a flurry of activity is making it harder to regulate work place safety from toxic chemicals.As with so many things in the up is down World of Bush this unannounced rule change allows additional ways for industry to challenge risk assessments.Dept of Labor as industry friend rather than labor advocate .

There are always last minute things to do for any administration leaving office but it is really boggling to think of the surprises the new White House occupant(and the entire country ) may be in for. Recall the accusation in 2000,later proven false ,that when the Bush team came to the White House  Clinton staffers had taken the letter ‘W’ from some keyboards.  Year 2009 may find a lot more than missing ‘W’ s. Chemical exposure in the workplace,factories and offices is a serious problem.Vermont had well documented problems with a toxic State office building .These are life effecting regulations that are being tampered with in secret that have the potential to damage peoples health.  Compassionate conservatives at work.

The agency did not disclose the proposal, as required, in public notices of regulatory plans that it filed in December and May……………..

The change would address long-standing complaints from businesses that the government overestimates the risk posed by job exposure to chemicals.

The rule would also require the agency to take an extra step before setting new limits on chemicals in the workplace by allowing an additional round of challenges to agency risk assessments.

The department’s speed in trying to make the regulatory change contrasts with its reluctance to alter workplace safety rules over the past 7 1/2 years. In that time, the department adopted only one major health rule for a chemical in the workplace, and it did so under a court order.



David Michaels, an epidemiologist and workplace safety professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health, said the rule would add another barrier to creating safety standards, in the name of improving them.

“This is a guarantee to keep any more worker safety regulation from ever coming out of OSHA,” Michaels said. “This is being done in secrecy, to be sprung before President Bush leaves office, to cripple the next administration.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

( – promoted by odum)

The three member State panel has been refused access to Vermont Yankee Monday.An inspection Monday by the NRC and State officials looking into the leak and cooling tower bracket malfunction will not be joined by members of the newly appointed team.This bodes poorly for the panels success.Gov Douglas has from the start vaguely questioned two members impartiality as if to lay the groundwork for this type of tactic.Commissioner O’Brien said last week that He promised to talk to Entergy corporate officials about the state’s ongoing concerns. To state the clearly obvious an awful lot more is needed,cooperation to start.Gov.Douglas has yet to my knowledge comment on the Yankee leak and other problems last week that resulted in the plant shutting down to 25% of power.The aging nuclear plant supplies one third of Vermont’s electric power .

MONTPELIER — The state Department of Public Service has declined to let members of a panel created by the Legislature to do a special audit of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant join an inspection of the plant set for Monday, officials confirmed Friday.

“They’re trying to stonewall our appointees,” Shumlin said Friday.

He said the legislative appointees, retired nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen and former federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford, needed to be full participants in the Vermont Yankee review for lawmakers to have confidence in the plant’s continued operation.

Stephen Wark, spokesman for the DPS, said Friday he could not comment of the matter because of an agreement that the deliberations of the Public Oversight Commission be kept secret.

Diane Screnci, spokeswoman for the NRC’s Northeast regional office, confirmed that no member of the Public Oversight Commission would be attending Monday’s inspection.

“The Department of Public Service has not requested that any member of the panel observe the (inspection),” Screnci said. “And they would have to tell us; they would have to request this specific person and they haven’t at this point.”

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

Bush Sewage Plant Initiative Makes The Ballot In San Francisco

A voter initiative in San Francisco to rename a sewage plant in honor of George W. Bush has received a sufficient number of signatures, and will appear on the November ballot. The idea was hatched by a group calling itself the “Presidential Memorial Commission,” which by their own admission was formed over drinks at a bar.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talk…

In a speech given in Washington Al Gore attempted to move some ‘real’ into the Presidential campaign. Real as in pointing out a problem that is desperate for real solutions.

“It is only a truly dysfunctional system that would buy into the perverse logic that the short-term answer to high gasoline prices is drilling for more oil 10 years from now,” Gore used a quote from a Saudi Oil minister “The Stone Age didn’t end because of a shortage of stones.”

The Alliance for Climate Protection, estimates that the cost transforming America’s energy infrastructure at $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion over 30 years in public and private money. Gore says that it would cost about as much to build coal plants to satisfy the country’s electricity demand.

The speech was a call for action rather than one with specific proposals.He likened the challenge to the 10 year effort to reach the moon which JFK proposed .Ten years being what Gore describes as the workable attention span of country.Gore is wise to use his status to try to move the dialog back in focus as the drill our way out of this attitude creeps in .The pressure for more drilling and quick answers is massive as attitudes toward getting more oil by any means increases .This happily encouraged by the oilmen at the top.This isn’t the kind of challenge that will have easily identified heroes as the race to the moon. A massive shift in public attitudes will need to be lead by whomever wins in November .

The idea that we must wait until it’s easier is illustrated by this Congressman’s remark

“I think the American public will be much more receptive to arguments about climate change when gas prices aren’t so critical,”

said Rep. Zack Space, a freshman Democrat who represents a mostly rural district in Ohio.

But Gore cited the foolish irony of the situation

This speech may(will)get lost quickly in the headlines as Obama travels to Iraq and Congress debates expanding oil leases but at least  Al Gore took the time to tell us what we need to hear .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…

http://thehill.com/leading-the…

DNC head Howard Dean is heading on a bus to tour of the South .Crawford ,Tx. the location for start of the trip is a nice touch.I just like the idea of Howard Dean on red,white and blue bus motoring through Crawford waving out the window at Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch.Not quite certain why exactly.  

Dean’s trip begins Thursday in President Bush’s hometown of Crawford, Texas, riding an eye-catching bus wrapped in the red, white and blue of presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign logo.”I think the big reason is we haven’t tried,” Dean said. “If you don’t show up, you can’t win. And that’s not going to happen this time. We are going to show up everywhere.” Dean said the voter registration drive is focused on boosting Obama’s standing in the states, but local candidates will join the tour when it comes their way and he hopes it can help them, too.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/…

One third of Vermont’s power source is still down due to the second round of cooling tower problems in less than one year .NRC officials deem it important enough to show up at the aging plant in person and remain here for a week .Acting out of character regarding anything Yankee Gov.Douglas has had no comment .Sometimes the appearance of something is as important as what actually is the case .Given the Vermont Yankee events these past several days the appearance certainly is that the Gov. welcomed a program of diversion from his troubles.No ribbons here just a big problem that might require the leadership of a Governor willing to do more rather than less.Or in this case perhaps appear to do more rather than less

Quoted in the paper today Commissioner of Public Service O’Brien

while saying he was not satisfied with Entergy’s performance  stressed that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, the company that owns and operates the Vernon reactor, is not bound by law to contact his office when there are non-safety related issue.

Honor system,no legal controlling authority to require this .

How can the public have confidence if state officials are not informed?

he asked.Good very good question .

This from the man that last week who warned us in an op-ed not to look at Entergy’s $750 million unexpected profit as a “windfall”or use the term “cash cow” as these are slanted terms that serve no purpose other than to cloud the discussion.

Mr.O’Brien  added that  

The failure to inform his office and the long string of incidents the company has faced over the past few years reflects a corporate culture that demands close scrutiny. He promised to talk to Entergy corporate officials about the state’s ongoing concerns.

http://www.reformer.com/ci_989…

Nothing to see hear keep moving

Citizen panel begins review of Vt. Yankee

The panel, which includes representatives picked by Republican Gov. James Douglas and the Democratic leaders of the Vermont Legislature, met for more than three hours Thursday morning in a closed-door session.

“This is not a public body so it does not have to adhere to public meeting requirements,” explained David O’Brien, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service. “There is a need to keep some of this information private.”

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

…and sets Times Argus /Rutland Herald newspapers straight on facts about Entergy’s Vermont Yankee.No not about the safety problems ,but about the unexpected $750 million profit that might be misconstrued as a windfall .Although this is published online today I can only hope that was written before Fridays cooling tower malfunction.

Just the facts, please, on Vermont Yankee

We seek nothing more than having all the facts on the table and ultimately to facilitate a sound, balanced decision for Vermont. At stake is whether nuclear power should continue to be part of our energy supply in the state of Vermont……

..References in the recent Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus article referring to these revenues as “windfalls” and Vermont Yankee as “a cash cow” are slanted terms that serve no purpose other than to cloud the discussion.

Heaven forbid that the public think that Entergy of New Orleans  is actually making money ,alot of money here in Vermont.Rise up Commissioner O’Brien and defend them protect them from potential taxes.Because truly it’s in the goodness of their hearts to provide Vermonters with power almost too cheap to meter . http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

(How did a VY leak go under the radar??? – promoted by Christian Avard)

Small Leak Found in Vt. Yankee Cooling Tower

July 11, 2008

Vermont Yankee is operating at half its power because of a leak in a cooling tower. Plant officials say they discovered the leak Friday morning during a routine inspection. Officials are calling it a small leak of river water. They say it is not in the same cooling tower that collapsed last summer, but repairs were done at that time on both towers. The towers cool river water after it has been warmed in the plants steam condenser, it then returns to the river.  

Vermont Yankee does not know how long it will take to repair the new problem.

“This is a huge disappointment,” said Steve Wark, spokesman for the state Department of Public Service. “We were told the system was analyzed and this would not happen again. It calls into question their system maintenance program.” WCAX  my emphasis

Entergy’s Aging Vermont Yankee made unexpected record profits recently .The Gov.vetoed the bill for full decommissioning funding .The Gov.only reluctantly signed on to the Vertical Safety study .Only last week he criticized two appointments made by Democrats to that group. Today DPS’s Warks statement sounds like a FEMA flunky.Douglas’s full embrace of Entergy is a potent campaign issue waiting in plain site.  

Some U.S. cities waste water and water supply is actually showing signs of residue from prescription drugs .Recently VPR had a segment on the Vermont law that requires  pharmaceutical companies to report how much money they spend on marketing to doctors.

Drug companies spent more than $3 million last year to entice Vermont physicians to prescribe their products. The payments include consulting fees, travel, gifts and money for lectures. Not included are free drug samples, or payments for clinical research studies……. Drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression were among the top five in terms of total dollars spent.

This report is the 5th that the State has complied .Drugs in search of diseases is the way some of the new marketing has struck me ,and this law is good for providing a window into big pharma drug dealing .

Too many drugs and not enough human patients .The New York Times has a window of another sort into the pharma world of big profit drugs ……..Beef flavored prozac for your dog.In the big scheme of war ,peace and etc.dogs,pets on drugs probably rates low,but it is an astounding illustration of big pharma marketing .

The practice of prescribing medications designed for humans to animals has grown substantially over the past decade and a half, and pharmaceutical companies have recently begun experimenting with a more direct strategy: marketing behavior-modification and “lifestyle” drugs specifically for pets. America’s animals, it seems, have very American health problems. More than 20 percent of our dogs are overweight; Pfizer’s Slentrol was approved by the F.D.A. last year as the country’s first canine anti-obesity medication. Dogs live 13 years on average, considerably longer than they did in the past; Pfizer’s Anipryl treats cognitive dysfunction so that absent-minded pets can remember the location of the supper bowl or doggy door. For lonely dogs with separation anxiety, Eli Lilly brought to market its own drug Reconcile last year. The only difference between it and Prozac is that Reconcile is chewable and tastes like beef.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07…

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail…

“Obviously, someone was thinking ahead,” said department spokesman Stephen Wark.

This is the first and perhaps biggest understatement in this article .

The second is by the reporter stating that this potential for big profits presents an enormous financial incentive for re-licensing the aging nuclear cash cow .

Why bother with new power sources the old ones are working just fine ,look at all this money .

“They”were thinking ahead by covering all the bases .$750million in unexpected profits from a “sweetener ” clause added almost as an after thought to the original Yankee/Entergy deal.

Back in the winter of 2002, when Vermont regulators were pondering the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to Entergy, a Louisiana-based energy giant, a short clause was inserted into the sales agreement that no one at the time paid much attention to.

But that little-known provision could reap about $750 million in unexpected profits for two of Vermont’s utilities, Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power, in coming years if the Vernon reactor is re-licensed and energy markets remain high. The most recent state estimates indicate the profit-sharing provision in the contract with Entergy could hit $1.2 billion over the life of the 10-year agreement. It’s not clear at this point whether the windfall would be used to lower electricity rates for Vermont ratepayers.

The so-called “strike price” provision in the 2002 sales contract is a profit-sharing agreement between Entergy and the state’s two largest utilities, CVPS and GMP. The potential profits present an enormous financial incentive for regulators to approve the re-licensing of Vermont Yankee, which wants to keep operating for another 20 years.

Legislators, who also must approve the re-licensing, say their requests for basic information about the profit-sharing deal have been stymied by Entergy Nuclear, the utilities and state regulators.

If the profits were used to keep electricity rates down, the creation of the provision was “extremely savvy,” Shumlin said.

If  the profits are used for leverage to keep the aging nuclear plant running it is equally savvy from a different perspective.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…