[Sustain] Fwd: CBS's Nuclear Revival
Don Eichelberger
done7777 at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jul 15 17:02:53 PDT 2007
Cal-
I visited with Diane D'Arrigo of NIRS this
Friday- she's out here for a visit. She has
worked against P-A for years and is convinced it
is a sacred cow, of sorts, that legislators will not touch- at least, not now.
She suggested going after other subsidies to the
nuclear industry whose support is softer,
especially the loan guarantees that are being
offered to try to win over Wall Street to invest in nuclear power.
More on this as it develops. For now, any ideas
for how we can do this are welcome.
Since it is an election year, it would seem we
need to be pushing all candidates to support a no
subsidies for nuclear power statement and let the
technology compete, stand or fall, on its own merits.
We should also try to get energy spending -
especially to lower greenhouse gasses-officially
prioritized by CEC for quickness of
implementation and cost per kilowatt, which would
put energy conservation at the top of spending priorities.
I am convinced nuke cost and time for
implementation, as well as their security threats
to safety and mass outage potential, will undo them.
But the anti-nukers among us can no longer be the
"silent majority" on the subject. Even in
California, opposition to nukes, once at 2/3rds
looks to be slipping, thanks to a well
orchestrated campaign around global warming by
the nuclear industry and their partners.
Let's talk,
Don
At 09:06 AM 6/14/2007, you wrote:
>How about eliminating the Price Anderson Act? No insurance waiver means no
>nukes. We pushed a proposition in 1976 but it failed, though it sparked a
>lot of debate.
>
>Cal Broomhead and Kathleen Ribeiro
>broomhead at igc.org
>
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Don Eichelberger <done7777 at sbcglobal.net>
> > To: Susan Swift <vencejo at mindspring.com>
> > Cc: <sustainability at sfgreens.org>; Lynda Hernandez
><redwoodsforever at verizon.net>; <GPCA-Energy at yahoogroups.com>;
><TrueGreen_NoNukes at yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: 6/12/2007 6:43:37 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Sustain] Fwd: CBS's Nuclear Revival
> >
> > I hope they were responsive to working together.
> > Seems we have "allies" almost everywhere we
> > look. It is a matter of finding ways to keep
> > each other in each other's loops and, if not
> > "coordinating efforts", at least making a buzz in unison.
> >
> > Overcoming the other side's media blitz will be a
> > big part of it. I am ccing the state Green Party
> > media guy, Cres, with a heads up that his help
> > would be good to have. The main media strategy
> > at present seems to be writing and responding to
> > blogs (my first blog is
> > www.greenuprising.blogspot.com) and writing
> > letters to editors for newspaper articles that promote nukes
> >
> > We need to do something newsworthy. We (SF Green
> > Sustainability Working Group) are considering
> > pushing Leno for stronger legislation than a
> > study, including opposing renewal of nuke
> > operating licenses in the state on the same grounds we now oppose new
>licenses.
> >
> > I would like to get something happening,
> >
> > Don
> >
> > At 07:48 AM 4/19/2007, you wrote:
> > >Great News! We have some allies outside the immediate environmental
> > >ncommunity. Thanks for sharing this Don. I'll write to CBS and FAIR.
> > >
> > >-Susan
> > >
> > >-- In TrueGreen_NoNukes at yahoogroups.com, Don Eichelberger
> > ><done7777 at ...> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I looked at the 60 Minutes segment and said to
> > > > myself, "Noooooo! Not 60 Minutes, too!" I had
> > > > intended to respond to them, but got turned to
> > > > other things, until I got this alert. In case you want to respond....
> > > >
> > > > Glad FAIR is doing this.
> > > >
> > > > Don
> > > >
> > > > >Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:27:06 -0700
> > > > >From: "Richard A. Knee" <rak0408 at ...>
> > > > >To: "Knee Richard A." <rak0408 at ...>
> > > > >Subject: Fwd: CBS's Nuclear Revival
> > > > >------- Forwarded message -------
> > > > >From: FAIR <fair at ...>
> > > > >To: rak0408 at ...
> > > > >Cc:
> > > > >Subject: CBS's Nuclear Revival
> > > > >Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:34:18 -0700
> > > > >
> > > > >http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3086
> > > > >
> > > > >Action Alert
> > > > >
> > > > >CBS's Nuclear Revival
> > > > >60 Minutes' critic-free boosterism
> > > > >
> > > > >4/18/07
> > > > >
> > > > >On April 8, the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes aired a segment about the
> > > > >"resounding success" of the French nuclear power program,
> > >suggesting that
> > > > >"emission-free" nuclear power might offer an easy solution to the
> > >problem
> > > > >of climate change. The report protected this dubious assertion from
> > > > >skeptical scrutiny by failing to quote a single bona fide critic of
>the
> > > > >nuclear industry.
> > > > >
> > > > >The segment was titled "Vive Les Nukes," which gave a good
> > >indication of
> > > > >the slant it took. Describing it as "an efficient means of
> > >producing large
> > > > >amounts of carbon-free energy," correspondent Steve Kroft announced
> > >at the
> > > > >top of the segment that nuclear power is "a technology whose time
> > >seemed
> > > > >to come and go, and may now be coming again." The notion of a nuclear
> > > > >power renaissance was bolstered by CBS's choice of interview
>guests—the
> > > > >program spoke only to nuclear power supporters (in France and
> > >elsewhere),
> > > > >thereby allowing their rhetoric to go unchallenged.
> > > > >
> > > > >Guests on the segment were French energy official Pierre Gadonniex,
> > >French
> > > > >nuclear industry executive Bertrande Durrande, White House deputy
> > > > >secretary of energy Clay Sell (Bush's "point man on nuclear power"),
> > > > >French nuclear executive Anne Lauvergeon, MIT nuclear researcher
>Andrew
> > > > >Kadak and David Jhirhad of the World Resources Institute, described
> > >as "an
> > > > >environmental think tank in Washington."
> > > > >
> > > > >Jhirhad was the only potentially balancing source, but he is quoted
> > >only
> > > > >to make Kroft's point that "even some environmental groups are
>taking a
> > > > >second look at nuclear power." This is an emerging line in much of
>the
> > > > >corporate media (e.g., Washington Post, 4/16/06; New York Times,
> > >2/27/07),
> > > > >though the actual number of green groups embracing nuclear power is
> > >quite
> > > > >small. The World Resources Institute receives contributions from
> > >several
> > > > >energy companies and other major polluters, information that would
>have
> > > > >been useful for CBS viewers in evaluating Jhirad's claim that the
> > >nuclear
> > > > >industry's "safety record has been pretty good."
> > > > >
> > > > >The segment's one-sided sourcing was made all the more problematic
>when
> > > > >the White House's Sell claimed that "no serious person can look at
>the
> > > > >challenge of greenhouse gases and climate change and not come to the
> > > > >conclusion that nuclear power has to play a significant and growing
> > >role
> > > > >in meeting that challenge worldwide." Of course, "serious people" do
> > > > >question precisely that--and CBS should have interviewed them.
> > > > >
> > > > >Excluding such sources meant excluding important information. While
> > > > >France's nuclear power is portrayed as widely popular, CBS failed to
> > > > >mention large protests held across the country on March 17 (Agence
> > >France
> > > > >Presse, 3/17/07) against construction of a new nuclear plant. Nor, in
> > > > >touting the massive nuclear reprocessing plant France has built in
> > > > >Normandy, did the show refer to the radiation it releases into the
> > >English
> > > > >Channel (NIRS Nuclear Monitor, 3-4/00) or the cluster of leukemia
>cases
> > > > >occurring around the plant (British Medical Journal, 1/11/97).
> > > > >
> > > > >Kroft even adopts industry-friendly language in describing the push
>to
> > > > >revive U.S. nuclear power, discussing the "financial incentives" and
> > > > >"streamlined regulatory system" intended to encourage nuclear energy
> > > > >development. Such "incentives" might better be described as
>government
> > > > >subsides, which have long been criticized by nuclear industry
> > >critics as a
> > > > >waste of taxpayers' money. Unmentioned in the CBS report were similar
> > > > >subsidies in France; according to the U.S.-based Institute for
> > >Energy and
> > > > >Environmental Research (5/4/06), $1 billion a year in government
> > >subsidies
> > > > >go to plutonium production alone.
> > > > >
> > > > >Excluding critical voices allowed grossly misleading information to
>go
> > > > >unchallenged, as when nuclear executive Lauvergeon claimed, in the
> > > > >segment's conclusion, that "wind and solar are, you know, temporary
> > > > >sources of energy. It works when you have wind, it works when you
>have
> > > > >sun. No sun, no wind, no energy. You don't want to watch TV only
> > >when you
> > > > >have wind." Of course, wind and solar energy are not "temporary"
> > >sources
> > > > >of energy; power generated by both can be stored. Airing this sort of
> > > > >misinformation eliminates any real consideration of viable
> > >alternatives to
> > > > >nuclear energy.
> > > > >
> > > > >At one point, Kroft says that "the Bush administration is pushing a
> > > > >nuclear revival." The same could be said for CBS.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >ACTION:
> > > > >Contact 60 Minutes to ask why its report on nuclear energy excluded
>the
> > > > >views of the industry's numerous critics.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >CONTACT:
> > > > >CBS 60 Minutes
> > > > >60m at ...
> > > > >(212) 975-3247
> > > > >
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> > > > <td style="font-family:serif; font-size: 86%;"
>valign="top"
> > >width="526"><!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="content" --><P><FONT
> > >color=#8f4444><FONT face=Georgia><FONT size=3><SPAN
> > >class=communique_category><a
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>15&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fair.org%2Findex.php%3Fpage%3D3086">http://www.fair.
>org/index.php?page=3086</A> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
> > > > <P><FONT color=#8f4444><FONT face=Georgia><FONT size=3><SPAN
> > >class=communique_category>Action
> > >Alert</SPAN><BR><BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><STRONG><FONT
> > >face=Georgia><FONT size=3><SPAN class=main_headline>CBS's Nuclear
> > >Revival</SPAN><BR></FONT></FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Georgia><FONT
> > >size=3><SPAN class=sub_headline>60 Minutes' critic-free
> > >boosterism<BR></SPAN><BR><SPAN
> > >class=date>4/18/07</SPAN><BR><BR></FONT></FONT><SPAN
> > >class=published-content-body><FONT face=Georgia size=3>On April 8, the
> > ><SPAN class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN> newsmagazine
> > ><SPAN class=media_outlet><STRONG>60 Minutes</STRONG></SPAN> </FONT><a
> > > title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>16&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fstories%2F2007%2F04%2F06%2F60minutes%2
>Fmain2655782.shtml"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272 size=3>aired a
> > >segment</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3> about the
> > >"resounding success" of the French nuclear power program, suggesting
> > >that "emission-free" nuclear power might offer an easy solution to the
> > >problem of climate change. The report protected this dubious assertion
> > >from skeptical scrutiny by failing to quote a single bona fide critic
> > >of the nuclear industry.<BR><BR>The segment was titled "Vive Les
> > >Nukes," which gave a good indication of the slant it took. Describing
> > >it as "an efficient means of producing large amounts of carbon-free
> > >energy," correspondent Steve Kroft announced at the top of the segment
> > >that nuclear power is "a technology whose time seemed to come and go,
> > >and may now be coming again." The notion of a nuclear power
> > >renaissance was bolstered by <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN>'s choice of interview
> > >guests—the program spoke only to nuclear power supporters (in France
> > >and elsewhere), thereby allowing their rhetoric to go
> > >unchallenged.<BR><BR>Guests on the segment were French energy official
> > >Pierre Gadonniex, French nuclear industry executive Bertrande
> > >Durrande, White House deputy secretary of energy Clay Sell (Bush's
> > >"point man on nuclear power"), French nuclear executive Anne
> > >Lauvergeon, MIT nuclear researcher Andrew Kadak and David Jhirhad of
> > >the World Resources Institute, described as "an environmental think
> > >tank in Washington."<BR><BR>Jhirhad was the only potentially balancing
> > >source, but he is quoted only to make Kroft's point that "even some
> > >environmental groups are taking a second look at nuclear power." This
> > >is an emerging line in much of the corporate media (e.g., <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>Washington Post</STRONG></SPAN>, </FONT><a
> > > title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>17&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F20
>06%2F04%2F14%2FAR2006041401209.html"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272
> > >size=3>4/16/06</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3>; <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>New York Times</STRONG></SPAN>, </FONT><a
> > >title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>18&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2007%2F02%2F27%2Fscience%2Fearth%2F27t
>ier.html%3Fei%3D5088%26amp%3Ben%3Dde61beaa4b05ed09%26amp%3Bex%3D1330232400%2
>6amp%3Bpartner%3Drssnyt%26amp%3Bemc%3Drss%26amp%3Bpagewanted%3Dprint"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272
> > >size=3>2/27/07</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3>), though
> > >the actual number of green groups embracing nuclear power is quite
> > >small. The World Resources Institute </FONT><a title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>19&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wri.org%2Fpartners%2Fcontrib_financial.cfm"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272 size=3>receives
> > >contributions</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3> from
> > >several energy companies and other major polluters, information that
> > >would have been useful for <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN> viewers in evaluating
> > >Jhirad's claim that the nuclear industry's "safety record has been
> > >pretty good."<BR><BR>The segment's one-sided sourcing was made all the
> > >more problematic when the White House's Sell claimed that "no serious
> > >person can look at the challenge of greenhouse gases and climate
> > >change and not come to the conclusion that nuclear power has to play a
> > >significant and growing role in meeting that challenge worldwide." Of
> > >course, "serious people" do question precisely that--and <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN> should have interviewed
> > >them.<BR><BR>Excluding such sources meant excluding important
> > >information. While France's nuclear power is portrayed as widely
> > >popular, <SPAN class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN> failed
> > >to mention large protests held across the country on March 17 (<SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>Agence France Presse</STRONG></SPAN>,
> > >3/17/07) against construction of a new nuclear plant. Nor, in touting
> > >the massive nuclear reprocessing plant France has built in Normandy,
> > >did the show refer to the radiation it releases into the English
> > >Channel (<SPAN class=media_outlet><STRONG>NIRS Nuclear
> > >Monitor</STRONG></SPAN>, </FONT><a title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>20&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nirs.org%2Fmononline%2Fcogemamonitor.htm"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272
> > >size=3>3-4/00</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3>) or the
> > >cluster of leukemia cases occurring around the plant (<SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>British Medical Journal</STRONG></SPAN>,
> > ></FONT><a title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>21&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bmj.com%2Fcgi%2Fcontent%2Ffull%2F314%2F7074%2F101"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272
> > >size=3>1/11/97</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia
> > >size=3>).<BR><BR>Kroft even adopts industry-friendly language in
> > >describing the push to revive U.S. nuclear power, discussing the
> > >"financial incentives" and "streamlined regulatory system" intended to
> > >encourage nuclear energy development. Such "incentives" might better
> > >be described as government subsides, which have long been criticized
> > >by nuclear industry critics as a waste of taxpayers' money.
> > >Unmentioned in the <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN> report were similar
> > >subsidies in France; according to the U.S.-based Institute for Energy
> > >and Environmental Research (</FONT><a title=""
> >
> >href="http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=325422084&url_num=
>22&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ieer.org%2Freports%2Fenergy%2Ffrance%2Flowcarbonrepo
>rt.pdf"
> > >target=_blank><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia color=#015272
> > >size=3>5/4/06</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face=Georgia size=3>), $1
> > >billion a year in government subsidies go to plutonium production
> > >alone.<BR><BR>Excluding critical voices allowed grossly misleading
> > >information to go unchallenged, as when nuclear executive Lauvergeon
> > >claimed, in the segment's conclusion, that "wind and solar are, you
> > >know, temporary sources of energy. It works when you have wind, it
> > >works when you have sun. No sun, no wind, no energy. You don't want to
> > >watch TV only when you have wind." Of course, wind and solar energy
> > >are not "temporary" sources of energy; power generated by both can be
> > >stored. Airing this sort of misinformation eliminates any real
> > >consideration of viable alternatives to nuclear energy.<BR><BR>At one
> > >point, Kroft says that "the Bush administration is pushing a nuclear
> > >revival." The same could be said for <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN>.<BR><BR><BR><SPAN
> > >class=sub_headline>ACTION:</SPAN> <BR>Contact <SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>60 Minutes</STRONG></SPAN> to ask why its
> > >report on nuclear energy excluded the views of the industry's numerous
> > >critics.<BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT><FONT face=Georgia><FONT size=3><SPAN
> > >class=sub_headline>CONTACT:</SPAN><BR><SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet><STRONG>CBS</STRONG></SPAN>
> > ></FONT></FONT><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia><FONT size=3><SPAN
> > >class=media_outlet>60 Minutes</SPAN><BR></FONT></FONT></STRONG><A
> > >title="" href="mailto:60m at ..."><STRONG><FONT face=Georgia
> > >color=#015272 size=3>60m at ...</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT size=3><FONT
> > >face=Georgia> <BR>(212) 975-3247</FONT><BR></FONT><BR></P></SPAN><!--
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