TELL OBAMA TO REVERSE SUPPORT OF RISKY NUCLEAR POWER
http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/say_no_to_nuclear/?rc=homepage
President Obama: Reverse your support of risky nuclear power
First came the earthquake. Then the tsunami. Then multiple explosions
at nuclear reactors. Several Japanese nuclear reactors are at risk of
melting down with unthinkable release of radiation.
The crisis
in Japan is heartwrenching. The latest reports suggest at least 10,000
dead from one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history
followed by a devastating tsunami. And that number is likely to rise.
But perhaps the worst is yet to come as multiple nuclear reactors in
Japan are redlining and officials frantically release radioactive steam
into the atmosphere in hopes of averting a total nuclear meltdown.
Tell President Obama: No more nukes. Not now.
Even now, politicians of both parties are so beholden to the nuclear
industry, that they are racing to microphones to say that the U.S. must
EXPAND its taxpayer support of building even more nuclear reactors.
President Obama's 2012 budget includes $36 billion in loan guarantees
to the nuclear energy industry. With Congressional leaders competing to
cut public spending, we face a spectacle where senators in both parties
were quick to defend nuclear power in the days following earthquake.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, vice chair of the Democratic Senate caucus, has
joined with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, in refusing to
support a moratorium on building new nuclear reactors in seismically
active areas in the U.S.1
Nuclear power generation is so
financially risky that it requires government intervention to obtain
sufficient financing for development. Even nuclear power proponents
admit the stakes. According to John Rowe, the CEO of the nation's
largest nuclear operator Exelon, said "Except with massive subsidies,
there's really nothing one can do to make a whole lot of nuclear plants
economic right now."2
Tell President Obama: We need investment in clean, renewable energy, not more nuclear time bombs.
What does it take for Congress and President Obama to get the message?
In just the last year, we have suffered massive disasters as a result of
declining and risky energy technologies. Coal, oil, and now nuclear
power have been the center of soul searching crises in the past 12
months. First came the massive coal mine collapse in West Virginia
courtesy of the rapacious Massey Energy. Then came the massive BP oil
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico which failed to slow significant advances
by the oil companies in drilling offshore of the United States. And now
comes a massive nuclear crisis in Japan, the worst nuclear disaster
since Chernobyl. Yet nothing has been done.
It's time to stand
up and defend the planet and the people who live on it. Tell President
Obama: Enough is enough: No new nukes.
1 "Will nuclear industry feel the fallout from Japan?," Politico, March 13, 2011.
2 ibid.
The petition itself simply reads:
"President Obama: Reverse your support of risky nuclear power."
http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/say_