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Thursday, July 12, 2007
Mother Media & Break the Grip: Attend NM Legislative Energy Policy Meetings Today & Tomorrow
From Mother Media and Break the Grip:
Action Alert: The Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Interim Committee meets today and tomorrow to discuss New Mexico Energy Policy in Room 309 of the Roundhouse. Please come to prevent nuclear, coal and PNM corporate monopoly interests from dominating the discussion. Read the agenda on the NM Legislature website. Mother Media and Break the Grip will be there starting at 9 AM today, Thursday, July 12.
Although we may not be able to cover the entire session, we especially recommend citizens attend the Nuclear Energy Institute's presentation at 3 PM today where we suspect they may unveil proposed siting locations for new nuclear power plants either in New Mexico or the Four Corners area. Senator Domenici has apparently proposed as many as thirteen different sites in New Mexico for nuclear power plant development.
Art Hull, the PNM lobbyist under investigation by the Attorney General for working out of the Governor's office during the last Legislative Session, will be presenting PNM's strategy for New Mexico at 9 AM Friday, July 13th. Mr. Hull deserves to hear from New Mexicans in person concerned about his influence over State government and PNM's aggressive push for nuclear and coal central plant infrastructure.
Over the last weeks, Mother Media and BreaktheGrip.org have done intensive research on New Mexico's energy policy direction. Major nuclear players like Jeff Sterba and Jim Ferland of Westinghouse and PNM now literally run the state, using lobbyists like Art Hull to operate out of the governor's office.
Understandably, therefore, concern that New Mexico's existing nuclear and uranium resources will make it the one stop shop for nuclear power on the Western grid have increased to panic levels. Cynically leveraging popular concern about global warming and climate change, nuclear power corporations believe they have found their opportunity to move from supplemental power supplier to major player, elbowing out renewable energy, distributed generation and efficiency through manipulation of the Legislature and the Public Regulation Commission.
The Eunice enrichment facility, the proposed reprocessing facility in Roswell/Hobbs, new uranium mining activities and the recent proposal by Richardson allies Henry Kissinger and George Schultz to downblend old warheads like those at Kirtland Air Force base for use in nuclear power plants make New Mexico ground zero for America's nuclear energy program.
Throughout the world, major innovations in power distribution now integrate the intermittent and decentralized power from solar, wind, biomass and co-generation (heat and electricity). State of the art electricity grids have moved away from centralized power plants to distributed, multipoint generation systems. One by one, European countries have shut down central power plants while successfully integrating huge amounts of renewable energy. Overall system cost has been dramatically reduced by locating energy sources close to high demand and providing high "infeed rates" to renewable energy and other innovative clean energy suppliers.
By reducing or eliminating the need for long power lines and the associated system balancing infrastructure, European and Chinese utilities have reduced overall system cost - and ratepayer bills - by up to 60%. PNM's outdated central nuclear and coal plant system would be illegal in some European countries because it is so backward, inefficient and costly to operate.
It takes time and energy to cover these committe hearings. Please help Mother Media intervene on behalf of New Mexico's citizens and environment by buying an ad in our newsletter or in The Sun News. Send us your text and graphics, then use our PayPal link or send a check to:
Leland Lehrman
163 Old Lamy Trail
Lamy, NM 87540 
Leland Lehrman can be reached at (505) 982-3609 or (505) 473-4458 and by email at leland.lehrman@gmail.com.
July 12, 2007 at 09:38 AM in Energy, Environment, NM Legislature 2007, Nuclear Arms, Power | Permalink
Comments
I think this is a bunch of hype. The new, proposed coal at Desert Rock is suppose to have more efficient equipment and very low mercury and sulfur emissions due to new equipment. This equipment could also be installed in the older plants.
They have new technology on Nuclear plants that make them safer, more effervescent then ever. And yes their is technology that enables the burning of bomb uranium, plutonium, another way of getting rid of nukes. Chernobyl is of a design, type that was inheritantly unstable, which is one of the reasons it caught on fire and exploded.
Many European countries are finding that so called green, renewable energy is inadequate to supply thier needs so they are going back to nuclear energy reactors. And the US is betting then on CO2 emission reductions. It's a matter of implementing the right technology.
And don't give me this Global Warming crap. the IPCC has distorted the science. Their GMP's leading scientist has said that they can't predict climate change, only present "What if's" scenarios.
The contention that CO2 is the climate driver has been greatly exaggerated over natural viability. So bury that hatchet in the sand and advocate for cleaner fossil fuel energy augmented by viable renewable, bio technology. Green energy has a ways to go before it could replace nuclear or fossil energy and by then we could very well have fusion power.
The is also the real possibility that the earth is just next to the start of another iceage. Solar collectors don't work well with snow on them or cloudy days.
Posted by: Scottar Brooks | Aug 25, 2007 2:41:48 PM
You need to read more fact based science bro. And on the contrary, Europe is moving way ahead of us in using solar and making and using other technological advancements. Coal-fired plants are over. Yes, they are cleaner than they used to be but they are still in no way acceptable.
The bottom line is we can't live the unsustainable way we've been living. If we don't see that and change, the changes will overcome us and much human life and other life will be destroyed.
Stop listening to propaganda and get the facts.
Posted by: Joe R. | Aug 25, 2007 10:28:18 PM
