Thursday, May 03, 2012

Tell President Obama and Secretary Chu: Stop taxpayer loans for Georgia reactors!

Tell President Obama and Secretary Chu: Stop taxpayer loans for Georgia reactors!

March 30, 2012

This is big. The $8.3 Billion taxpayer loan for construction of two new reactors at the Vogtle site in Georgia, the centerpiece of the Obama Administration's support for the "nuclear renaissance," may be blocked--by the Obama Administration. You can help make this happen.

According to an article from the industry publication Platt's, the nuclear industry is growing increasingly worried that the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which also must approve the loan, will not give its final approval. That's because the nuclear industry wants a sweetheart deal--one where Southern Company has to put up virtually none of its own money and where all financial risk is laid squarely on the shoulder of taxpayers.

But both OMB and DOE have come under scathing criticism, especially from Congressional Republicans, over the failure of the Solyndra solar company loan granted by the Administration. And the proposed Vogtle loan would be 15 times larger (and far riskier) than the one given to Solyndra.

Thus, the Administration is being much more cautious over the Vogtle loan than it would have been when first agreed to more than two years ago. And the more public scrutiny the Administration receives--and the more letters we send--the more likely that caution will lead to a cancellation of this loan. Our actions now matter--a lot. It may not be too much to say that the strength of our actions now could determine the fate of new nuclear power in the U.S.

Tell President Obama and Secretary Chu below to stop these loans now.

As usual, you can edit the sample letter to reflect your own concerns. Support from our international friends is very welcome. Please help us organize and mobilize by using the icons on the top right. You too can be an organizer; it's easy. By telling your friends and colleagues about this action page, and posting it on your Facebook/Twitter or other social network pages, you are helping expand our reach and making a real difference.

Note: because information provided to the Department of Energy can become public, please do not provide your home address or phone number. Only your state, zip, country (if outside the US) and e-mail address are needed.

We apologize in advance for the small size of the text in the sample letter; we do not have control over its size or appearance!

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9662

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