Thoughts After A Full Day at Clearwater Festival

It's 10:21 PM, Saturday June 16th, 2007 and I have just spent the entire day at the Clearwater Festival over in Croton on The Hudson as a volunteer. We accomplished, it is hoped, some wonderful things. Not sure for how long, but planning on being back there again tomorrow beating the pavement for more signatures.

Our Petition for Rule Making which will be filed with the NRC next week now has over 50 signatures on it...a good start, though had hoped for far more. Our location could have been a lot better, and in the lessons learned department, I should have opted for my own booth as the Green Nuclear Butterfly. We also had around 70 people who have an interest in being interveners sign up to attend and as yet to be announced informational meeting on what that will entail on their part. Being honest, I am afraid being and intervener is more work, and requires a lot more dedication and time than most can, or are willing to muster.

Met some delightfully wonderful people manning the table, including a very interesting person by the name of Paul, but more on that conversation in a later post as I am bushed. Congressman John Hall stopped by the booth to say hello...I was for the most part polite, but unless the air is cleared, I have some very serious reservations at this point where he is concerned. Think he means well, but he's not really a fighter, and we are not going to win this fight being mush balls. We need some testosterone in this movement if we are going to close Indian Point, need LOTS of people who are not afraid of some serious old school civil disobedience. Had two different people associated with Clearwater today tell me that my research abilities and passion for the fight are admired, but that quite a few people consider me a loose cannon...well, maybe we need a few more loose cannons.

One thing is really bothering me...waging a intervenor war with Entergy and the NRC, win, lose or draw is going to take money, and quite a bit of it. Unless you can back up your claims and allegations with experts, you, simply stated, are DEAD IN THE WATER. We have 21 Million people that live within 50 miles of Indian Point...if even 10 percent of them donated just ONE DOLLAR each, we would have a magnificent chance of giving the other side a serious run for their money...I have suggested a $1.00 donation campaign for the IPSEC committee working on a comprehensive Petition to Intervene, and I am also sharing that idea here, but with my own organizations name on the idea. If you are reading this, surely you can afford one dollar towards the legal and expert testimony costs involved in this fight? Surely you have friends that would toss in one dollar? Is one dollar to much to ask for, to much to give towards a battle that is our only hope to see Entergy's Indian Point reactors decommissioned? Riverkeeper sent out a letter to its faithful asking for a donation of $500 dollars...great if they can get the money, and use it effectively. Personally, I believe it is the average work-a-day citizens that can win this fight, our one dollar donations that can build a legal machine capable of taking on Goliath and winning the war...so how about it, if you are reading this, can you spare one dollar? Can you post this message to your groups, email it out to your friends?

INDIAN POINT BATTLE IS ON
AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!!
HELP CLOSE INDIAN POINT FOR $1

Background: Indian Point Nuclear Plant is located just 24-miles from New York City, 3 miles from West Point. It is the only nuclear plant in the country surrounded by 21 million people. There is no possible evacuation plan for the area. Indian Point is aging, corroding and leaking radioactive waste into the groundwater and the Hudson River.

Indian Point is also recognized to be one of the most attractive terrorist targets in the nation. (American flight 11 soared right by it minutes before smashing into the World Trade Center.)

Entergy, the owner/operator of Indian Point, now wants to squeeze every dollar of profit out of this aging plant and has filed an application to keep it operating 20 years beyond its expiration in 2013 for Indian Point 2 and 2015 for Indian Point 3. Instead of protecting the public health and safety, the NRC protects the profits of the nuclear industry.

CURRENT SITUATION: Green Nuclear Butterfly is a grassroots alliance that is working on legal grounds which could prevent the granting of new licenses for Indian Point’s two deteriorating and dangerous nuclear reactors. We need your help because we only have a small window to challenge the license application and we need to be able to pay for, office expenses, expert witnesses and legal fees.

PLEASE JUST DONATE $1 (or whatever you can give) to help us win this battle. Please memo your check "LEGAL FUND" and send it to Green Nuclear Butterfly c/o Sherwood Martinelli, 351 Dyckman Street, Peekskill, New York 10566.

Share this letter with/article with your friends and family, help us activate the populace. If every man, woman and child were to send us just one dollar, we have a real shot at successfully halting the relicensing of this facility.