[NukeNet] Act fast to urge Senate not to fund nuclear

[Linda Gunter]

BEYOND NUCLEAR

Beyond Nuclear Bulletin 
May 29, 2008
Top Stories
Oppose the McCain-Lieberman Nuclear Power Money Grab
Background: The Lieberman-Warner climate change bill is set to go to the Senate floor next Monday, June 2nd, when Environment and Public Works chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduces her substitute amendment version which does not contain subsidies for nuclear power. However, once the debate begins, amendments for nuclear power subsidies are anticipated from Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) and Senate Republicans. Sens. Lieberman and Warner (R-VA) have already urged publicly that a "Nuclear Power Title" be added to the bill, which would explicitly favor re-establishing a large nuclear component manufacturing industry in the U.S., at taxpayer expense. Furthermore, Lieberman and Warner also stated that their amendment would serve as a building block for other pro-nuclear power amendments to follow. Worse still, pro-nuclear senators, such as Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), or James Inhofe (R-OK) could introduce a full "wish list" of nuclear amendments, further jeopardizing public safety, health and security far into the future. On May 27th, Beyond Nuclear and ten other groups (Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, Clean Water Action, Environment America, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, League of Women Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, and Sierra Club) wrote to Lieberman and Warner, objecting to their proposed nuclear power subsidies. 
Our View: It seems more than obvious that presidential candidate John McCain is the puppet-master behind this latest push for huge nuclear industry handouts. McCain has already declared he will only support the Lieberman-Warner bill if it explicitly subsidized and supported a significant nuclear power expansion. Although Lieberman and Warner are the bill’s named authors, McCain may well step out of the shadows and add his signature to nuclear portions of the bill. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the nuclear industry provides some of the largest campaign contributions to presidential and congressional candidates.
What You Can Do: Start by calling your two U.S. Senators right away via the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121, urging them to block any climate change bill or amendments that would provide any subsidies to the nuclear power industry. Even if you’ve called them before, call them again with the updates above.  Also, go to this excellent action alert by Credo (formerly Working Assets) and add your name to those of 35,000 others who, just in the past several days alone, have already petitioned the Senate to block nuclear power subsidies.

Of Note
The French Nuclear Medusa:  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate an apparent violation of its transportation regulations after the French nuclear company, AREVA shipped used equipment to the Watts Bar nuclear plant in Tennessee that measured higher than permissible levels of radioactivity. According to an NRC press release, its inspector determined that AREVA's procedures for decontaminating and packaging the equipment were not adequate to ensure external radiation would not exceed regulatory requirements. This comes on the heels of a similar shipping violation through Virginia in February when AREVA again transported equipment almost 400 miles that measured beyond regulatory limits for radiation.

Beyond Nuclear and the New Nuclear Winter:  The Cold War is over but could a nuclear winter still happen? And what if a nuclear war occurred not between the U.S. and Russia but between India and Pakistan? Could a limited exchange cause a nuclear winter? The answer to the first question is still “yes.” And the answer to the last is “not quite.” However, the consequence of an India-Pakistan exchange could still be mass starvation and the collapse of global agriculture, similar to the effects of a nuclear winter. These are the conclusions of new research developed by a team of renowned scientists, some of whom worked with Carl Sagan on the original nuclear winter findings.
What You Can Do: You can bring these scientists to your community. Please contact Beyond Nuclear for details. In an exciting, multi-media presentation, the nuclear winter scientists and Beyond Nuclear first explain the problems that could lead to a near or actual nuclear winter, then offer solutions to avoid this unthinkable tragedy. Contact Beyond Nuclear today to bring the Nuclear Winter Tour to your community. Write: info at beyondnuclear.org or call: 301.270.2209 and ask for development director, Linda Gunter. Let’s work to prevent this tragedy while we can.

Please donate to Beyond Nuclear. Won’t you please consider becoming a monthly recurring donor? You can set up your profile and monthly giving here. All gifts are tax-deductible. Or you can mail a check to: Beyond Nuclear at NPRI, 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400, Takoma Park, MD 20912.
-end-
 
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. Beyond Nuclear staff can be reached at: 301.270.2209. Or view our Web site at: www.beyondnuclear.org
 
  

Beyond Nuclear at NPRI
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Tel: 301.270.2209
Fax: 301.270.4000
Email: info at beyondnuclear.org
Web: www.beyondnuclear.org


Message processed for Beyond Nuclear at Nuclear Policy Research Institute  by ActiveCharity.org. To unsubscribe from this mailing list, click here:
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/page/unsubscribe/mailingid/485/memberid/6009 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.energyjustice.net/pipermail/nukenet_energyjustice.net/attachments/20080530/01ac537e/attachment.html