Indian Point or Dealing From the Bottom of the Deck

Everyone, especially our politicians in Westchester seem to be jumping on the ‘close Indian Point’ bandwagon. Why? Probably because they know one of two things, although there certainly may be more. First, it has picked up steam (no pun intended) and seems to be the publicity-crazed cause celeb, providing unlimited exposure for all politicians. Two, not dissimilar to Paul Feiner's political strategy, they have no control over it, no real input about it and know nothing will happen for years, giving them unfettered amounts of publicity with no jeopardy to themselves. It’s a win-win for them.

In the recent Westchester Guardian, Abby Luby, a known opponent of Indian Point and nuclear energy in general, tells that, “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has never rejected a single application tendered by any utility company seeking to keep their reactors online.” Could it simply be because the stringent measures that are routinely followed by these agencies mandating compliance to all rules and regulations, allows the NRC to not find cause to shut them down?

She states that, “A new generation of legal warriors with scheduled appeals and hotly debated contentions, have slowed some relicensing procedures to a global pace.” If I’m interpreting this correctly, she’s more concerned with stopping the plants relicensing than having an honest dialog, seeking real answers to her valid questions. This reminds me of the environmentalists who went after  the manufacturers throughout New York State, complaining about their polluting of our rivers, streams, air, soil, etc. Let me be clear, I am just as concerned as they are about pollution. But by not having open and honest discussions, the consequences forced manufacturing out of New York, taking New York jobs with them! Are they doing the same thing with Indian Point and our power supply? It certainly seems possible. But we won’t know for years to come.

The environmentalists may be able to hold their fists in the air claiming victory, but are they really victorious? Lets see. They closed down the plant in YourTown, NY. The plant moved to China, as well as the job you or your next door neighbor held. Now that they’re gone, they are no longer polluting the nearby river and earth. Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Well, now that they’re in China, they’re polluting the Chinese water and soil. Surely, that’s bad? We all know that the regulations against pollution in China are less than what we have here in the US. The enforcement of the pollution standards in China are also less stringent. Let’s not forget the other countries such as Korea, India, Taiwan and such. So, if they hadn’t been so adamant about chasing the factories from here, and had open and honest dialog - working with them, we might have been able to better control the safety of our environment by more closely monitoring them for environmental conformity and helped keep jobs here, in New York. Can everybody work in medicine, public schools and for the state? No, of course not, but they can work at Sam’s Club, Walgreens or CVS for minimum wage.

The environmental extremists site the Fukushima reactor issue and say Indian Point is just as capable to have a serious accident. If they hadn’t made it so difficult for nuclear energy development for all these years by creating lawsuits and injunctions, perhaps we could have kept pace with France, who gets 80% of it’s power from safe nuclear energy and has a nuclear recycling program to deal with their spent fuel rods. But they’re not interested in dialog, just winning at whatever the cost!

Don’t misinterpret this post as being anti-environmental or pro-nuclear. What I’d like to see is discussion that is honest and not one-sided. I attended the “forum” Paul Feiner held, at tax-payer expense, that was nothing more than a close Indian Point rally. Why wouldn’t he try to rationally and intelligently inform the taxpayers and others of Greenburgh by presenting both sides of the coin, allowing for a pro or con decision to be made by the electorate? Probably because he’s a coward and afraid to do the right thing. It’s easier to pander to a sympathetic anti-nuke crowd, just as Abby Luby does.