Comment: Ace believes the trip that the local/Canadian uranium corporation trying to bribe our VA leaders but the whole nuke bunch from France in Lynchburg, VA are involved and French bunch will fly the VA leaders to France to view the so call reclaimed mine (which has ruin the water in France). Maybe the French should fly the VA leaders to Niger where the French are ruining the lives of the locales with uranium mining now that would be a fair and balance trip! Oh, by the way, France does not have hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes and it is a socialist country!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Editorial: A junket by any other name
Fact-finding trip to France wouldn't give legislators a balanced view about the impact of uranium mining.
Several legislators have wisely declined the kind invitation by Virginia Uranium Inc. to fly them to France to tour a former uranium mining and milling site.
But there are several good reasons not to go on a trip paid for and controlled by a company that stands to make a whole lot of money if the General Assembly decides its way.
The perception will be that the special interest is bankrolling an international junket to influence legislators.
The reality is that the special interest will control the agenda.
What legislators see, who they talk to, the information they receive will all be determined by a company that wants to take billions of dollars of uranium out of the ground in Pittsylvania County.
That's no way to conduct a genuine fact-finding trip.
If the General Assembly wants to send a delegation to tour a former uranium mining and milling site -- or maybe even more than one -- then the trip should be funded by the state, not a special interest with literally billions of dollars at stake.
Del. Terry Kilgore, chairman of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, and Del. Lee Ware, chairman of the commission's uranium subcommittee, didn't cite that obvious conflict of interest when they declined the invitation. It was all about scheduling conflicts, they said.
Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, is going. He told the Danville News, "I think I'm doing the right thing by going ... to have a better understanding."
That's fine -- as long as he understands that his "better understanding" is based on only one side of the story.
Other legislators should work harder to ensure they get a more balanced view of uranium mining.
Read more:
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/249147
