Open Letter To Grassroots
First, to those who have so far joined in signing both our petition, and our open letter to Greenpeace, on behalf of Green Nuclear Butterfly, I extend our heartfelt thanks. (This includes a special thanks to the three groups in Michigan who joined our cause today.)
Many individuals and groups on both sides of this Nuclear Plant re-licensing issue are watching the Green Nuclear Butterfly blog closely...we make the nuclear industry nervous, and some on the anti nuclear side of the fence wonder if we are too confrontational, too controversial in our message. One activist has told us that her organization believes we lead by example, stated the old adage that you get more bees with honey in life. As much as I and the Green Nuclear Butterfly would like to agree with her when it comes to this issue, we cannot, as it is simply NOT TRUE.
As I have said before, the slogan of, "Thinking Globally but acting locally" in this battle is backwards. By keeping us isolated, by making the re-licensing issue a local issue for each separate community, we are losing to the NRC, and to the nuclear industry. Like it or not, the FIX is in, and all you have to do is look at the numbers so far...we are losing 48-0. We are losing because Idaho National Labs, MIT, DOE, NRC, NEI and the entire nuclear industry need America's aging reactors to continue operating for at least another 20 years if they have any hope of their dream of a Nuclear Renaissance becoming a reality. In short, the deck has been DELIBERATELY and MALICIOUSLY stacked against us.
Let's pose a question here...how many of your local and federal officials have told you to your face that they SUPPORT a safety and security assessment of your reactor? I know of five at Vermont Yankee who submitted a written request for this very thing to Mr. Diaz of the NRC...of course that request was denied. Here in my own area, Congressman John Hinchey introduced a bill asking for a Safety and Security Assessment of Indian Point, and the other three members of Congress around the plant co-signed said bill. It was read twice at committee level, and sent to sub-committee where it died a quick death. They could tell us, "WE DID ALL WE COULD", and walk away. Problem is, it is a lie. Work the numbers for yourselves. We are 103 communities with an average of 3 members of Congress representing the area around each reactor. The numbers for the Senate represent lower numbers, but the same percentage scale as in the Congress. If every member of Congress who is paying LIP SERVICE to the local reactor communities signed onto ONE BILL asking for a Safety and Security Assessment at every nuclear facility in America, asked for a Moratorium on every license renewal application, they would have a VETO PROOF MAJORITY.
Problem is, that reality will not happen as long as the grassroots remains divided, isolated and alone. We can not win this fight locally, we cannot win this fight being nice and baking cookies. We might though be able to draw to an inside straight if we all join as one. Ask yourselves, "Has being NICE worked for the 48 reactor communities who have lost so far?" As much as the NRC and the nuclear community would like to think they own us, these are our communities, our towns, our cities and we need to speak as one in demanding our voices not only be heard, but that it carry weight.
The Green Nuclear Butterfly is confrontational, but it is not the voice of a singular soul crying in the wilderness. The Green Nuclear Butterfly, our movement belongs to any one who wants to join. Our blog has a standing invitation to any one in the anti-nuclear movement to send in articles, to have them published and heard. In short, the Green Nuclear Butterfly is the sum of our parts, and as the number of parts grow, so shall our voice. Join us, become a part of something that just might work...if you think about it, what do you have to lose? 30 years ago, Greenpeace started in a garage...today, they are crusaders for many noble environmental causes, with an annual budget approaching 100 Million Dollars. So far, they are noticeably absent in this fight, and we need them, this is OUR HOUR OF NEED...if they will not step in, then we will build our own movement one grassroots person, one grassroots organization at a time as our voice grows and sweeps across America.
First, to those who have so far joined in signing both our petition, and our open letter to Greenpeace, on behalf of Green Nuclear Butterfly, I extend our heartfelt thanks. (This includes a special thanks to the three groups in Michigan who joined our cause today.)
Many individuals and groups on both sides of this Nuclear Plant re-licensing issue are watching the Green Nuclear Butterfly blog closely...we make the nuclear industry nervous, and some on the anti nuclear side of the fence wonder if we are too confrontational, too controversial in our message. One activist has told us that her organization believes we lead by example, stated the old adage that you get more bees with honey in life. As much as I and the Green Nuclear Butterfly would like to agree with her when it comes to this issue, we cannot, as it is simply NOT TRUE.
As I have said before, the slogan of, "Thinking Globally but acting locally" in this battle is backwards. By keeping us isolated, by making the re-licensing issue a local issue for each separate community, we are losing to the NRC, and to the nuclear industry. Like it or not, the FIX is in, and all you have to do is look at the numbers so far...we are losing 48-0. We are losing because Idaho National Labs, MIT, DOE, NRC, NEI and the entire nuclear industry need America's aging reactors to continue operating for at least another 20 years if they have any hope of their dream of a Nuclear Renaissance becoming a reality. In short, the deck has been DELIBERATELY and MALICIOUSLY stacked against us.
Let's pose a question here...how many of your local and federal officials have told you to your face that they SUPPORT a safety and security assessment of your reactor? I know of five at Vermont Yankee who submitted a written request for this very thing to Mr. Diaz of the NRC...of course that request was denied. Here in my own area, Congressman John Hinchey introduced a bill asking for a Safety and Security Assessment of Indian Point, and the other three members of Congress around the plant co-signed said bill. It was read twice at committee level, and sent to sub-committee where it died a quick death. They could tell us, "WE DID ALL WE COULD", and walk away. Problem is, it is a lie. Work the numbers for yourselves. We are 103 communities with an average of 3 members of Congress representing the area around each reactor. The numbers for the Senate represent lower numbers, but the same percentage scale as in the Congress. If every member of Congress who is paying LIP SERVICE to the local reactor communities signed onto ONE BILL asking for a Safety and Security Assessment at every nuclear facility in America, asked for a Moratorium on every license renewal application, they would have a VETO PROOF MAJORITY.
Problem is, that reality will not happen as long as the grassroots remains divided, isolated and alone. We can not win this fight locally, we cannot win this fight being nice and baking cookies. We might though be able to draw to an inside straight if we all join as one. Ask yourselves, "Has being NICE worked for the 48 reactor communities who have lost so far?" As much as the NRC and the nuclear community would like to think they own us, these are our communities, our towns, our cities and we need to speak as one in demanding our voices not only be heard, but that it carry weight.
The Green Nuclear Butterfly is confrontational, but it is not the voice of a singular soul crying in the wilderness. The Green Nuclear Butterfly, our movement belongs to any one who wants to join. Our blog has a standing invitation to any one in the anti-nuclear movement to send in articles, to have them published and heard. In short, the Green Nuclear Butterfly is the sum of our parts, and as the number of parts grow, so shall our voice. Join us, become a part of something that just might work...if you think about it, what do you have to lose? 30 years ago, Greenpeace started in a garage...today, they are crusaders for many noble environmental causes, with an annual budget approaching 100 Million Dollars. So far, they are noticeably absent in this fight, and we need them, this is OUR HOUR OF NEED...if they will not step in, then we will build our own movement one grassroots person, one grassroots organization at a time as our voice grows and sweeps across America.
1 comment:
Hi,
I'm Evan Mulholland, an attorney in Vermont working with the New England Coalition. We're fighting Vermont Yankee's request to increase the thermal load (discharge) on the CT River. Clean Water Act 316(a) variance. Anyone working on this issue, feel free to contact me at evanmulholland@yahoo.com
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