Category Archives: Events & Actions

November 16, 2013 · 12:52 am

COMMUNITY MEETING ON COLUMBIA STRONG MAYOR REFERENDUM

Community Members

As you know, there is a Special Referendum on Dec. 3 to decide whether the City of Columbia will retain a council-manager form of government or change to a mayor-council form. I am hosting a community meeting next Thursday, Nov 21 at 6:30pm at Bishop’s Memorial AME Church on Washington St to discuss the ballot measure.

The proponents of the change will spend A LOT of money over the next 2 weeks trying to convince you that we need to change but I would like to make sure you are armed with the practical realities of what may or may not change under a different form of government. Please share this invitation with your communities and invite anyone interested to come out and find out what this change really means for us as a community.

There are already meetings scheduled for Districts 3 & 4, but if you know of anyone in those districts who would like to attend, please feel free to invite them.

Tameika Isaac Devine

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Kevin Alexander Gray Explains How a Strong Mayor System Would Hurt Minority Communities

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Filed under Actions, Actions | Events, Events, Events & Actions, Harriet Tubman Freedom House Project, Meetings, South Carolina, South Carolina Politics

Tagged as City of Columbia, Columbia Strong Mayor Referendum, Steve Benjamin, Tameika Isaac Devine

August 11, 2012 · 4:27 pm

BOMB PLANT NEWS | Upcoming Meeting of Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board

HELP PREVENT SOUTH CAROLINA FROM BECOMING NATION’S “INTERIM” RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP!

AND STOP UNNECESSARY TRANSPORT OF LETHAL NUCLEAR WASTE–NO FUKUSHIMA FREEWAYS!

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14 IN AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA

Savannah River Site

The Savannah River Site Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meets on Tuesday August 14 in Aiken, South Carolina from 6-8 pm. We encourage you to attend, ask questions, express concerns and speak out!

Why? Because South Carolina could become the first national commercial high-level nuclear waste storage site.

That’s right. Upcoming likely changes to radioactive waste laws could put the Savannah River Site in South Carolina at the front of the pack for an “interim” radwaste storage site.

The storage site idea is nothing more than a parking lot with a fence, radioactive waste shipment containers lined up like bowling pins, and a couple of guards. All that is really needed is for Congress to change to the law (likely in 2013), someone saying “YES” (nuclear business leaders in SC already have)–and all of us remaining silent…

They’ve tried this before at various places across the country–Oak Ridge Tenn., Mescalero Apache land in New Mexico, Skull Valley Goshute land in Utah, Yucca Mountain, Nevada itself (yes, they wanted to put a storage site there too)–and we beat them all. Now it looks like it’s South Carolina’s turn. Your help will be needed to stop them here.

Note: this is the first item on the agenda — at 6 pm. So please arrive early! Public comment is at the end of the meeting at 7:50.

Location: DOE Meeting Center
(At Rear of Aiken Design Center)
230 Village Green Blvd., Suite 220
Aiken, SC 29801

GOOD NEWS: The Chair of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board, Ed Burke opposes the idea of bringing commercial waste from all over the U.S. to South Carolina. Please come out and support Ed’s opposition and other South Carolina voices saying NO to moving radioactive waste anywhere at this point. Stop Fukushima Freeways! There are better alternatives.

Why Moving Radioactive Waste Today for Storage is a Bad Idea ~

*The waste in question is irradiated fuel from a nuclear reactor and some defense wastes. Millions of times more radioactive than “fresh fuel,” this material will deliver a lethal dose in less than a minute if unshielded, and will remain a hazard to health for more than a million years.

* Until all reactors close, a “temporary” storage site for irradiated fuel will not solve any problems. It will just add one more contaminated site. It will take decades to move the 70,000 tons of this waste we have now, and, in the meantime, each reactor will generate more.

* Only a small amount of this type of waste has ever been moved. Each container will emit penetrating radiation like X-rays (equivalent to 2 chest x-rays an hour at 6 feet); while a severe accident would contaminate an area smaller than Chernobyl or Fukushima, it could be just as bad in that area. No Fukushima Freeways!

* Leaving the waste where it is now, but in hardened dry storage, is more responsible until there is a viable program to permanently isolate the waste. Even a few decades of storage on-site reduces the intensity of the radioactivity and the thermal heat in the waste.

For more information on the meeting, contact Tom Clements (tomclements329@cs.com), with Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (www.ananuclear.org).

Thanks for all you do,

Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
nirsnet@nirs.org
www.nirs.org

Stay Informed:

NIRS on the web (stay up-to-date with the Nuclear Newsreel section on the front page, featuring the day’s most interesting news on nuclear power and other energy issues): http://www.nirs.org

NIRS on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-Information-and-Resource-Service/26490791479?sk=wall&filter=12

http://www.facebook.com/nonukesnirs

http://www.causes.com/causes/49098-no-nukes-nuclear-information-and-resource-service

NIRS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nirsnet

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Filed under Actions | Events, Department of Energy, Environmental, Events, Events & Actions, Nuclear materials, Nuclear waste, South Carolina, Work of Comrades

Tagged as FUKUSHIMA FREEWAYS, Radioactive Waste, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP, radwaste, Savannah River Site, Savannah River Site Citizen Advisory Board, Stop Fukushima Freeways!

March 3, 2010 · 6:34 pm

Gather for SCE&G Nuke Hearing, Thurs., 9:30 a.m., SC Supreme Court, Columbia

The South Carolina Supreme Court is set on Thursday to hear the Friends of the Earth appeal of the SC Public Service Commission’s approval of the SCE&G nuclear project.

We will gather on the sidewalk outside the court – corner of Gervais and Sumter in downtown, across from the state house grounds – at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 4 and be there in case the media wants to do interviews and then proceed to the court room. I will have only the big “blank check” (the unlimited costs given to SCE&G by the PSC) as a visual and ask that you don’t bring additional signs. As the court will already be in session, we will quietly proceed into the court room after our gathering.

Cameras are allowed into the court if the media outlets got pre-approval and as I don’t know if they have done this, one reason we will gather is to show a public face on those concerned about a clean energy future for South Carolina. The hearing is set to begin at 10:00 and our side opens with 10 minutes, the SCE&G gets 10 minutes and then we have 5 minutes for a closing, but the judges can ask questions at any point. So, the entire hearing could be less than an hour. The chief judge has recused herself from the case.

You may have seen that an article about the hearing appeared in The State on March 2
(and also in today’s Charleston Post & Courier):

“Reactor foes having their say on Thursday”
http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/02/1181994/reactor-foes-having-their-say.html

If the nuclear project goes forward we can kiss goodbye to any serious energy conservation and efficiency programs in South Carolina. SCE&G will have a glut of electricity to sell if the reactors were ever to operate and significant reduction of consumption will be the last thing on their mind.

The association of large industrial users, the SC Energy Users Committee, has also appealed the PSC nuclear decision to the Supreme Court but their hearing will be later, though the court could respond in a single ruling to our appeals.

Call if you have any questions and I hope to see you on Thursday.

Tom Clements
Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator
Friends of the Earth
Columbia, SC
803-834-3084 | 803-834-3084

www.carolinapeace.org | (803) 875-0392 | (803) 875-0392 info@carolinapeace.org
PO Box 7933
Columbia, SC 29202
United States

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Filed under Environmental, Events & Actions, Nuclear materials, Nuclear waste, South Carolina Politics

Tagged as Environmental, Friends of the Earth, Nuclear power, SC Energy Users Committee, SC Public Service Commission, SCE&G, SCE&G nuclear project

August 25, 2009 · 4:16 pm

Alliance for Nuclear Accountability | Temporary Full-Time Job in WDC

DC Days Coordinator

Join a national grassroots network working to change environmental and national security policy on nuclear weapons and waste issues. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) seeks a coordinator for our national DC Days, in our Washington, DC office. DC Days, which will be held from February 28 through March 3, will feature four days of training, education, and political advocacy that bring activists from around the country to Washington. The DC Days Coordinator will work to coordinate logistics of this event and recruit participants locally and nationally. The Coordinator will also attend meetings and hearings, assist in tracking legislation, and report to ANA members.Skills needed: excellent communications skills including verbal, written and computer; strong organizational skills; and commitment to grassroots organizing. Knowledge of Congress and nuclear weapons and waste issues a plus.

Salary: $1600 per month salary for six months. No benefits are provided for this position.To apply: Send a letter of interest, resume, three references, and a short (2-4 pages) recent writing sample by email to: nroth@ananuclear.org

Deadline 9/15/09

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Complete job description can be found at www.ananuclear.org

Susan Gordon – Alliance for Nuclear Accountability 903 W Alameda Street, #505 Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-473-1670 sgordon@ananuclear.org www.ananuclear.org

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Filed under Actions, Actions | Events, American Politics, American Progressive Politics, Environmental, Events & Actions, Nuclear bombs, Nuclear materials, Nuclear waste, Nuclear weapons, Obama Administration, The Obama Administration

Tagged as Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, DC Days, Environmental, Nuclear waste, Nuclear weapons

August 17, 2009 · 6:19 pm

Bomb Plant News | SRS Clean Up – Not Build Up : Speak out with us TOMORROW in N. Augusta!

Tuesday, August 18th

Location: North Augusta, SC, at the N. Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Ave.

We want clean up –not build up!

“Nuclear weapons are inherently destructive of the environment in their possession, manufacture and use. Global and national security lie in U.S. leadership that works towards disarmament, environmental restoration and nuclear waste management.” Georgia WAND

Now is the time! Your voice is needed!

You can and should let DOE know how you feel – So hop on the bus with Georgia WAND as we meet up in N. Augusta with Friends of the Earth and other groups to hold a press conference and then we will attend and speak out at the DOE meeting on the future mission of Savannah River Site, a US nuclear weapons production facility on the Georgia/South Carolina border.

12:30PM Press Conference in N. Augusta, Georgia WAND, Friends of the Earth, etc other groups will be gathering. (Please bring brown bag lunch to eat prior to mtg as time allows) Signs welcome!!

1:00Pm – 5:00PM Dept of Energy (DOE) meeting on the future missions of SRS >> Public testimony accepted. We hope everyone will speak out and get their voice heard.