Renewable sources vanish from Ohio's clean energy bill

An editorial in the Toledo Blade.

Updated urgent Ohio action alert! House Bill 6 POSSIBLE VOTE on Wed., May 29. Contact your state legislators! Spread the word! Help block a massive ratepayer bailout for dangerously old atomic reactors!

Davis-Besse, and the Great Lake Erie it puts at ever increasing riskThank you to everyone who took action, and spread the word, re: the alert we sent you last week, written by Neil Waggoner, Ohio Campaign Representative, of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. We have now learned that, as HB 6 cleared the State of Ohio House of Representatives committee last week, despite our side's best efforts, a State of Ohio House of Representatives floor vote on HB6 could now take place as soon as tomorrow, Wed., May 29. Thus, it is essential that Ohioans contact their Ohio State House Representative ASAP, and express opposition to this proposed massive bailout, at ratepayer expense, to prop up the economically failed, dangerously age-degraded Davis-Besse and Perry atomic reactors on northern Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline.

Beyond Nuclear has also re-submitted its testimony (see link below), focused on the ever-worsening safety risks at Davis-Besse (photo, left), such as its dangerously cracked concrete containment Shield Building. The cracking is so bad, that spalling of large chunks of concrete from its exterior face could damage or destroy safety-related systems, structures, or components below. In that sense, the Shield Building could cause the reactor core meltdown, and then fail to contain the catastrophic releases of hazardous radioactivity that would result.  

 

Please contact your State House Representative, directly -- urge them to oppose these old atomic reactor bailouts.  

 

As urged in Becca Pollard's alert below, Call your state rep. at 1-512-562-9139 to stop the nuclear bailout bill!  

 

{Here is a Sierra Club sample script:

 

Oppose Nuclear Bailouts and Renewable Energy and Efficiency Rollbacks at the Ohio Statehouse  

 

Sample Script  

 

I do not support House Bill 6.

 

HB6 would tax Ohioans to bail out old, uneconomic nuclear plants, while gutting our renewable energy and efficiency standards that reduce energy waste, save us money and are helping Ohio to transition to clean, affordable renewable energy.

Please take a stand for future generations of Ohioans and oppose HB6 and instead support legislation that will help to grow renewable energy like wind and solar that will truly make our air cleaner.  

 

Please oppose House Bill 6.}

 

Please spread the word to others in Ohio, to take similar action. 

 

Let's make sure Davis-Besse and Perry shut down for good, by FirstEnergy Nuclear's announced closure dates (May 31, 2020, and May 31, 2021, respectively) at the very latest, if not sooner, for the sake of safety! We must protect the Great Lakes, drinking water for tens of millions downstream, in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as a very large number of Native American First Nations!  

 

(Please see Beyond Nuclear's testimony to the Ohio state legislature on this proposed nuclear bailout linked here, which focuses on the safety risks of continuing to operate the severely age-degraded Davis-Besse atomic reactor any longer. Feel free to use Beyond Nuclear's testimony to help you communicate your concerns about safety to your own State of Ohio legislators.)

 

Please read on below for more info. Thanks for taking vital action at this critical time, and for spreading the word in Ohio!

 

---Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear

 

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This just circulated by Becca Pollard, Ohio Associate Organizing Representative, Sierra Club, Beyond Coal:

 

Sierra Club: HB6 Sample Tweets --

 

Here are some sample tweets from Ohio Energy Table. If you're on Twitter please share some of these. Feel free to personalize them, but make sure you include the hashtag #NoOnHB6

 

Also, please retweet our post to generate calls to state reps!  https://twitter.com/OhioBeyondCoal/status/1126871098098896899 

  

Vote NO messages

• URGENT: A House vote on HB 6 is likely to happen in the next day or two! Don't wait one more minute to tell your House member to vote NO on HB6. Ohio's energy future should be about more than nuclear bailouts and subsidies for dirty coal! #NoOnHB6

• Only nuclear plants would qualify as Clean Air Resources. No more renewable energy standards in Ohio. No more energy efficiency standards in Ohio. Still no fix for wind energy development.

HB 6 a bailout bill, plain and simple #NoOnHB6

• Bailing out nuclear plants + subsidies for coal plants (one in Indiana) = Bad energy policy for Ohio

Tell your State Representative to vote NO on HB 6 #NoOnHB6

• HB 6 decimates Ohio's successful renewable energy standards and replaces it with a bailout for FirstEnergy's failing nuclear plants. Who will pay for it? Please vote NO on HB 6 #NoOnHB6
• 
  
  • How disappointed are you that our state lawmakers have squandered their best opportunity to develop a real, comprehensive energy policy for Ohio?
  
  
  Instead they are punting to bailouts for nuclear plants and subsidizing coal. Time to vote NO on HB6 #NoOnHB6
  
  
  • No more pretending this is about clean air and clean energy! HB 6 is a bailout for nuclear plants and subsidies for coal-nothing else. Will Ohio be the laughing stock of the Midwest when it comes to energy policy? Vote NO on HB6 #NoOnHB6
  
  
  Support for Democrats
  • Thank you @RepDavidLeland for your opposition to HB 6. It is time for Ohio to develop a comprehensive energy policy that expands renewable energy and efficiency standards and puts consumers first! #NoOnHB6
  
  
  • Thank you @Boggs4Ohio for fighting against HB 6. This is our opportunity to move Ohio into the future of energy innovation and emissions reductions, not to do the bidding of one energy giant. #NoOnHB6
  
  
  • Thank you @SedrickDenson for supporting Ohio's clean energy standards and protecting Ohioans from a tax to bailout nuclear and coal. Investing in energy innovation will move Ohio forward! #NoOnHB6
  
  
  • Thank you @Casey4Ohio for opposing HB 6 and continuing to fight for Ohio's renewable energy and efficiency standards. Scrapping our progress for a bailout bill is the wrong direction for Ohio #NoOnHB6
  
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Also see the following action alerts, articles, and updates, for more information:  

See a May 28th update, circulated by Michael Keegan of Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, and Don't Waste Michigan, re: "Perry nuclear power plant running with multiple inoperable safety systems."   

 

See the latest Sun Trumpet newsletter for updates on HB6.

 

See a letter to the editor in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, by Thomas Collins of Garrettsville, opposing the nuclear bailouts.   

 

See a May 27th Cincinnati Enquirer article about the nuclear bailout bill.  

 

See Beyond Nuclear's May 23rd action alert.  

 

See Harvey Wasserman's May 22nd article "Ohio's Atomic Lemon Socialism Must Die!" (Also listen to Harvey's recent radio interview with Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear, plus Tim Judson of NIRS and Libbe HaLevy of Nuclear Hotseat, "The March of Nuke Shut Downs Needs to Speed Up.")  

 

See EDF's May 22nd compilation of arguments opposing the nuclear bailout.

 

See the Sierra Club sample script you can use to help formulate your arguments for calls to your Ohio State House Representative, your Ohio State Senator, for composing a letter to the editor, etc. As the Sierra Club Beyond Coal's Neal Waggoner also recently wrote, "...HB 6 was once again heavily amended this week but was not materially altered. It still remains a gutting of the clean energy and efficiency standard, a bailout for FirstEnergy's two nuclear plants, and opens the door for bailouts of dirty coal plants. This is a ridiculous bill and it should not pass...if it's killing clean energy and efficiency while bailing out dirty energy, that's not acceptable."

Another email message from Neil Waggoner, dated May 17th:

 

FirstEnergy lobbyists behind testimony supporting bailout bill in Ohio

 

Hi folks,

I know there's a lot of discussion happening around the dark money going into support for HB 6 on tv, radio, and mailers. In that vein, I'd encourage you all to check out the story below from the Energy and Policy Institute. In this piece, EPI's Dave Anderson was able to uncover the involvement of a FirstEnergy Solutions backed lobbying group and how a specific lobbyist at that group was the direct author of a number of pieces of testimony in support of HB6. Some of this supportive testimony provided by other individuals with direct financial interests in FES and are seeking to get paid as part of the bankruptcy proceeding. 

 

Please consider sharing this info on social media using the #HB6 and #NoOnHB6 hashtags, and following up with calls to legislators.

https://www.energyandpolicy.org/firstenergy-lobbyists-behind-testimony-supporting-bailout-bill/   

 

On May 24th, Pat Marida of the Ohio Sierra Club Nuclear-Free Committee shared these Innovation Ohio news clips re: Ohio politics, relevant to the nuclear bailout bill:

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer:  Nuclear bailout bill shows how big money can be put to work in the Ohio Statehouse 

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer:  How to get a bailout bill through the Ohio legislature: Capitol Letter

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer:  Bill to gut Ohio's green-energy standards waved forward by House panel

 

Statehouse News Bureau:  House Committee Passes Energy Bill Bailing Out Nuclear, Dropping Renewables

 

Bloomberg:   An Energy Fight Has Koch and Environmentalists on the Same Side  

Bailout war rages over dangerously age-degraded Ohio reactors

The Davis-Besse atomic reactor, and the Great Lake, Erie, beyond, which it puts at ever increasing risk of radioactive catastropheBeyond Nuclear is thankful to our many friends and colleagues in Ohio for fighting the good fight against bailouts for dangerously old reactors, like Davis-Besse and Perry. For example, the Ohio Sierra Club, its Nuclear-Free Committee, and its national Beyond Coal campaign, have organized large numbers of grassroots testimony before state legislative committees against the bailout bill, HB6, in its ever-evolving (devolving!), various incarnations in recent weeks. Environmental Defense Fund has compiled arguments against the bailouts by various strange bedfellow coalition allies, such as the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity. Beyond Nuclear has also re-submitted its testimony, focused on the ever-worsening safety risks at Davis-Besse (photo, left), such as its dangerously cracked concrete containment Shield Building. The cracking is so bad, that spalling of large chunks of concrete from its exterior face could damage or destroy safety-related systems, structures, or components below. In that sense, the Shield Building could cause the reactor core meltdown, and then fail to contain the catastrophic releases of hazardous radioactivity that would result. If you live in Ohio, please contact your State House Representative, and State Senator, directly -- urge them to oppose the old atomic reactor bailouts. If you know folks in Ohio, please share this action alert with them, and urge them to contact their state legislators, as well! Let's make sure Davis-Besse and Perry shut down for good, by FirstEnergy Nuclear's announced closure dates (May 31, 2020, and May 31, 2021, respectively) at the very latest, if not sooner, for the sake of safety! We must protect the Great Lakes, drinking water for tens of millions downstream, in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as a very large number of Native American First Nations!

'Clean air' bill excludes renewables, supports Indiana coal plant

As reported by the Toledo Blade.

Exelon Nuclear -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TMI Unit 1 to Shut Down By September 30

See the Exelon Nuclear press release, here.