Thursday, August 2, 2007

Pro-Nuclear Greens to meet at Bryant Park

Photo: Chief ED scientist Dr. Bill Chameides

It has come to the attention of Green Nuclear Butterfly that pro-nuke greens in Manhattan are going to be speaking at Bryant Park.

Word for Word Author Series: Focus on the Environment Wednesday, Aug 8th. 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Bryant Park Reading Room 42nd Street side of the park - under the trees - between the back of the NYPL & 6th Avenue. Look for the burgundy and white umbrellas. Rain Venue: Barnes & Noble Booksellers at 555 Fifth Avenue & 46th Street.

Talking with the director of the event, GNB was told that: "We'd rather that the nuclear issue not be discussed, but that the event is open to the public, anyone can attend to make their feelings known."

The panel will be hosted by Dr. Bill Chameides, Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense, an organization which turned pro-nuke. Its founder Fred Krupp introduced Paul Newman to Entergy which gave the actor a grand tour of Indian Point, in exchange for a glowing review on its security, favoring its relicencing.

After numerous calls to Environmental Defense, inquiring as to a position paper on the nuclear issue, not a single call was returned... in other words, endorsement by omission. (update: a nuclear power position statement was emailed to GNB a few minutes after this post went up... which now sits above. EDF's official position is that it does not support a nuclear relapse unless or until certain preconditions are met by the nuclear industry. It makes no mention of old plant relicensing.)

On the panel will be Lazy Environmentalist Josh Dorfman, born and raised in Weschester county, who has expressed to this writer his support for the relicensing of Indian Point.

Also on the panel will be Ben Jervey, author of the Green Apple Guide, who after numerous attempts to have Rock The Reactors or Green Nuclear Butterfly, or so much as the Indian Point issue mentioned in his newsletter, has refused to bring it up with his readers.

I don't know how the last two panelists, Eugene Linden (The Winds of Change) and Andrew S. Winston (Green to Gold) feel about the nuclear issue, but I wouldn't be surprised if they too, were supporters of IP relicensing.

It saddens me that after so many years in the environmental movement, I would find myself pitted against those who in fact should be allies in this fight... yet these people and organizations, do not even have the courage of their opinion, express their support for the relicensing of Indian Point by their abject silence.

It's cowardly, trying to render the nuclear issue into a non-green issue, a sell-out to the Bush administration. None of their Green works will amount to anything if there's an accident at the plant, let alone the long term health consequences of radioactive isotopes right now leaking into the water table.

The fact that these young greens are too wet behind the ears to understand the immensity of their ommission, ignoring the elephant in the room, destroys me emotionally, I don't know how to deal with such lack of connection to our earth they claim to care so much about. Would it be possible that the only green they see, is the color of money?

For more information on the event, contact the organizers directly:
Bryant Park Corporation
500 Fifth Avenue Suite 1120
New York, NY 10110
212-768-4242

1 comment:

Jervey said...

Remy (and readers)-
It is, simply put, wrong to label me as a "pro-nuclear environmentalist." The only reason that my newsletter has never mentioned nuclear or Indian Point directly is because it is merely a listing of events.

Without question, if any organization--including GNB--held an event in NYC with a nuclear theme, I would include it in the newsletter.

Remy--Please do not categorize me as a "pro nuclear environmentalist," when I've made my stance on these issues very clear to you in personal conversations. (Stance: nuclear is more expensive, takes longer to develop, and--most importantly--is much more dangerous than clean, renewable energy technologies.)