Friday, February 22, 2013

SB 1138 Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority; established. / Gov. Bob McDonnell claims uranium mining is off the table, for now

SB 1138 Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority; established.

Comment fron KM: SB 1138 created the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+SB1138S1 Curiously, some of our local legislators voted in favor or the bill, even though they appeared to opposed uranium mining. Some expressed that the bill, sponsored by Delegate Garrett, had no bearing on the future of uranium mining in Southside or Virginia. There is nothing in the bill which prevents uranium mining from being developed by the newly created authority. Read the bill and draw your own conclusions.

The bill creates a 17 member board of the authority which includes the Director of DMME . Ummm, Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy? That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with...mining, would it?

The authority's board will also include one individual to represent a nuclear energ...
y-related nonprofit organization...YIKES! Virginia Energy Independence Alliance's facebook page says it is a non-profit Do you think this organization is pro-mining?

From the article above: "The pro-uranium ad is sponsored by the Virginia Energy Independence Alliance. The group claims about 4,000 citizen and corporate members, including Virginia Uranium Inc., which wants to mine in Pittsylvania. The VEIA believes actual regulations are the best way to address people’s concerns on uranium mining, said Ray Ganthner, the group’s chairman."

Will this be the non-profit which serves on the authority's board?

It appears that there have been many avenues presented for elected officials over the past few years to "pass the buck" or wash their proverbial hands on the issue of uranium mining in Virginia. The buck has now been passed to the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority where no elected official will have to deal with the issue and no citizens can participate.
Thank you to everyone that took action contacting the Legislators!
(Now we need to turn to the Governor)

SB 1138 Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority; established.

floor: 02/19/13 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (90-Y 7-N 1-A)

PLEASE send these Delegates a BIG thank you for voting NO!

DelBCarr@house.virginia.gov; DelJMcClellan@house.virginia.gov; DelDMcQuinn@house.virginia.gov; delioquinn@house.virginia.gov; DelKPlum@house.virginia.gov; DelNRush@house.virginia.gov; DelRTyler@house.virginia.gov;

And thank these Senators for voting NO too!
Carrico,Deeds,McEachin,Ruff,Stanley and Stuart.
district40@senate.virginia.gov; district25@senate.virginia.gov; district09@senate.virginia.gov; district15@senate.virginia.gov; district19@senate.virginia.gov;
Sen.Stuart: richard@stuartforsenator.com
Gov. Bob McDonnell claims uranium mining is off the table, for n
  • February 20, 2013
  • By:

  • It’s not hot-off-the-press, but it’s news worth mentioning again.

    On Friday, Gov. Bob McDonnell left Del. Don Merricks (R-Pittsylvania County) with the distinct impression that the moratorium on uranium mining will not touched upon anymore in 2013 and that it might not be touched on again for some time to come (yeah right!).

    After his meeting with Gov. McDonnell, Del. Merricks stated that “The only thing that could happen is if the governor were to amend another bill or issue an executive order, which he assured us he wasn’t going to do.”[1] Please note that Gov. McDonnell’s ‘assurances’ are only as viable as the political winds which shift his policy positions from one pole to the next and from one day to the next.

    According to Merricks, Gov. McDonnell assured several legislators from Southside Virginia that “he wasn’t planning to do anything right now”[2] on Watkins’ request that McDonnell use his executive authority to begin the creation of uranium mining regulations.

    As for the nuclear energy consortium agency being proposed, Merricks also stated that “I hope people will rest assured it has nothing to do with mining.”

    Really, because the “nuclear energy consortium agency” certainly seems to hint at being involved with all things uranium. But perhaps the concerned people of Virginia are simply acting out of “emotion and fear”[3] again, as Sen. John Watkins suggested after he pulled his uranium mining bill from the senate.

    But for Virginians who have been keeping track of the uranium mining issue, the struggle to keep the ban has only just begun. With so much uranium ore in the ground and so much profit to be had, the big bad wolf known as Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI) will be back on the hunt again as soon as it can.

    For all anyone knows, VUI is working at this very moment to undermine the ban on uranium mining in Virginia (wouldn’t that be shocking!).

    Just as this time around, Virginians wont lay down in the face of such an enormous potential threat.

    VUI may have billions of reasons to mine for uranium ore.

    But for the Virginians who stand to directly lose from uranium mining in Virginia, the reasons for opposition go beyond any quantitative figure.

    [1] http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=36647
    [2] http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=36647
    [3] http://www.vancnews.com/brunswick_times_gazettenews/article_6a076c78-755...