Comments from KM: The Gov. said "he's not going to give any thought to uranium mining until after an April veto session." That may be, but it is not the case for those in support of keeping the ban. A room full of individuals from VA and NC, some representing organizations, met last night to discuss the past General Assembly session and plans to continue to grow the KTB movement.
This story below is of some concern. It appears to indicate that Watkins and Kilgore who both serve on the Coal and Energy Commission are pushing for agency heads to develop regulations. The message from Virginia's residents is clear an unambiguous. What part of "KEEP THE BAN" do they not understand?
McDonnell: 'not thinking' of Va. uranium mining
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013 7:04 am
RICHMOND - Don't expect anything soon on uranium mining from Gov. Bob McDonnell.
The governor said he's still focused on legislation reaching his desk from the 2013 session of the General Assembly and he's not going to give any thought to uranium mining until after an April veto session.
McDonnell addressed the issue Thursday during a brief interview in Richmond.
The governor's office later released a letter from Sen. John Watkins and Delegate Terry Kilgore that encourages McDonnell to direct agency heads to develop regulations "addressing the potential mining of uranium" in Virginia. Bills to do just that didn't get committee hearings amid certain defeat.
Kilgore and Watkins insist the appeal to the governor is not "an end-around" attempt to end a decades-long ban on uranium mining.
Freedom of Information request
Comments from KM: Del. Merricks will be missed.
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013 6:15 am
A career of distinction is at its end
The Editorial Boardnewsadvance.com
This story below is of some concern. It appears to indicate that Watkins and Kilgore who both serve on the Coal and Energy Commission are pushing for agency heads to develop regulations. The message from Virginia's residents is clear an unambiguous. What part of "KEEP THE BAN" do they not understand?
McDonnell: 'not thinking' of Va. uranium mining
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013 7:04 am
RICHMOND - Don't expect anything soon on uranium mining from Gov. Bob McDonnell.
The governor said he's still focused on legislation reaching his desk from the 2013 session of the General Assembly and he's not going to give any thought to uranium mining until after an April veto session.
McDonnell addressed the issue Thursday during a brief interview in Richmond.
The governor's office later released a letter from Sen. John Watkins and Delegate Terry Kilgore that encourages McDonnell to direct agency heads to develop regulations "addressing the potential mining of uranium" in Virginia. Bills to do just that didn't get committee hearings amid certain defeat.
Kilgore and Watkins insist the appeal to the governor is not "an end-around" attempt to end a decades-long ban on uranium mining.
Yellow Cake Award: Watkins/Kilgory - not listening to "We the People" to Keep the Ban!
Freedom of Information request
Attached is the letter referred to in the story sent earlier today. http://www.washingtonpost.com/
VUI continues to bully its way into our lives in attempts to pollute our air, water and future economic development. Watkins and Kilgore are their lackeys, hell-bent to see us prostrate to VUI.
Some observations re: the attached letter:
#1, they claim to have supported legislation while others opposed or took no position. However, Watkins pulled both bills and it is unknown what a vote may have yielded.
#2, The majority of the people, especially those in Southside whom Watkins wants to target for uranium mining and milling are not supportive of this industrial complex. Nor do we want to become a radioactive waste repository. KTB support was, and remains strong, extremely informed and diverse. Only those wishing to KTB had the courage and passion, based on their knowledge of the issue after pouring over reports and studies to storm Richmond. The small contingency of citizens looking to lift the ban that VUI's PR team, Capital Results, was able to cobble together brought nothing to the table. They simply regurgitated what VUI fed them. It remains unclear how many of the PEPsouthside were investors in VUI or are owners of expired Marline mineral rights.
#3, When mining proponents speak of the Governor and General Assembly's responsibility as stewards of our resources, they appear to believe that uranium is our only resource. I get really irritated (too put it mildly) when the importance of our natural resource WATER for humans, livestock, crops, businesses, industries and future takes backseat to a resource that will be sold as a commodity on the open market to pad the pockets of a few assholes (not so mildly) at our expense.
#4, "As chairs of two potential committees of jurisdiction"??? I think they've both been there too long.
Comments from KM: Del. Merricks will be missed.
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013 6:15 am
A career of distinction is at its end
The Editorial Boardnewsadvance.com
Don Merricks didn’t do it for the money. No one does. But being a member of the Virginia House of Delegates isn’t just about long drives to Richmond, thorny and time-consuming constituent service problems and endless committee meetings.
The job pays $17,640 per year, but we wouldn’t be surprised if most — if not all — members of Virginia’s part-time citizen legislature didn’t spend more money serving than they received in salary.
For Merricks, the financial pressures brought on by the Great Recession and six years in the House of Delegates were enough. This week, he announced that he would not seek re-election.
"I need to spend more time here at the business," Merricks said. "The last several years have been difficult ... . With the economy and the business and everything else, it’s been a bit hard."
The General Assembly’s loss will be J.W. Squire Co.’s gain.
Merricks was first elected in 2007 with 59 percent of the vote and he had no opposition in 2009 and 2011. It was a good bet that Merricks wouldn’t have had an opponent this year, either.
Part of that had to do with the 16th District, which was drawn to put a Pittsylvania County Republican in the House. Most of the district includes Republican-tilting Pittsylvania County precincts; the rest of the district is made up of parts of Henry County and Martinsville.
But a lot of Merricks’ electoral popularity stemmed from the fact that he represented the district well and concentrated on workforce development issues.
"You know what they say, some things you miss like a headache and some things you really miss," Merricks said of serving in the House of Delegates. "It’s got good and bad like everything else."
It was the uranium mining issue that raised Merricks’ statewide profile.
Merricks — along with the region’s other delegates and senators, local governments and chambers of commerce — formed a united front against a plan to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit in Pittsylvania County.
That should be remembered by all the voters who put their faith — and votes — in Merricks.
The end of Don Merricks’ career in elected office should not be the end of his public service. Communities like this one need political leaders like Don Merricks.
We wish him well in retirement, and we look forward to the day when he lends his considerable political talents to some other public endeavor.
The job pays $17,640 per year, but we wouldn’t be surprised if most — if not all — members of Virginia’s part-time citizen legislature didn’t spend more money serving than they received in salary.
For Merricks, the financial pressures brought on by the Great Recession and six years in the House of Delegates were enough. This week, he announced that he would not seek re-election.
"I need to spend more time here at the business," Merricks said. "The last several years have been difficult ... . With the economy and the business and everything else, it’s been a bit hard."
The General Assembly’s loss will be J.W. Squire Co.’s gain.
Merricks was first elected in 2007 with 59 percent of the vote and he had no opposition in 2009 and 2011. It was a good bet that Merricks wouldn’t have had an opponent this year, either.
Part of that had to do with the 16th District, which was drawn to put a Pittsylvania County Republican in the House. Most of the district includes Republican-tilting Pittsylvania County precincts; the rest of the district is made up of parts of Henry County and Martinsville.
But a lot of Merricks’ electoral popularity stemmed from the fact that he represented the district well and concentrated on workforce development issues.
"You know what they say, some things you miss like a headache and some things you really miss," Merricks said of serving in the House of Delegates. "It’s got good and bad like everything else."
It was the uranium mining issue that raised Merricks’ statewide profile.
Merricks — along with the region’s other delegates and senators, local governments and chambers of commerce — formed a united front against a plan to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit in Pittsylvania County.
That should be remembered by all the voters who put their faith — and votes — in Merricks.
The end of Don Merricks’ career in elected office should not be the end of his public service. Communities like this one need political leaders like Don Merricks.
We wish him well in retirement, and we look forward to the day when he lends his considerable political talents to some other public endeavor.
Comments: The VA ConNuke is wrong, the story below is pro nuke point of view, nuke power is not green, not clean, the start of the nuclear chain is uranium mining period!
March 01, 2013 13:57 ET
Nuclear Street Supports the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium
WAYNESBORO, VA--(Marketwire - Mar 1, 2013) - Virginia's Nuclear Energy Consortium (NEC), signed into law this week by Gov. McDonnell, intends to make the state a hub for research and development of safe and available nuclear power. The Consortium will build on Virginia's already substantial nuclear facilities in higher education, nuclear reactor manufacturing, and nuclear engineering.In accord with the Federal government's "all of the above" strategies for energy production, Virginia's law-makers recognized the sense of growing the current infrastructure into a nationally recognized center of nuclear technology and competence. .
One thrust of current research within Virginia aims at reducing the size of reactors. Small Modular Reactors (SMR) can better meet the nation's electric needs. They will be faster to construct and more suitable for supplying electricity to smaller communities. Local placement also reduces energy waste in long transmission lines and makes the grid more resilient to disruption. Babcock & Wilcox mPower project in Lynchburg,
