The Debate over Re-Licensing the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

In 2009, the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board approved a 20-year license extension for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant. Less than seven months later, the Vermont State Senate voted 26-4 to block the required certificate for public good. How did a plant seen as likely to be re-licensed become the first in 20 years to be rejected in a public vote?