Dear Friends and Colleagues in Michigan,
U.S. Representative Fred Upton of southwest Michigan is doing the nuclear
power industry's dirty work yet again. He is leading the effort to try to
lock in a mind-boggling $50 BILLION of federal subsidies over the next
two years for the building of new nuclear power plants. Even though no
new reactor is proposed in southwest Michigan, Upton is the nuclear
industry's man. Even though most of the 30 or so new reactors being
proposed are targeted at southern and southeastern states, Upton from
southwest Michigan -- of all members of the U.S. House of Representatives
-- is still their #1 Cheerleader. Just like he was from 1995 to 2000,
when he led the charge to dump high-level radioactive wastes on Western
Shoshone Indian land at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. He did not succeed -- a
huge grassroots victory for environmental justice!
Why is Upton so willing to do the nuclear industry's dirty work? Good
question. Could it have anything to do with the tens of thousands of
dollars in campaign contributions Upton receives from corporate energy
interests each election cycle, as documented at
www.opensecrets.org? Could it
now be that Entergy Nuclear of New Orleans, the second biggest nuclear
mega-utility in the U.S., has set up shop in Upton's district, with its
takeover of the dangerously decrepit Palisades nuclear power plant? Upton
actually has two nuclear utilities in his district, given American
Electric Power's twin reactor Cook nuclear plant in Bridgman.
Please see the Action Alert below. Contact Upton -- we need to flood his
office with phone calls --and tell him to stop doing the nuclear
industry's dirty work, and start protecting his actual constituents --
the residents of southwest Michigan -- from the financial, safety,
security, and environmental risks of nuclear power. (If you happen to
live in another congressional district, contact both Upton and your own
Representative too!)
Thanks!
---Kevin Kamps
Radioactive Waste Watchdog
Beyond Nuclear
Takoma Park, Maryland
(and board member, Don't Waste Michigan, Kalamazoo chapter)
(240) 462-3216
kevin@beyondnuclear.org
www.beyondnuclear.org
ACTION ALERT!
Act Today
Strike $50 BILLION
of pro-nuclear federal "loan guarantees" from
U.S. House energy legislation
Dear Friends and Colleagues of Beyond Nuclear (and with apologies for any
multiple postings ? we are working on this!):
Last week the U.S. Senate passed energy legislation which was a very
mixed bag for safe energy. As reported in the New York Times
on July 31st (see link below) the legislation was intended to support new
and safe-energy development. Instead, it got hijacked at the last
minute, without debate or hearings, by the nuclear industry which had a
single-sentence clause inserted which could grant up to $50 BILLION in
loan guarantees for the nuclear industry to construct new reactors, even
of the old type, over just the next two years. Although bill author
Senator Jeff Bingaman stated that this was not the intention of
the legislation, this is unfortunately the reality of the bill
language.
The U.S. House is next slated to take action on its version of the energy
bill, HR 3221. Sec. 9202 of this bill also contains the offending
pro-nuclear language. An amendment to the bill -- H.R. 969, the
Federal Renewable Energy Standards Act ? would promote a rennewable
energy portfolio standard mandating 20% of electricity production levels
from renewables by 2020. Please urge your U.S. Representative to support
renewables, but to block the blank check for nuclear reactors.
The message to your Representative is simple:
- support amendments to delete the nuclear loan guarantees from
any version of the House bill
- instruct House Reconciliation Conference committee representatives to
strike any nuclear loan guarantee provisions from the bill that would
reconcile the House and Senate versions of the legislation later this
year
If you know your Representative's name, the easy way to contact him/her
is through the Capitol Switchboard at: (202)224-3121.
To find out the direct contact numbers for your Representative, go to
Thomas (Library of Congress):
http://thomas.loc.gov
Look on the left hand sidebar for information on how to reach your House
Rep. You find him/her using the zip +4 tool provided.
TIMELINE: Action needs to take place TODAY Friday, August
3rd. Feel free to share this Alert with friends and family.
Below the link to the New York Times article, you will find a
letter submitted to all 435 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
by Beyond Nuclear on Thursday, August 2nd, as well as links to
further information on Public Citizen's website.
---Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Beyond Nuclear
kevin@beyondnuclear.org,
www.beyondnuclear.org, (240) 462-3216
(Many thanks to Dave Kraft at Nuclear Energy Information Service
in Chicago, from whose alert this one largely borrows!)
And please see the New York Times Story reproduced on the free
access International Herald Tribune site:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/31/business/nuke.php
Letter from Beyond Nuclear hand delivered to all 435 U.S. House
offices on August 2, 2007:
August 2, 2007
Dear Member of Congress,
Last week the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill containing a provision
that would, if enacted, provide more than $50
BILLION in federal taxpayer backed loan guarantees for the
construction of new nuclear power reactors. This single-sentence rider,
which received no hearings nor debate, represents a nuclear power
industry hijacking of a program intended to support the development of
innovative clean energy sources. Yet, as reported by the New York Times
on July 31st, $25 to $50 BILLION could be doled out by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the construction of new nuclear
reactors utilizing old reactor designs in just the next two years alone,
with no congressional limits or oversight on appropriations. The billâ??s
proposal represents a blank check of mind-boggling size, at taxpayer
expense.
This same outrageous giveaway of taxpayer dollars, to an industry already
heavily subsidized to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars over
the past 50 years, is also contained in HR 3221, Section 9202. On behalf
of our members and associates across the United States, and on behalf of
American taxpayers, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to block
this outlandishly greedy money grab by the nuclear power industry. Please
support amendments that would delete these nuclear loan guarantees from
any version of the House bill, and urge House conference committee
members to strike any loan guarantee provisions from the reconciliation
bill with the Senate in the months ahead.
In a June 16, 2007, floor statement, House Energy and Water
Appropriations Subcommittee chairman Visclosky indicated just how
excessive the amount of loan guarantees sought by the nuclear industry
is: â??The request for guaranteed loans from the Nuclear Energy
[Institute], subsidized by the Federal Government, is very large. It
overwhelms what the [Energy & Water Appropriations] bill provides for
the entire energy community. The administration had asked for a total of
$4 billion for the nuclear energy industry and the coal industry. This
does not come close to what the Nuclear Energy [Institute] has indicated
they need. The Nuclear Energy [Institute] indicates a need for $25
billion in Federal guaranteed loans for fiscal year 2008 and more than
that in fiscal year 2009.â??
In 2003, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that the risk of
default on loan guarantees for new nuclear plants is â??very high ? well
above 50 percent.â?? Although the company recceiving the guarantee is
expected to pay the â??subsidy costâ?? of the guarantee (the net present
value of the anticipated cost of defaults), a June 2007 CBO report on the
recently passed Senate energy bill provision concluded that it is â??more
likely that DOEâ??s loan guarantee portfolio will have more projects
where the subsidy fee has been underestimated than overestimated.â?? In
short, taxpayers will be left holding the bag, to the tune of billions,
and perhaps tens of billions, of dollars.
We urge Congress to safeguard its oversight on appropriations and uphold
its fiscal responsibilities, rather than allow DOE to gamble with and
squander unlimited amounts of taxpayer dollars on high risk atomic
projects.
Sincerely,
Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Beyond Nuclear
Special thanks to Michele Boyd, Legislative Director at Public Citizen's
Energy Program, upon whose work Beyond Nuclear's letter to Congress was
modeled. See the Press Release by Public Citizen opposing nuclear loan
guarantees for new reactors, with a link to even further background
information:
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2488