Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Urgent: Stop The $50 Billion Nuclear Ripoff

Hi everybody!

The following bulletin I received via the myspace network. I'd like to add that this describes the situation in the United States, however, for Ontario alone there are 30 new nuclear plants projected, according to the Ontario Power Authority. In a CBC Radio One report I heard that the safe deposit of the nuclear waste is a federal competence. However, there are no plans in place where to bury that radioactive material once no longer in use.

Where is all that nuclear waste going to go, Mr. Harper? And:

When will you stop selling out Canadian resources against the protest of those who have to live with the waste and whose water is already too radioactive to drink it
now?


AN URGENT CALL TO STOP THE $50 BILLION NUKE POWER GIVE-AWAY

From Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Harvey Wasserman:
Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE)

As early as this Friday, Congress may approve legislation allowing the Department of Energy to approve $50 billion and more in federal loan guarantees to build new nuclear power plants.

Take Action!

The nuclear industry itself has made it clear that this astonishing taxpayer give-away is the only way new atomic reactors will be built in this country. After fifty years of proven failure, neither Wall Street nor the utility industry wants to finance new atomic construction without your taxpayer dollars to guarantee their investments. You might think that after half a century, technology once sold on the promise of being "too cheap to meter" would be able to raise its own funding. But it can't.

By contrast, no federal guarantees are needed for the billions of dollars being invested in building new wind farms all over the world. Now the reactor industry falsely claims that it can help solve the global warming problem, even though nukes cause major CO2 emissions in the mining, milling and enriching of nuclear fuel, in the reactor construction and decommissioning process, and in the long-term management of spent radioactive fuel, for which there is no real solution.

No New Nukes!

A single dollar spent on increased efficiency saves as much energy as ten dollars spent on nuclear power can produce. But under a phony "green" guise, the industry wants to exploit a single-sentence loophole in the Energy Bill passed by the U.S. Senate to cash in on virtually limitless federal loan guarantees. The sentence was slipped into the law without open debate.

It is essential that we stop this gargantuan nuclear rip-off from happening. This is just the first major battle in what will be a long, hard fight to stop atomic energy from once again derailing the necessary transition to a global economy based on the efficient, equitable use of natural energies provided by our Mother Earth.

Thanks and No Nukes!
Bonnie, Jackson, Graham & Harvey

Please Grab The Code For This Bulletin
And Repost As Bulletin Or Blog

Saying no to uranium mining

Editorial The Perth Courier Aug 1st 2007

By now, most people in the Perth area are aware of the efforts of area native and non-native residents to prevent uranium from being mined in the Snow Road-Robertsville-Elphin area, northwest of Perth.

In the past, we have discussed the frighteningly uncivilized nature of the Mining Act, legislation that allows mining companies to march onto the private properties of rural residents and begin digging for minerals. If landowners don't own the mineral rights, only the surface rights of their properties, this is perfectly legal.

We have published stories about one man's efforts to bring attention to the act by publicizing what happened to his property in Tay Valley Township. Large ditches were dug on his property and when he expressed concern about the open holes and potential danger they posed, he was told that it was illegal for him to fill in these holes. Think about it: someone came onto his property, dug trenches, left them exposed and held outdated mining regulations over his head if he attempted to make his property somewhat safe again.

Out of the threat of such incidents recurring throughout the township, the Citizens' Mining Advisory Group, or CMAG, was formed. Through the efforts of many, a number of mining claims against properties in the rich residential and cottage area surrounding Perth were abandoned. (This group will hold its annual meeting on Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. at the North Burgess Hall on Narrows Lock Road. The public is welcome and will likely find area candidates for this fall's provincial election in attendance.)

Mining has again taken centre stage in this area, and this time, has received national attention. While the threat is not as much toward private properties in this case, it involves a sought-after end product that poses a potential greater risk to the health of those throughout the Ottawa Valley. It's not about gaping holes on private property, but potentially deadly uranium.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the matter, and now that the price being offered for uranium has rebounded, chances are those who see nothing but dollar signs will put up a strong fight against those who oppose such mining.

Uranium mining companies claim such operations are safe if they are carried out properly. But what happens if an accident happens? Do we simply say "oops" and try not to cry over a little spilled salt? We're not mining salt here. "Oops" is not something anyone wants to hear.

A simple Internet search brings up far too many cases of how such mining has harmed Canadian communities.

Six stories have appeared in the Courier since April about the quest for uranium in the Crotch Lake area and those who are leading the charge to ensure this quest fails. Only the sixth and latest story offered the opinions of someone who came forward in favour of such mining.

Provincial governments on Canada's east and west coasts have imposed moratoriums on uranium mining. When will Ontario and the rest of the provinces follow their lead?

If no such freeze on this type of mining is introduced in Ontario, mining might proceed in the Crotch Lake area, and possibly without incident. But is that a gamble we're all willing to take? This area is all upstream of the City of Ottawa.

If something does happen, who is left to live in the shadow of a mistake?


Added by Maren:
The following links provide more information:

Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

Mining Company sues anti nuclear activists

By Gena Gibson, The Perth Courier August 1st 2007 www.perthcourier.com

Lawsuit, injunction hearing moved to September
The people who have camped out near Robertsville for more than a month say they won't leave until Frontenac Ventures Corporation gives up its quest for uranium.

Lawyers for the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations met in Kingston court on Monday with Neal Smitheman, the legal representative for the uranium exploration company. The company has served the groups, their leaders and "unknown persons" with a $77 million lawsuit, and would also like an injunction to allow it to begin exploration on thousands of acres of land near Robertsville, in North Frontenac Township.

"Our position and stance haven't changed," said Paula Sherman, who shares co-chief duties of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nations with Randy Cota. "We're staying, anyway."

She said the injunction hearing is set for late September, but the company, and the judge who heard arguments on Monday, want to get together tomorrow (Thursday) to find a compromise.

"Our stance on that is they won't have access here," Sherman stressed, pointing out that officials with Frontenac Ventures Corporation are concerned with losing financial backing for the project. "We consider that to be a ploy."

Sherman said the people, both native and non-native, who have blocked access to the property plan to stay until the provincial government resolves the issue of land jurisdiction.

"The hearing now is not to determine whose land it is," she pointed out, saying the judge would like to know what Frontenac Ventures can do that won't compromise the land.

"We don't recognize anything (that can be done)," she added. "Anything they can do leading up to exploration and mining (is not acceptable)."

She said the native community believes the $77 million lawsuit is posturing on the part of Frontenac Ventures.

The main issue, for Sherman and her group, is their claim to more than three billion acres of land for the Ardoch Algonquins. The Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations, under Chief Doreen Davis, are in the midst of a land claim that has gone on for years.

"We don't need to use that process," Sherman explained. "We already have jurisdiction over our land.

"It was never ceded."

Sherman, who teaches aboriginal studies at Trent University, said the hearing in September and early October will have no bearing on what is happening at the potential mining site.

"They can just do the injunction, because our minds are not changing," she said. "The issue needs to be dealt with once and for all."

Many of the protesters lined Hwy. 7 in Perth on Saturday afternoon, handing out pamphlets on uranium mining to drivers. While most people were receptive, Sherman said, "There are a few who obviously don't care that they're going to be vacationing or living in areas with uranium contamination."

Smitheson did not return a call to his office yesterday (Tuesday).