Nuke bailout bill passes in OH after Trump operative interferes; battle moves to state senate

Davis-Besse, and the Great Lake Erie it directly threatens with radioactive contaminationThe Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that bankrupt FirstEnergy Nuclear's proposed bailout of its dangerously age-degraded Davis-Besse (photo, left) and Perry atomic reactors, just passed the OH state House of Representatives, by a vote of 53 to 43. The bailout also greases the skids for subsidizing some dirty old coal plants. The reactors are located on the Lake Erie shoreline in northern Ohio. Politico has reported that a Trump presidential campaign official intervened, urging OH Republican legislators to support the bailout, to boost Trump's 2020 re-election prospects in OH. Ten Democrats voted yes (wrong) on the highly controversial bill (House Bill 6, HB6), while 17 Republicans voted no (right). The bad Democratic votes need "spanks," while the good Republican votes deserve thanks.

The war now moves to the OH state Senate. If you live in OH, please contact your state representative and senator directly, and spread word to everyone you know across your state to do the same. You can also phone your OH state legislator at 1-512-562-9139 and use a sample script.

Join Protests: Toledo on Mon., June 3; Columbus on Wed., June 5; Akron on Fri., June 7. Please spread the word. Pointing to a new report, Environmental Defense Fund asks, "Why should Ohioans be forced to bail out a profitable company?... Independent research now confirms that the entire pretext for bailing out FirstEnergy's power plants is bogus." The bailouts must be stopped! Please take action! Learn more about such bailouts, at our Nuclear Costs website section.

If you don't live in Ohio, please spread word to folks you know who do, alerting them about all this, and the various ways they can take action. This action alert can also be used as a model to follow, to resist old reactor bailouts proposed in other states

Update on May 30, 2019 by admin

Action alert from Becca Pollard, Sierra Club:

Here's an updated script and list of Senate targets...

Please pass this along to others who will want to help with this!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vS6r4CvBs_G26TfDeG1ujPVQgHyXbOMBH5X1DmTeYrNV9EV3iDOvBHYP_FJZ2hY3HaOg4I-ueMfhQeb/pub

Update on May 31, 2019 by admin

Update from Sierra Club: 

HB6: new talking points/hearings next week

Sierra Club has put together some new talking points for HB6. They are linked here, and should be helpful as you're writing testimony and letters to the editor!

Looks like there will be Ohio State Senate hearings next Tues. and Wed., so please consider submitting testimony. Sierra Club will share more details soon. 

Sierra Club will also share the link to a Facebook Event in the near future.