Calls for "Sane" National Energy Policy
http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_032804.phpEUGENE, OR -- It's been 25 years since the worst accident in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry - Three Mile Island - "but only continued vigilance and a concerted national shift to alternative energy resources will demonstrate that we, as a nation, have learned our lesson," Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said today.
On the 25th anniversary of a partial meltdown at the nuclear facility near Harrisburg, PA, Kucinich, who is campaigning in Oregon, issued a statement commending the non-profit group, Three Mile Island Alert, for its relentless attention to conditions at the plant, health and safety concerns in the region, and its advocacy of federal policies and laws to protect Americans now and in the future.
"TMIA, with the support of other watchdog groups, civic-minded researchers and health professionals, public officials, and concerned citizens has provided an invaluable service, not just to the state of Pennsylvania, but to the entire nation," Kucinich said. "Under their watchful eyes, ongoing issues related to safety and maintenance, security, and continuing health concerns and risks have not been allowed to be swept under the rug."
TMIA and others have also, rightfully, applied pressure on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to fulfill its responsibilities to citizens, not just accommodate the requests and demands of investor-owned electric utilities, Kucinich noted.
"Three Mile Island was a defining moment in our history," said Kucinich, who has battled with nuclear power plant owners in Ohio and elsewhere regarding unsafe conditions. He has also fought against deregulation and the privatization of publicly owned utilities. "Even after 25 years, that event continues to underscore the failings and abuses of our so-called national energy policy."
Kucinich said his campaign is committed to supporting a "sane national energy policy for the United States, not one based on the corporate and political interests of the oil, auto and electric utility corporations."
"We need to spur research and investment in 'alternative' energy sources -- hydrogen, solar, wind and ocean -- and make them mainstream, Kucinich said. "In addition to their obvious benefits to the environment and the health and safety of Americans, clean energy technologies will produce millions of new jobs. We can easily double our energy from renewable sources by 2010."
Kucinich was mayor of Cleveland when the Three Mile Island incident occurred, trying to protect the city's public power system from being consumed or bankrupted by Cleveland's major investor-owned utility. "The magnitude of what happened at Three Mile Island sent chills through my body," he recalled. "And the possibility that it could happen in Ohio or anywhere else was unimaginably horrifying."
The successor company to the one he clashed with in Cleveland in the late 1970's now owns and operates two nuclear power plants in Ohio. But the Cleveland Public Power system is still owned by the citizens of Cleveland.
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