[Sustain] Victory! Nukes and 'Clean' Coal Stripped From Stimulus Bill

[Eric Brooks]

*Nuclear Information and Resource Service's Notes*



Nuclear Information and Resource Service's Notes 
<ttp://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id&490791479%22>
*Victory! No Nuke Loan Guarantees in Final Bill*

Today at 10:07am
February 12, 2009

Dear Friends,

VICTORY! YOU DID IT!

Late last night, we got word that the $50 Billion in taxpayer loan 
guarantees for new nuclear reactors and "clean coal" plants has been 
stripped from the final economic stimulus bill!

Your actions made a huge difference.

To recap, you:

*sent more than 7,600 letters to your Senators in one week

*sent more than 3,000 letters to your Representatives in the House in 
three days

*sent more than 1100 letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just 
yesterday afternoon (unfortunately, most letters to House Speaker Nancy 
Pelosi were blocked; we'll work on that problem with our Congressional 
database service).

*made thousands of phone calls to your Senators and Representatives

*brought needed attention to the issue through your blogs, letters to 
the editor, your Facebook and Myspace pages, and much more.

The final bill should be voted on in the House later today, and in the 
Senate probably tomorrow. The final bill almost certainly will pass, and 
there will be no amendments on this final bill, so the taxpayer money 
for the dirty and dangerous nuclear/coal industry will stay out of the bill.

Take a moment to celebrate today!

But make no mistake: the nuclear industry and its Congressional backers 
will try again, and sooner rather than later. Two days ago, for example, 
they began a new push to have nuclear power declared a "renewable" 
energy source in Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) 
upcoming Renewable Portfolio Standard bill, which is intended to 
increase renewable energy production in the U.S. (although first 
indications are that the bill is much weaker than it should be). This is 
likely to become a major issue in March.

And there will be new efforts to set up a federal "clean energy bank" to 
finance nuclear reactors with taxpayer dollars in the coming weeks and 
months.

In other words, we'll have to stay vigilant and active, and continue 
growing this movement if we are to attain the safe, clean, nuclear-free, 
carbon-free energy future our nation and planet needs.

You have now proven your effectiveness, but we can and must do even 
more. President Obama's campaign was successful in large part because of 
the support of a constantly growing number of ordinary people, taking 
action and making small donations, that built into an enormous political 
force. We are taking the same approach: in the past three months, NIRS 
contact lists have grown by more than one-third--a key element of 
today's success. Let's continue building this movement!

Please make a small donation on our secure servers so we can continue 
our outreach and build on this success. Your support is gratefully 
appreciated and every penny is used as wisely as possible.

And from all of us at NIRS: THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!

Michael Mariotte

Executive Director

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

nirsnet at nirs.org <ailto:nirsnet at nirs.org%22>

www.nirs.org

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