Time to remind elected officials about Allegany County’s history of “Bump the Dump”
By Kathryn Ross, Wellsville NY
Allegany County needs to remind Governor Hochul about the anti-nuclear waste protests that took place here in the late 80s and early 90s, to Bump the (nuclear waste) Dump. Those protests led to then Governor Mario Cuomo filing a case in the Supreme Court that led to the decision that states should not be held responsible for the storage of nuclear waste. But that ugly threat seems to be coming around again like a wolf in sheeps clothing.
Why the urgency, because the following story was released by Reuters on January 21st.
U.S. to offer deals to states to host nuclear waste
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. will seek interest from U.S. states as soon as this week on storing nuclear waste in return for incentives to build nuclear reactors, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, but the Department of Energy said no decisions have been made.
The administration of President Donald Trump wants to quadruple U.S. nuclear power capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050 as electricity demand surges for the first time in decades driven by sources including data centers for AI and cryptocurrencies.
The new strategy is a major policy shift aimed at solving a decades-old problem that has hobbled the U.S. nuclear industry: what to do with its radioactive waste. Overcoming local opposition to waste storage is seen as critical to achieving the administration’s ambitious nuclear expansion goals.
Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that nuclear power can be developed at “good prices” and be safe despite having previously expressed reservations about it.
A spokesperson for the Energy Department said the story was “false” and that “no decisions have been made at this time.”
We know firsthand the duplicity of the pro-nuclear proponents from officials to lackeys because we’ve dealt with their like before. So now is the time to raise the warning. Call or write to our leaders now. Write or call the Governor. Like Paul Revere, yell out the warning to not be dupped by the lure of easy money and easy solutions offered by the administration.
The time is now. Tell them to not take any “deals.” Our land is not for sale to the nuclear industry..
Gov. Kathy Hochul – 1-518-474-8390
Sen. Chuck Schumer – 202-224-6542
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand – 202-224-4451
Rep. Nick Langworthy 202-225-3161
