NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-NIRS (301-270-6477)
Fax: 301-270-4291
nirsnet@nirs.org
http://www.nirs.org
October 12, 2007
Dear Friends,
There are two major developments we want to tell you about regarding loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors and the pending energy bill in Congress:
First, we’re happy to tell you that Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Keb Mo, Ben Harper and other artists have joined the effort to stop the loan guarantees in a major way. They’ve set up a new website, http://www.nukefree.org, and there you can sign a petition against the use of your tax dollars for new nuclear reactors. Please do so right now. They’ve also remade the classic Buffalo Springfield song, For What It’s Worth, and you can watch that on their website, on youtube, or from NIRS website, http://www.nirs.org.
Second, we have learned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given up on the idea of setting up a House-Senate conference committee to formally address the differences in the House and Senate energy bills. Instead, a more informal process will be used. Both Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently want a final energy bill completed by November 1. That will be difficult to do in the little remaining time, and it means that some of the more controversial provisions in the two bills may be dropped entirely. We need to make the loan guarantees as controversial as possible.
So after you’ve signed the petition at http://www.nukefree.org, please call your Senators and Representative (Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121), and tell them: no taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power. Please call even if you’ve called before. Ask your friends and colleagues to call. This is the time to take action!
You should add that Congress should not cut itself out of the loan guarantee process—the Senate version of the bill would give full power to the Department of Energy to issue the guarantees, decide who gets them, and how much they should get. This is a job Congress has to stay on top of.
The Nuclear Energy Institute already has said it wants the nuclear industry to receive $50 billion in taxpayer guarantees over just the next two years. When that kind of money is at risk, Congress has to accept responsibility, not merely turn it over to the Energy Department.
Thanks for your help!
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirsnet@nirs.org
Thank you to everyone who already has donated toward greater outreach for the statement on nuclear power and climate. We appreciate your help! It’s not too late, however: please consider donating now to help us spread the word and obtain thousands more signatures! You can contribute online at our secure site:
https://secure.campagne-online.com/registrant/donate.aspx?EventID=2927&LangPref=en-CA
Contributors of $60 or more will receive a free copy of Bonnie Raitt’s CD, Souls Alike, as our, and her, way of saying
THANK YOU!
Petition Signees
Jackson Browne, Songwriter
Graham Nash, Musician/Activist
Bonnie Raitt, Musician/Activist
Keb' Mo’, Musician/Activist
Ozomatli, Musicians/Activists
Ben Harper, Musician/Activist
Harvey Wasserman, Author/Activist
Tom Campbell, The Guacamole Fund
Herbie Hancock, Musician/Activist
Patti Smith, Musician/Activist
David Crosby, Musician/Activist
on Henley, Musician/Activist
Emily Saliers, Indigo Girls
Amy Ray, Indigo Girls
Pearl Jam, Musicians/Activists
R.E.M.
Bruce Hornsby, Musician
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Environmental Attorney
Pete Seeger, Songwriter
Maroon 5
Emily Robison, Musician
Natalie Maines, Musician
Winona LaDuke, Author/Activist
Ani DiFranco, Musician/Activist
Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza, Los Lonely Boys
Melissa Etheridge, Musician/Activist
Dave Stewart, Musician/Cultural Engineer/Activist
Wynton Marsalis, Musician
David Fenton, CEO Fenton Communications
Shawn Colvin, Singer/Songwriter
Robert Cray, Musician
Dave Marsh, Author/Activist
Mudhoney, Musicians/Activists
System of a Down, Musicians/Activists
Nanci Griffith, Musician/Activist
Danny O’ Keefe, Musician/Activist
Cris Williamson, Musician/Activist
Dar Williams, Musician/Activist
David Lindley, Musician
Adam Gardner, Guitar/Vocals, Guster
Holly Near, Musician/Activist
Peter Coyote, Actor/Writer
Joel Rafael, Musician/Activist
Brett Dennen, Musician/Activist
Michelle Branch, Musician/Activist
Paul Hawken, Author/Activist
Kenny Ausubel, Founder and Co-President, Bioneers
Dan Shugar, President, Sunpower Corporation, Systems
Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network
Thomas Van Dyck, RBC SRI Wealth Mgmt
Larry Fahn, Former President Sierra Club
Conrad Mackerron, As You Sow Foundation
Environmental Working Group
Natural Resources Defense Council
Greenpeace USA
The Sierra Club
League of Conservation Voters
TrueMajority.com
The Vote Solar Initiative
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Working Assets Wireless
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Nuclear Energy Information Service, Chicago
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
U.S.PIRG: Federation of State PIRGs
Friends of the Earth
Beyond Nuclear at NPRI
Southwest Information and Research Center
REVERB
Artists for a New South Africa
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