Climate Change Bill (AKA- If Lieberman's the Sponsor, You Know Something Stinks)

Got an email from my blogger bud Menopausal Mick over at The Llama Ate My FlipFlops about an issue that we all, particularly us Texans, should be concerned with. It's regarding the Climate Change bill currently before congress, which includes massive nuclear energy subsidies and a proposed nuclear waste dump site for Texas. She writes:

...I'm desperate to get the word out.

...Tonight(Wednesday, 6/4) or tomorrow at the latest they are voting on the Lieberman and company last minute amendments to the Climate Change bill. This crap got added so late that even (Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chair, Barbara) Boxer didn't have a chance to read it fully before it was presented to the public.

The timing of this is guaranteed to have many blogger/activists focused on the convention. We need to make sure that enough people know this is happening that they can at least CHOOSE whether to raise a stink or not.

Basically the deal is that under the premise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (the primary purpose of the Climate Change bill) nuclear power is being held up as the panacea for all things petroleum, and the industry is in line for some massive subsidies in this bill that all will come from the taxpayers pocket. This despite the fact that

...the overall “nuclear cycle” ­– which includes mining, milling, fuel enrichment and fabrication, and reprocessing ­ has significant greenhouse gas emissions that do contribute to global warming.

Moreover, nuclear power is enormously dangerous. Accidents like the Chernobyl explosion of 1986 stand to kill and leave many people with cancer. Nuclear plants routinely emit life-threatening radioactivity. Safeguarding nuclear waste for millions of years is an insoluble problem.

With gasoline at $4 plus a gallon, I think it's natural that people are clamoring for alternative energy solutions. But with a track record of radioactive material releases, and byproducts that remain deadly for 1 million years or more, why nuclear is the question. If we as a country are going to invest untold billions in an effort surrounding climate change, wouldn't it make sense to finally start looking at cleaner energy options like say solar, or wave, or wind?

It looks like the Climate Change bill is the spoon full of sugar to help this nuclear boondoggle pass through Congress, so consider yourself forewarned. If you want to do something about it, call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and register your disagreement.

Again, you can find more information here and here, and thanks MM for bringing it to our attention.