By: The Editorial Board
Published: August 07, 2011
To the editor:
I am writing in reference to "Uranium debate sparks letters to Va. localities" (Aug. 3, page A2), which details how Walter Coles Sr. of VUI sent letters to 30 communities pleading with them to "reserve judgment" on uranium mining until the results of the NAS "study" are in.
I would suggest your readers take a look at an article by Andrew Rice entitled "Nuclear Standoff/What Happens When You Discover Uranium in Your Backyard," (The New Republic, March 12, 2010).
In that article, Coles is quoted as saying, regarding the NAS study, "Many of the elected delegates are waiting for the study, to give them cover to take a position on this."
Of course the key word in that sentence is "cover." Here we have the head of VUI, speaking about the study that he himself paid for, telling the world that in essence that "study" is nothing more than a smokescreen, designed to falsely appease the fears of the people, and to give the legislature a means of validating their votes to lift the moratorium on uranium mining after they have been wined and dined by VUI and its lobbyists for more than two years.
Many of us have known the study was a diversionary tactic from the beginning.
Now we have Walter Coles himself virtually admitting that.
What more proof do we need to know that this "study" is just another part of the plan VUI has had in place since the beginning of this controversy?
It is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to convince the legislators that they can vote for uranium mining and then blame their favorable votes on the NAS study.
From the beginning, VUI has repeated the same tired phrase, "wait for the study, wait for the study ... ." But everyone knows that the "study" is not going to say whether or not uranium can be mined safely. Everyone also knows that if they did say that, it would be a falsehood.
Coles is like the Wizard of Oz, creating lots of smoke and lightning while hiding behind the curtain, hoping he won’t be discovered before he can get his uranium mine approved.
JESSE PYRANT ANDREWS
