Monday, May 24, 2010
GREAT NEWS!!!
Governor Henry Vetoed SB 1668 today! Please send him an email to thank him for this act to prevent Oklahoma's energy door from opening to nuclear power! Thank you to all of you who did call and write the Governor! Happy Birthday Carrie indeed!!! We still have lots to do so join us and let's get busy! Hooray!
Happy Birthday Carrie! Thank you!!
Today - Monday, May 24, 2010 - would have been Carrie Dickerson's 93rd birthday!!!
Please join The Carrie Dickerson Foundation, Citizens' Action for Safe Energy, all her friends in the sustainability community, both in Oklahoma, across the U.S., perhaps around the world, and those in many other walks of life who were so positively touched by her gentle and magnificent spirit as we remember her. Help us to commemorate and celebrate her life and her work to protect Oklahoma's environment and to ensure that safe alternative energy sources are the ones we turn to as the future unfolds.
We are having an online birthday blast for Carrie! Here are some things you can do to join in the celebration and help to make sure that her courageous victory for life and a safe environment is never forgotten - and that Oklahoma remains a nuclear free state of alternative and renewable energy!
1) Please call Governor Brad Henry's office and make sure he knows we are asking him to veto SB 1668, which is supposed to be on his desk for action at this moment. SB 1668 would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities (either outside or inside the state) AND invest in nuclear facilities (also inside or outside the state), both of which are prohibited under current state law. SB 831 (the other pro-nuclear bill this session) has been thankfully defeated in committee. Let's make sure SB 1668 does not become law either. Call 405-521-2342 and let your voice be heard!
2) Please join The Carrie Dickerson Foundation if you have not already become a member. If you are on facebook we have a facebook cause page ~ Help The Carrie Dickerson Foundation Carry On! ~ and you can join us there at http://www.causes.com/causes/212926?recruiter_id=22165949
Let's see if we can really grow our numbers today as a birthday present for Carrie!! Please tell all your green facebook friends to join our cause! How many people can we gather?? Let's shoot for 500!!!
If you are not on facebook, please contact us through our website at www.carriedickersonfoundation.com and be sure to keep checking this blog at where we are working to keep up to date info posted.
3) If you would like to donate to the Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation, you can do so through the facebook cause page, or by sending a donation to:
The Carrie Dickerson Foundation
PO Box 52343
Tulsa, OK 74152
Since facebook has set a minimum of $10, get together with a friend if $5 is better for you. Every bit will help us carry on with Carrie's work!
We are working on several projects, and once we get these nuclear bills off the legislative table again, we will be focusing again on getting Carrie's Windmill History book published, in a condensed form for children to be placed in schools and libraries across the state, as well as the comprehensive complete version for all of us to learn from. Fascinating stuff! We are also working to promote light rail passenger service for Tulsa and connecting locations, and working with other sustainable groups to promote awareness of alternative and renewable energy resources in this beautiful state of ours! Thank you, everyone - AND
THANK YOU CARRIE DICKERSON!!!!
Please forward this info to any and all friends of Carrie and friends of the Earth! We can make a difference together!
Marilyn McCulloch
Secretary of the Board of Directors
The Carrie Dickerson Foundation
Please join The Carrie Dickerson Foundation, Citizens' Action for Safe Energy, all her friends in the sustainability community, both in Oklahoma, across the U.S., perhaps around the world, and those in many other walks of life who were so positively touched by her gentle and magnificent spirit as we remember her. Help us to commemorate and celebrate her life and her work to protect Oklahoma's environment and to ensure that safe alternative energy sources are the ones we turn to as the future unfolds.
We are having an online birthday blast for Carrie! Here are some things you can do to join in the celebration and help to make sure that her courageous victory for life and a safe environment is never forgotten - and that Oklahoma remains a nuclear free state of alternative and renewable energy!
1) Please call Governor Brad Henry's office and make sure he knows we are asking him to veto SB 1668, which is supposed to be on his desk for action at this moment. SB 1668 would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities (either outside or inside the state) AND invest in nuclear facilities (also inside or outside the state), both of which are prohibited under current state law. SB 831 (the other pro-nuclear bill this session) has been thankfully defeated in committee. Let's make sure SB 1668 does not become law either. Call 405-521-2342 and let your voice be heard!
2) Please join The Carrie Dickerson Foundation if you have not already become a member. If you are on facebook we have a facebook cause page ~ Help The Carrie Dickerson Foundation Carry On! ~ and you can join us there at http://www.causes.com/causes/212926?recruiter_id=22165949
Let's see if we can really grow our numbers today as a birthday present for Carrie!! Please tell all your green facebook friends to join our cause! How many people can we gather?? Let's shoot for 500!!!
If you are not on facebook, please contact us through our website at www.carriedickersonfoundation.com and be sure to keep checking this blog at where we are working to keep up to date info posted.
3) If you would like to donate to the Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation, you can do so through the facebook cause page, or by sending a donation to:
The Carrie Dickerson Foundation
PO Box 52343
Tulsa, OK 74152
Since facebook has set a minimum of $10, get together with a friend if $5 is better for you. Every bit will help us carry on with Carrie's work!
We are working on several projects, and once we get these nuclear bills off the legislative table again, we will be focusing again on getting Carrie's Windmill History book published, in a condensed form for children to be placed in schools and libraries across the state, as well as the comprehensive complete version for all of us to learn from. Fascinating stuff! We are also working to promote light rail passenger service for Tulsa and connecting locations, and working with other sustainable groups to promote awareness of alternative and renewable energy resources in this beautiful state of ours! Thank you, everyone - AND
THANK YOU CARRIE DICKERSON!!!!
Please forward this info to any and all friends of Carrie and friends of the Earth! We can make a difference together!
Marilyn McCulloch
Secretary of the Board of Directors
The Carrie Dickerson Foundation
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Fact: Nuclear Reactors Leak All The Time
ROUTINE RADIOACTIVE RELEASES FROM NUCLEAR REACTORS - IT DOESN’T TAKE AN ACCIDENT
What the government and the nuclear industry do not want you to know:
1. It doesn’t take an accident for a nuclear power plant to release radioactivity into our air, water and soil. All it takes is the plant’s everyday routine operation, and federal regulations permit these radioactive releases.
2. Radioactivity is measured in "curies." A large medical center, with as many as 1000 laboratories in which radioactive materials are used, may have a combined inventory of only about two curies. In contrast, an average operating nuclear power reactor will have approximately 16 billion curies in its reactor core. This is the equivalent long-lived radioactivity of at least 1,000 Hiroshima bombs.
3. A reactor’s fuel rods, pipes, tanks and valves can leak. Mechanical failure and human error can also cause leaks. As a nuclear plant ages, so does its equipment - and leaks generally increase.
4. Some contaminated water is intentionally removed from the reactor vessel to reduce the amount of the radioactive and corrosive chemicals that damage valves and pipes. The water is filtered and then either recycled back into the cooling system or released into the environment
5. A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water--as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.
6. Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic "purges" and "ventings." These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water.
7. Radioactive releases from a nuclear power reactor’s routine operation often are not fully detected or reported. Accidental releases may not be completely verified or documented.
8. Accurate, economically-feasible filtering and monitoring technologies do not exist for some of the major reactor by-products, such as radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and noble gases, such as krypton and xenon. Some liquids and gases are retained in tanks so that the shorter-lived radioactive materials can break down before the batch is released to the environment.
9. Government regulations allow radioactive water to be released to the environment containing "permissible" levels of contamination. Permissible does not mean safe. Detectors at reactors are set to allow contaminated water to be released, unfiltered, if below "permissible" legal levels.
10. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission relies upon self-reporting and computer modeling from reactor operators to track radioactive releases and their projected dispersion. A significant portion of the environmental monitoring data is extrapolated – virtual, not real.
11. Accurate accounting of all radioactive wastes released to the air, water and soil from the entire reactor fuel production system is simply not available. The system includes uranium mines and mills, chemical conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants, nuclear power reactors, and radioactive waste storage pools, casks, and trenches.
12. Increasing economic pressures to reduce costs, due to the deregulation of the electric power industry, could further reduce the already unreliable monitoring and reporting of radioactive releases. Deferred maintenance can increase the radioactivity released - and the risks.
13. Many of the reactor’s radioactive by-products continue giving off radioactive particles and rays for enormously long periods – described in terms of "half-lives." A radioactive material gives off hazardous radiation for at least ten half-lives. One of the radioactive isotopes of iodine (iodine- 129) has a half-life of 16 million years; technetium-99 = 211,000 years; and plutonium-239 = 24,000 years. Xenon-135, a noble gas, decays into cesium-135, an isotope with a 2.3 million-year half-life.
14. It is scientifically established that low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules – causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders.
THIS INFORMATION SHEET IS INTENDED FOR REPRINTING AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT COPYRIGHTED
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301 270 6477; 301 270 4291
nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org
What the government and the nuclear industry do not want you to know:
1. It doesn’t take an accident for a nuclear power plant to release radioactivity into our air, water and soil. All it takes is the plant’s everyday routine operation, and federal regulations permit these radioactive releases.
2. Radioactivity is measured in "curies." A large medical center, with as many as 1000 laboratories in which radioactive materials are used, may have a combined inventory of only about two curies. In contrast, an average operating nuclear power reactor will have approximately 16 billion curies in its reactor core. This is the equivalent long-lived radioactivity of at least 1,000 Hiroshima bombs.
3. A reactor’s fuel rods, pipes, tanks and valves can leak. Mechanical failure and human error can also cause leaks. As a nuclear plant ages, so does its equipment - and leaks generally increase.
4. Some contaminated water is intentionally removed from the reactor vessel to reduce the amount of the radioactive and corrosive chemicals that damage valves and pipes. The water is filtered and then either recycled back into the cooling system or released into the environment
5. A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water--as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.
6. Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic "purges" and "ventings." These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water.
7. Radioactive releases from a nuclear power reactor’s routine operation often are not fully detected or reported. Accidental releases may not be completely verified or documented.
8. Accurate, economically-feasible filtering and monitoring technologies do not exist for some of the major reactor by-products, such as radioactive hydrogen (tritium) and noble gases, such as krypton and xenon. Some liquids and gases are retained in tanks so that the shorter-lived radioactive materials can break down before the batch is released to the environment.
9. Government regulations allow radioactive water to be released to the environment containing "permissible" levels of contamination. Permissible does not mean safe. Detectors at reactors are set to allow contaminated water to be released, unfiltered, if below "permissible" legal levels.
10. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission relies upon self-reporting and computer modeling from reactor operators to track radioactive releases and their projected dispersion. A significant portion of the environmental monitoring data is extrapolated – virtual, not real.
11. Accurate accounting of all radioactive wastes released to the air, water and soil from the entire reactor fuel production system is simply not available. The system includes uranium mines and mills, chemical conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants, nuclear power reactors, and radioactive waste storage pools, casks, and trenches.
12. Increasing economic pressures to reduce costs, due to the deregulation of the electric power industry, could further reduce the already unreliable monitoring and reporting of radioactive releases. Deferred maintenance can increase the radioactivity released - and the risks.
13. Many of the reactor’s radioactive by-products continue giving off radioactive particles and rays for enormously long periods – described in terms of "half-lives." A radioactive material gives off hazardous radiation for at least ten half-lives. One of the radioactive isotopes of iodine (iodine- 129) has a half-life of 16 million years; technetium-99 = 211,000 years; and plutonium-239 = 24,000 years. Xenon-135, a noble gas, decays into cesium-135, an isotope with a 2.3 million-year half-life.
14. It is scientifically established that low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules – causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders.
THIS INFORMATION SHEET IS INTENDED FOR REPRINTING AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT COPYRIGHTED
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301 270 6477; 301 270 4291
nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org
Please Call Governor Henry ASAP
Here is new information from our friends at the Sierra Club of Oklahoma. I want to thank Bud Scott and Jody Harlan for their hard work to help us stay apprised of the developments as the legislation moves swiftly in and out of house, senate and committee!
***Danger! The nuclear fight is still on! Your grassroots lobbying efforts helped kill Senate Bill 831 in conference committee, but Senate Bill 1668 is still alive! SB 1668 would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current state law. SB 1668 passed both chambers, but was a very controversial vote in the Senate, where it passed 27-19, but has caused ripples amongst the Republican caucus.
Now, SB 1668 is being considered by Governor Brad Henry, where he has 5 days to sign the legislation into law! PLEASE call the Governor's office at 405-521-2342 and ask him TO VETO SB 1668!!!! Governor Henry may veto the bill, but needs to hear from you first! We know the bill has supposedly been sent to the governor's office, but we have not heard of any further action yet.
If you need talking points, check out Jody Harlan's revised letter below and the attached talking points against nuclear energy or go to
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/article_7ced5f7b-59c0-5e9d-ba9a-444a7742d155.html for more ammunition on what's wrong with nuclear.
Thanks for your help with grassroots, environmental activism at its best!
Robert "Bud" Scott, Esq.
Chapter Director
Oklahoma Sierra Club
P.O. Box 60644
Oklahoma City, OK 73146
405.445.9435
bud.scott@sierraclub.org
oklahoma.sierraclub.org
Jody's letter:
Dear Senator:
The Deepwater Horizon accident and the resulting oil spill prove that accidents happen. When nuclear accidents happen, however, the radioactive waste gives off hazardous radiation for thousands of years. Low-level radiation generated by routine operation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules causing genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders, according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Takoma Park, MD. www.nirs.org
Senator Cliff Branan (R-OKC), who opposes nuclear power, requested a revote on SB 1668. (This request failed and the bill is on its way to the governor as stated above) This bad nuclear power bill, which would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current state law for several good reasons:
1) The average cost of constructing and permitting for one new generation nuclear facility is estimated between $5 and $12 billion. These development costs would be paid by Oklahoma ratepayers in advance. This estimation does not take into consideration the cost to taxpayers of existing subsidies provided for the nuclear industry by the federal government.
2) Nuclear reactors generate approximately 20 tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel and additional low-level radioactive waste per year. No matter how safety conscious a facility claims to be, there is no permanent storage solution to housing this radioactive waste generated by producing nuclear energy. The waste can kill at high doses and cause cancer and birth
defects at low doses. Nuclear waste remains dangerous to humans for thousands of years.
3) The U.S. Department of Energy has failed to find storage sites for highly radioactive nuclear waste for more than 10 years. By 2020, taxpayers will have paid an estimated $12 billion in court judgments brought by nuclear utilities who have been forced to store the nuclear waste on their facility sites. They know it's dangerous! That's why they're suing! Yet in 2008, DOE signed agreements promising to permanently store nuclear waste from 21 reactors to be build in the future.
4) Since 9/11, nuclear energy facilities in the United States have been considered one of the most dangerous targets for domestic terrorist threats. The increased costs for security and waste management are not included in the estimate listed above.
Please say "no" to SB 1668 and "yes" to safe solar, wind and natural gas energy solutions. Our lives depend on it. Thank you.***
***Danger! The nuclear fight is still on! Your grassroots lobbying efforts helped kill Senate Bill 831 in conference committee, but Senate Bill 1668 is still alive! SB 1668 would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current state law. SB 1668 passed both chambers, but was a very controversial vote in the Senate, where it passed 27-19, but has caused ripples amongst the Republican caucus.
Now, SB 1668 is being considered by Governor Brad Henry, where he has 5 days to sign the legislation into law! PLEASE call the Governor's office at 405-521-2342 and ask him TO VETO SB 1668!!!! Governor Henry may veto the bill, but needs to hear from you first! We know the bill has supposedly been sent to the governor's office, but we have not heard of any further action yet.
If you need talking points, check out Jody Harlan's revised letter below and the attached talking points against nuclear energy or go to
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/article_7ced5f7b-59c0-5e9d-ba9a-444a7742d155.html for more ammunition on what's wrong with nuclear.
Thanks for your help with grassroots, environmental activism at its best!
Robert "Bud" Scott, Esq.
Chapter Director
Oklahoma Sierra Club
P.O. Box 60644
Oklahoma City, OK 73146
405.445.9435
bud.scott@sierraclub.org
oklahoma.sierraclub.org
Jody's letter:
Dear Senator:
The Deepwater Horizon accident and the resulting oil spill prove that accidents happen. When nuclear accidents happen, however, the radioactive waste gives off hazardous radiation for thousands of years. Low-level radiation generated by routine operation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules causing genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders, according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Takoma Park, MD. www.nirs.org
Senator Cliff Branan (R-OKC), who opposes nuclear power, requested a revote on SB 1668. (This request failed and the bill is on its way to the governor as stated above) This bad nuclear power bill, which would amend the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to buy energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current state law for several good reasons:
1) The average cost of constructing and permitting for one new generation nuclear facility is estimated between $5 and $12 billion. These development costs would be paid by Oklahoma ratepayers in advance. This estimation does not take into consideration the cost to taxpayers of existing subsidies provided for the nuclear industry by the federal government.
2) Nuclear reactors generate approximately 20 tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel and additional low-level radioactive waste per year. No matter how safety conscious a facility claims to be, there is no permanent storage solution to housing this radioactive waste generated by producing nuclear energy. The waste can kill at high doses and cause cancer and birth
defects at low doses. Nuclear waste remains dangerous to humans for thousands of years.
3) The U.S. Department of Energy has failed to find storage sites for highly radioactive nuclear waste for more than 10 years. By 2020, taxpayers will have paid an estimated $12 billion in court judgments brought by nuclear utilities who have been forced to store the nuclear waste on their facility sites. They know it's dangerous! That's why they're suing! Yet in 2008, DOE signed agreements promising to permanently store nuclear waste from 21 reactors to be build in the future.
4) Since 9/11, nuclear energy facilities in the United States have been considered one of the most dangerous targets for domestic terrorist threats. The increased costs for security and waste management are not included in the estimate listed above.
Please say "no" to SB 1668 and "yes" to safe solar, wind and natural gas energy solutions. Our lives depend on it. Thank you.***
Monday, May 17, 2010
Great News! Democracy in Action! We can't stop yet!
In Oklahoma legislative energy news, SB 831, originally the Nuclear Energy Incentives Act, retitled the Oklahoma Energy Stability Act, has been killed in conference committee after a serious outpouring of opposition by grassroots and natural gas interests. Thank you to everyone who called or wrote (or both) to let your senators, the senators on the committee and ALL the senators know how you felt about SB 831!
Unfortunately, SB 1668 is still kicking, which amends the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to purchase energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current statutory authority. Please fire up your participatory spirit again today, as early as possible, to let the senate know that SB 1668 is not a good bill for Oklahoma. It will endanger the safety and well-being of our families, our environment and our economic welfare. Oklahoma has plenty of renewable and interim resources to keep us all powered up and safe for a bright and beautiful future! Thank you!!
Unfortunately, SB 1668 is still kicking, which amends the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to purchase energy from nuclear facilities AND invest in nuclear facilities, both of which are prohibited under current statutory authority. Please fire up your participatory spirit again today, as early as possible, to let the senate know that SB 1668 is not a good bill for Oklahoma. It will endanger the safety and well-being of our families, our environment and our economic welfare. Oklahoma has plenty of renewable and interim resources to keep us all powered up and safe for a bright and beautiful future! Thank you!!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Legislative Alert! Heads Up!
Here is some valuable information from our contacts at the state capitol. Please act on this info regarding the pro-nuclear bills - They offer no protection for the citizens of Oklahoma from either the very real and dangerous health risks, nor the terrible financial burden that would be placed on the people.
After a relatively successful legislative session, things have heated up over the past few weeks with reintroduction of nuclear legislation (SB 831 and SB 1668) and the Oklahoma New Development Impact Fee bill (SB 805). After many long hours of lobbying and numerous phone calls, emails, and personal visits to legislators offices from many of you, SB 831, which was
amended on the House floor, passed overwhelmingly on party lines and is now in conference committee. The amended version of SB 831 no longer contains cost recovery language allowing for CWIP, but does establish an application process for the Corporation Commission to determine the need and feasibility of a nuclear facility in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, SB 831 contains no provisions requiring the Corporation Commission to consider an environmental, public health, and economic impact due to radioactive waste storage and/or disposal. On the whole, SB 831 is a woefully inadequate regulatory scheme literally drafted by utility lobbyists over the course of an hour without any stakeholder input.
Contact the members of the Conference Committee and ask them to disapprove SB 831 as it will have drastic impacts on Oklahoma's public health, environment, and economy. Oklahoma should be moving towards a clean energy economy based upon wind, solar, geothermal, natural gas, and energy efficiency. The Conference Committee members are as follows:
Bingman, Brian (C)
Senate
District 12
Republican
Room 424
(405)521-5528
bingman@oksenate.gov
Crutchfield, Johnnie C.
Senate
District 14
Democrat
Room 533B
(405)521-5607
bigger@oksenate.gov
Gumm, Jay Paul
Senate
Dristrict 6
Democrat
Room 535A
(405)521-5586
gumm@oksenate.gov
Johnson, Mike
Senate
District 22
Republican
Room 519
(405)521-5592
johnsonm@oksenate.gov
Mazzei, Mike
Senate
District 25
Republican
Room 413
(405)521-5675
mazzei@oksenate.gov
Myers, David
Senate
District 20
Republican
Room 414
(405)521-5628
ingraham@oksenate.gov
Yesterday, SB 1668 by Sen. David Myers (R-Ponca City) and Rep. Rex Duncan (R-Sand Springs) passed through the Senate on a vote of 27-19. Sen. Cliff Branan (R-OKC) filed a Motion to Reconsider and will have the next 2 days to request a revote after adequate lobbying against SB 1668. The following Senators voted against SB 1668, which amends the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to own interests in
nuclear facilities, including: Sens. Ballenger (D), Bass (D), Branan (R), Burrage (D), Corn (D), Crutchfield (D), Ellis (D), Gumm (D), Ivester (D), C. Johnson (D), Laster (D), Leftwich (D), Lerblance (D), Marlatt (R), Nichols (R), Paddack (D), Rice (D), Sparks (D), and Wilson (D). Please contact Senators and either thank them for voting against SB 1668 or ask those who
voted in favor to change their vote on reconsideration.
HB 3028 by Speaker Benge (R-Tulsa) and Sen. David Myers (R-Ponca city) establishes the Oklahoma Energy Security Act and includes the Renewable energy goal of 15% by 2015, as well as a natural gas goal for no coal development until at least 2020, with natural gas as the stated preferred fossil fuel for Oklahoma. HB 3028 is currently in conference committee and
should advance within the next week! Passage of an RPS in Oklahoma has been a Chapter priority for two years and we're almost there!
On a positive note, Governor Henry signed HB 3015 into law, marking a victory for the local foods movement in Oklahoma! HB 3015 established the Healthy Cornerstore Market program, authorizing up to $350,000 in low interest loans for markets selling up to 90% of their goods as healthy, local foods!
Additionally, Governor Henry signed HB 2973 into law, which allows for the creation of Regional Transportation Authorities! With the creation of a regional transportation authority, our communities will be one step closer to realizing genuine, effective public transportation.
Finally, regarding the tumultuous and cumbersome agency consolidation process, HB 3173 by Rep. Hickman (R-Dacoma) and Sen. Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa) which originally proposed consolidating the Scenic Rivers Commission into Tourism & Recreation and the Conservation Commission, the Senate remarkably passed an amendment filed by Sen. Wilson (D-Tahlequah)
which proposed the creation of a massive Department of Natural Resources including over 30 agencies and commissions. Clearly, this bill was headed to conference committee! Word outside of the authors and leadership has been very quiet. I've conversed with the Speaker's office at length regarding this and they've said discussions are very tight on which agencies will
actually be consolidated or not. Department of Mines is still on the table, but it doesn't look good for OSRC.
For your full report and more detailed links, click the link below. Thank you for all your help this session..it's not over yet.
To view your forwarded copy of our Capitol report now, please go to the following URL: http://www.ecapitol.net/email/email_1Y2H_2XL14TNPG.htm
It will be available to you online for the next 10 days.
After a relatively successful legislative session, things have heated up over the past few weeks with reintroduction of nuclear legislation (SB 831 and SB 1668) and the Oklahoma New Development Impact Fee bill (SB 805). After many long hours of lobbying and numerous phone calls, emails, and personal visits to legislators offices from many of you, SB 831, which was
amended on the House floor, passed overwhelmingly on party lines and is now in conference committee. The amended version of SB 831 no longer contains cost recovery language allowing for CWIP, but does establish an application process for the Corporation Commission to determine the need and feasibility of a nuclear facility in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, SB 831 contains no provisions requiring the Corporation Commission to consider an environmental, public health, and economic impact due to radioactive waste storage and/or disposal. On the whole, SB 831 is a woefully inadequate regulatory scheme literally drafted by utility lobbyists over the course of an hour without any stakeholder input.
Contact the members of the Conference Committee and ask them to disapprove SB 831 as it will have drastic impacts on Oklahoma's public health, environment, and economy. Oklahoma should be moving towards a clean energy economy based upon wind, solar, geothermal, natural gas, and energy efficiency. The Conference Committee members are as follows:
Bingman, Brian (C)
Senate
District 12
Republican
Room 424
(405)521-5528
bingman@oksenate.gov
Crutchfield, Johnnie C.
Senate
District 14
Democrat
Room 533B
(405)521-5607
bigger@oksenate.gov
Gumm, Jay Paul
Senate
Dristrict 6
Democrat
Room 535A
(405)521-5586
gumm@oksenate.gov
Johnson, Mike
Senate
District 22
Republican
Room 519
(405)521-5592
johnsonm@oksenate.gov
Mazzei, Mike
Senate
District 25
Republican
Room 413
(405)521-5675
mazzei@oksenate.gov
Myers, David
Senate
District 20
Republican
Room 414
(405)521-5628
ingraham@oksenate.gov
Yesterday, SB 1668 by Sen. David Myers (R-Ponca City) and Rep. Rex Duncan (R-Sand Springs) passed through the Senate on a vote of 27-19. Sen. Cliff Branan (R-OKC) filed a Motion to Reconsider and will have the next 2 days to request a revote after adequate lobbying against SB 1668. The following Senators voted against SB 1668, which amends the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority Act to allow municipal power authorities to own interests in
nuclear facilities, including: Sens. Ballenger (D), Bass (D), Branan (R), Burrage (D), Corn (D), Crutchfield (D), Ellis (D), Gumm (D), Ivester (D), C. Johnson (D), Laster (D), Leftwich (D), Lerblance (D), Marlatt (R), Nichols (R), Paddack (D), Rice (D), Sparks (D), and Wilson (D). Please contact Senators and either thank them for voting against SB 1668 or ask those who
voted in favor to change their vote on reconsideration.
HB 3028 by Speaker Benge (R-Tulsa) and Sen. David Myers (R-Ponca city) establishes the Oklahoma Energy Security Act and includes the Renewable energy goal of 15% by 2015, as well as a natural gas goal for no coal development until at least 2020, with natural gas as the stated preferred fossil fuel for Oklahoma. HB 3028 is currently in conference committee and
should advance within the next week! Passage of an RPS in Oklahoma has been a Chapter priority for two years and we're almost there!
On a positive note, Governor Henry signed HB 3015 into law, marking a victory for the local foods movement in Oklahoma! HB 3015 established the Healthy Cornerstore Market program, authorizing up to $350,000 in low interest loans for markets selling up to 90% of their goods as healthy, local foods!
Additionally, Governor Henry signed HB 2973 into law, which allows for the creation of Regional Transportation Authorities! With the creation of a regional transportation authority, our communities will be one step closer to realizing genuine, effective public transportation.
Finally, regarding the tumultuous and cumbersome agency consolidation process, HB 3173 by Rep. Hickman (R-Dacoma) and Sen. Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa) which originally proposed consolidating the Scenic Rivers Commission into Tourism & Recreation and the Conservation Commission, the Senate remarkably passed an amendment filed by Sen. Wilson (D-Tahlequah)
which proposed the creation of a massive Department of Natural Resources including over 30 agencies and commissions. Clearly, this bill was headed to conference committee! Word outside of the authors and leadership has been very quiet. I've conversed with the Speaker's office at length regarding this and they've said discussions are very tight on which agencies will
actually be consolidated or not. Department of Mines is still on the table, but it doesn't look good for OSRC.
For your full report and more detailed links, click the link below. Thank you for all your help this session..it's not over yet.
To view your forwarded copy of our Capitol report now, please go to the following URL: http://www.ecapitol.net/email/email_1Y2H_2XL14TNPG.htm
It will be available to you online for the next 10 days.
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