Uranium, the devil's death stone, and the road to hell is paved with good intentions as scientists set aside the age of the Peaceful Atom, and attempt instead to sell us their concept of nuclear as the safe, vital, secure Green Energy that will save us from Global Warming, erectile dysfunction, and anal warts. Everyone wants to be part of a dream (even a bad one) and nuclear energy shills and baton twirlers like Patrick Moore or advertising giant Burson-Marsteller knowing if you repeat a lie long enough people will begin to believe, have been beating their storm drums in repetition. The NEI, DOE, NRC and such nuclear industry giants as Entergy and Exelon have woven the words of their lies into our collective societal soul, seeking a way to steal away our hearts for the nuclear beast, all too aware of the fact we are needed if the demon spawn of a Nuclear Renaissance is to be given life, given the chance to spread its wing and bring total darkness to our world.Fortunately, like the magician's assistant in Walt Disney's "Fantasia" or Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", some of us have pulled away the dark velvet curtain, have seen the truth behind the lies that are the nuclear industry. Peeking over the cliff into the black abyss of hell a few of us have spied Luther's Army out on the practice fields as they march in goose step to the false chant of, "No CO 2's, Nuclear Is our Birth Mother, bring us the Hydrogen Economy." George Bush, the Commander in Chief of the Nuclear 2010 Initiative and his field generals, such as the Shaw Group's Jim Bernhard observe from a black alabaster parade stand, occasionally whispering among themselves, or perhaps fine tuning their GNEP global plan for a One World Nuclear Order, with them at its helm. All praise to the AP1000.
Creeping stealthily backwards away from the edge, careful not to dislodge a pebble, sending it cascading down into their midst we wipe our tears away knowing the alarm must be rung, hoping that some will hear our voices in the wilderness against overwhelming odds. As if thrown into an epic fantasy adventure (think Robert Jordan, and "The Dragon Reborn"), we are being pushed into a fight with the Dark Lord (Neil Sheehan) and the Dark Forces of the NRC as they play the part of the Guardians out to protect the aging, brittling reactors at all costs, keep them operating long enough to bring the Nuclear Industry back from the world of the dead. They are the Guardians of Hell's Inferno as GE, Westinghouse, DOE, Entergy-Shaw and other worshippers of the Death Stone struggle with their task of birthing the new devil child, working tirelessly to bring the Nuclear Renaissance to life.
Ours, like most great epics starts out with a seemingly simple task that is far more difficult than it would at first appear to be. We must first go to the Ancients, convincing host communities (Briarcliff, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, even Brattleboro up in Vermont) to join our cause along the way. Old armies of the cause (such as IPSEC, Clearwater, Riverkeeper, Greenpeace and CAN) need to accept a difficult truth, that their plowshares again must be hammered into swords, their silken garbs tucked away in a chest, exchanged for the body armor of war. Couriers and carrier eagles need to be sent out far and wide to warn the people in exotic places such as the Palisades in far off Michigan and Diablo Canyon which sits along this land's Western shores. However, even this will not be enough without the power of the ancients, our quest doomed to fail without Pete Seeger's wishsong, and Bonnie Raitt's heart cleansing words reaching out to touch the souls of the masses. We need a Chevalier sent in search of John Hall, it is whispered he still speaks with the ancients, could convince them once again to come out of hiding, and lend us their weapon of song.
Life, love and death all tangled up in blue, a nuclear mistress trying to seduce me and you as we remember our heroes and wish for a new World Dylan riding into the story, singing songs about the Hudson River as he speaks truth to you and me, belting out the words, " Decommissioning is the only way to go, our salvation from the Indian Point beasts. Where have the Byrd's gone, and please Mister Tambourine Man, play a song for me, in the jingle jangle morning. I'll come followin' you as I dodge the Radioactive Fallout with no place to go, my flesh stripped to the bone, and my toes too numb to feel...please Mister Tambourine Man cast your spell on me before I drift off into a forever radioactive nightmare disguised as my dream.
Like funeral pyres burning in a starless night, 103 aging reactors, drawing their fuel from the great uranium stone, belching their poisons into our atmosphere as cartoon circus barkers shout out the nuclear industry's lies to any ear they can reach. "Nuclear is vital, safe and secure, the birth mother of the coming Hydrogen Economy...can I have a Praise Jesus, and will someone pass the Congressional Collection plate of love, as we need your money to build our beasts of burden that will further enslave the world, see all of you owned by your blind love of our machines of convenience."
A lone voice from the gathered throng speaks out, " What about the leaking spent fuel pools, and the strontium 90, the tritium, all finding their way into the Hudson, killing the fish, bringing cancer to our land and into our homes?"
"A heretic, a lunatic from the No Nuke fringe" shouts the barker, "He knows not what he speaks, cannot be trusted. Ignore him I say, come into the nuclear circle and we'll protect you from Global Warming, we are life, we are the way."
Another day, another town with another hooded stranger in the crowd, "What about the susceptibility of the spent fuel pools to a terrorist attack, and what should happen if a plane flies in close to the ground, plowing into the reactor, spreading a fire in its wake as buildings come crashing down around us, what then I ask you? 9/11 was real, the Towers never had a chance, and now you want us to ignore that truth?
"IGNORE HIM, HE'S A FOOL AND A CLOWN, nuclear is your friend. Step into the circle, we will protect you from Global Warming, and give you the Hydrogen Economy too."
Try as one might, it is impossible to serve two masters, two Gods, one cannot be a world saving, environmentally friendly Green Folk and at the same time buy into the lie of vital, safe, secure Green Nuclear energy. Heroes are not born, but instead have greatness and duty thrust upon them, and the way forward into a better tomorrow always requires great sacrifices from the masses, and finding the solutions to Global Warming will occur in this same tried and true fashion. A Nuclear Renaissance, nuclear energy as the savior from our sins is the devil's placebo for the masses born in the pits of a nuclear fusion hell. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, so let us not forget Hiroshima which brought on the era of the peaceful atom. Hold close the memory of those who died at Chernobyl, and those who are dying slow painful deaths now from the cancers brought on by Three Mile Island. It is no accident that GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Program) is being brought to us compliments of the DOE, which can also stand for Death On Earth.
Great moments of social awareness and societal change were not brought about by the money changers, nor the power brokers in government. Proclaimations and laws look pretty on paper, and sound self important when read aloud, but down through the annuals of time it has been the people, you and me and the neighbor down the street who have breathed life into movements, and effected great social changes. Florence Nightingale walked away from a life of leisure and gave birth to modern day nursing. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony drove the Sufferage Movement, and saw women win the right to vote. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and the civil rights movement was on its way. Martin Luther King had a dream, and a few college students started an anti war movement that ended the Vietnam War.
We all know that Global Warming is real, the polar ice caps melting away, and a few selfish men selling snake oil are trying to convince us that Nuclear Energy is the solution, the easy way to fix the wrongs and make everything right again. We can buy into the lie and catch the next train out of town. Or, we can take a stand here and now, draw the proverbial line in the sand. Host communities all over America agreed almost 40 years ago to accept reactors for a time period of 40 years. We have done our duty to God and Country, yet now we are being told its not enough, that we have no choice but to play host for another 20 years, 40 if the indutry gets its way. The license renewal process is not about evaluation and negotiation, but dictatorship by committee with a gun being held to our collective heads. Our politicians will not save us, they were bought and sold long before we foolishly gave them our vote...we have ourselves and nothing more if we are to win this fight and shut Indian Point's aging reactors down.
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