Nuke Free

Congress is about to give $50 Billion in tax subsidies for nuclear reactors to be built as part of the energy bill that is supposed to bring us clean energy. Nuclear energy is not clean energy. Anyone that doesn't know this simply doesn't want to.

Bonnie Raitt is joining MoveOn.org to work against this. She's put out a music video (which isn't half bad, by the way) where some of the facts about why this isn't a good idea are presented. Facts like how 50,000,000 people will live within 2 miles of the transportation routes for the waste.



More information can be found at NukeFree.org.

Here's the email she sent through MoveOn.org:

Dear MoveOn member,

When Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, many other bands and I played our "No Nukes" concerts in 1979 to 100,000 people, we never dreamed we'd have to come back almost 30 years later to fight the same fight all over again.

But it's 2007, and here we are again. The nuclear industry just slipped a clause into the energy bill that will provide up to $50 billion in tax subsidies for to build new reactors—enough to launch a whole new generation of nukes! We've already got the safe, viable alternatives to replace the dirty energy we're using now. Building new atomic reactors in an age of terror threats is not only scary, but the toxic waste from nuclear power threatens our health and our planet.

The nuclear option is not the way to go.

So I called my friends, and we recorded a music video to spread the word. We've also launched a petition, and I'm asking MoveOn members to sign on. Here's what it says:

"America's new energy policy needs to focus on safe and economic fuel sources. Congress must strip the nuclear tax subsidies from the energy bill before they pass it."

Clicking below will add your signature (and you can also see the video that we produced on that same page):

http://pol.moveon.org/nukefree/o.pl?id=11429-6917764-SiA19B&t=4

When you're done, please take a minute to pass it along to your friends.

$50 billion in loan guarantees is a lot of money—enough to cover financial risk for the big banks who want to get involved. In other words, if something goes wrong, it will be the American taxpayers who foot the bill, not Wall Street.

It makes no sense. We know nuclear facilities are a target for terrorists. We know nuclear energy is toxic to our health and environment. And we know solar and wind power are safer, cheaper, and getting easier to use every day. This should equal a big "no" on nuclear energy, and a big "yes" to investing in clean energy. But the nuclear industry and their friends in Congress don't want to take no for an answer.

We know MoveOn members worked to pass this energy bill and most of it is great—we'll get more solar and wind with this bill, and even more fuel efficient cars. We just need to ask Congress to take the nuclear subsidies out.

So that's why we're reaching out to you. No one is better than MoveOn when it comes to mobilizing quickly on important issues.

Can sign your name to the petition below and pass it along to your friends?

"America's new energy policy needs to focus on safe and economic fuel sources. Congress must strip the nuclear tax subsidies from the energy bill before they pass it."

http://pol.moveon.org/nukefree/o.pl?id=11429-6917764-SiA19B&t=5

Thanks for listening. Together we can find a way to a cleaner future.

–Bonnie Raitt, Musician
Thursday, October 18th, 2007