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A delegation from Tri-Valley CAREs is leaving for Washington, D.C., in a few days to press officials for funding priorities other than nuclear weapons, from April 3 through 6.
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), founded in Livermore 28 years ago, comprises residents who monitor activities at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and the nuclear weapons complex. Members take this trip annually to meet with members of Congress, key committee staff, and agency officials with responsibility for nuclear policy and budgets.
“Despite tight budget constraints and President Obama’s commitment to a nuclear weapons free world, DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) is pursuing many unnecessary projects that will waste taxpayer dollars and fuel proliferation,” said Tri-Valley CAREs Executive Director Marylia Kelley said, “while also putting the environment and human health of the communities surrounding DOE facilities at risk.”
The delegation plans to conduct approximately 100 meetings, working with colleagues from a dozen other states who are also participating in the 23rd annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability “DC Days.”
The Tri-Valley CAREs delegation will also bring its new report, “The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request for Nuclear Weapons Activities: Recommendations for Saving and Redirecting Funds.”
“Overall, we will recommend more than a billion dollars in budget cuts, including projects at Livermore Lab,” said Scott Yundt, the group’s staff attorney.
Tri-Valley CAREs has joined scientists and community-based organizations up and down the California coast, and in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Canada, to conduct background radiation monitoring after the Japanese nuclear tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to ensure that the results are publicly available.
These people often have very limited technical knowledge, yet spend lots of time and effort opposing nearly everything. Have they said anything good about the research that often produces great advances for society?
They’ve made a career of it, including getting the Labs to give them free office space, etc, and even getting federal grants to support their efforts to oppose federal programs. What’s wrong with this picture?
“Tri-Valley CAREs has joined scientists and community-based organizations up and down the California coast, and in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Canada, to conduct background radiation monitoring after the Japanese nuclear tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to ensure that the results are publicly available. ”
I’m glad that we have watchdogs groups who do what they can to make sure we are all safe. It is also important to remember that the nuclear “tragedy” in Japan hasn’t caused a yet caused a single injury to anyone outside the plant and radiation levels in outside the evacuation zone are quite low.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/hong-kong-radiation-exceeds-tokyo-even-after-japan-crisis.html
Much of the reporting had been quite technically bad and alarmist.
Congratulations Gadfly for clearly spelling your convictions. I’m certain your ‘informed’ opinion convinced many readers. I’m not one of them.
Gadfly, do you understand how federal research grants work? Obviously you don’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be stewing about a respected watchdog group getting federal grant money. I’m all for free expression of ideas. But I think people who express them should admit of some obligation to get informed before they start spouting off.