Jane and Bernie Sanders collaboration to move Vt's nuclear waste

[Fla Dem]

near to a small, mostly Hispanic town near the Mexican border. Progressive until he isn't.

#VettingBernie: How Sanders Cleared Way to Dump Toxic Nuclear Waste on Poor Hispanics (and How They Fought Back)

Kris Jirapinyo February 17, 2016

Enter our hero, then-Representative Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who ardently supported and co-sponsored the bill H.R. 629, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act. Once passed and signed, the bill would validate the currently existing individual state bills, and thus start the construction of the waste disposal site. But where in Texas would the dump site be? Tasked with finding a suitable location, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority (TLLRWDA) recommended to build the waste facility five miles away from a small town in West Texas called Sierra Blanca:

Snip>>>>

And how did they come to a decision to pick that town? Fighting the passage of bill H.R. 629 in the senate, Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) spoke on the matter in great length and detail. In short, it was a case of environmental injustice. Despite the findings of the consultants that Sierra Blanca was not a good site due to its “complex geology” and also a history of earthquakes in the past due to tectonic faults in El Paso and Hudspeth counties, the Waste Authority still went ahead and picked the site because the people living there would be least likely to resist or make a fuss about it, since the majority of the residents are Spanish-speaking and poor.

Snip>>>

A factoid one should note here was that at this time, the governor for whom the TLLRWDA was working was none other than George W. Bush. Oh, and Jane Sanders, Bernie's wife, sits on the Board of this wonderful Texas authority.


http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/2/17/when-brown-lives-did-not-matter-to-bernie

How Bernie Sanders Helped Do Bush’s Dirty Work In Sierra Blanca
By Ben Armbruster
February 24, 2016

In September of 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives soundly defeated H.R. 558, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act, which would have created a compact between Vermont, Maine, and Texas, whereby the former two states would ship their nuclear waste to a soon-to-be established site in Texas. The bill’s defeat represented a major victory for environmentalists, who fought hard against opening up Texas as one of the nation’s next nuclear waste repositories.

Yet just two short years later, with strong support from then-Vermont Rep. Bernie Sanders and others, Congress passed an identical bill establishing the compact and an agreement to send “low-level” radioactive waste from Vermont (Maine later opted out of the program) to a low-income Hispanic county in West Texas called Sierra Blanca, a community that many — including the late progressive champion Sen. Paul Wellstone — argued lacked resources and clout to put up much of a fight.

http://bluenationreview.com/sanders-helped-do-bushs-dirty-work/

Bernie Sanders' Nuclear Waste Votes Divide Texas Activists
by Jamie Lovegrove Feb. 28, 2016

In the late 1990s, when now-U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was a member of the House, he supported a compact between Maine, Vermont and Texas that originally proposed dumping low-level radioactive waste in a small minority community in far-West Texas, putting him at odds with other progressive congressmen.

Though the waste never made it to Sierra Blanca, a low-income, largely Hispanic town in Hudspeth County, Sanders’ efforts have attracted renewed attention online in the lead-up to Tuesday's Texas primary. Critics suggest that the candidate’s role in promoting the compact — which ultimately brought the waste to a different site in West Texas — undermines his otherwise progressive record.

“It reflects very poorly on him,” said longtime environmental justice activist Dr. Robert Bullard, dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and the author of Dumping on Dixie. “Shoving this down people’s throats is not progressive politics. It was business as usual. It’s a classic case of rich people from a white state shifting something they don’t want to a poor minority community somewhere else.”

http://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/28/Sanders-Nuclear-Waste-Votes-Divide-Texas-Activists/

[NurseJackie]

1. Things like this deserve more scrutiny. People deserve to know.

[Armstead]

3. Did you admire the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards?

[TheBlackAdder]

35. This again? That facility was opened up 6 years earlier, billed as a Yucca Mountain-type solution.

[kristopher]

85. Hillary; Nuclear Waste; Yucca Mountain

Nov. 2015

...I suggested she was equivocating, and Clinton retorted: "No, I’m not because I was against it based on the research that was made available. We do need to figure out what we’re going to do with nuclear waste and therefore I would look to leaders who are independent of certain industry pressures or certain political or geographic pressures."

And then this: “Well, it’s off the table now based on what I know. I think science is always changing. But based on what I know, where it is, the geology of where it is, it’s off the table.”

Based on what I know? The science is always changing? If I didn’t know better, I’d think Madame Secretary was opening the door a crack to changing her previous position.

You know what else is always changing, too? Political dynamics. And contributions. And relationships.

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/college/2015/11/03/ralston-reports-hillary-firmly-anti-yucca-now/75132884/

The former secretary of state fundraised at the home of a Yucca Mountain contractor in September. In addition, she has welcomed a number of bundlers who have actively pushed to keep the nuclear dump open.

The September fundraiser, hosted by former Shaw Group CEO Jim Bernhard, cost guests $2,700 to attend, $27,000 to cosponsor and $50,000 to sponsor.

The Shaw Group lobbied extensively for Yucca Mountain in recent years, spending nearly $2 million lobbying for issues that included the Nevada repository in 2010 and 2011.

In 2008, Bernhard's company won a major contract to operate Yucca Mountain. The firm that purchased Shaw Group in 2012, Chicago Bridge & Iron, continued to lobby the government on Yucca Mountain.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clinton-fundraised-with-yucca-mountain-contractor/article/2575675

[KoKo]

87. Activist Bill Addington: "But Bernie was not alone, so why are they singling him out?"

Bernie Sanders' Nuclear Waste Votes Divide Texas Activists

by Jamie Lovegrove
Feb. 28, 2016

"Everyone considers Sen. Sanders to be a progressive, so we did hold him accountable,” Addington said. “But Bernie was not alone, so why are they singling him out?"

-----------

In the late 1990s, when now-U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was a member of the House, he supported a compact between Maine, Vermont and Texas that originally proposed dumping low-level radioactive waste in a small minority community in far-West Texas, putting him at odds with other progressive congressmen.

Though the waste never made it to Sierra Blanca, a low-income, largely Hispanic town in Hudspeth County, Sanders’ efforts have attracted renewed attention online in the lead-up to Tuesday's Texas primary. Critics suggest that the candidate’s role in promoting the compact — which ultimately brought the waste to a different site in West Texas — undermines his otherwise progressive record.

“It reflects very poorly on him,” said longtime environmental justice activist Dr. Robert Bullard dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and the author of Dumping on Dixie. “Shoving this down people’s throats is not progressive politics. It was business as usual. It’s a classic case of rich people from a white state shifting something they don’t want to a poor minority community somewhere else.”

But other activists in the area have forgiven Sanders for his role in the proposal. Bill Addington lives in Sierra Blanca and was a leading activist against the nuclear waste compact, creating a legal defense fund and even travelling to Vermont to directly protest Sanders. But now Addington says he is supporting Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary.

“Bernie made a big mistake, but this country has a lot bigger problems than what happened 20 years ago,” Addington said. “Not that that gives him a free pass, not that it makes him right, but we’ve moved on.”

---------------
After Congress approved the compact, Texas environmental regulators rejected the Sierra Blanca proposal. The Andrews County site gained approval years later.
-------------
But Addington pointed out that Sanders was far from the only Democrat who supported the plan and that even many Texas Democrats supported it. U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Gene Green — all supporters of Hillary Clinton — cosponsored the bill along with Sanders. While Addington said he took out ads against Sanders in a Burlington newspaper, he did the same against his own state representative at the time, Pete Gallego, in a Marfa newspaper, calling him “Plutonium Pete.”

Despite the Sierra Blanca episode, Sanders has attracted endorsements from many prominent environmentalists who praise his efforts to phase out nuclear power among other positions.

http://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/28/Sanders-Nuclear-Waste-Votes-Divide-Texas-Activists/

------------------

[Jitter65]

107. Just like singling out Hillary for being there when others take actions we don't like. nt

[JaneyVee]

2. Bernie has not been vetted.

[pandr32]

62. Exactly

And his wife has not been looked into enough either. The Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission (both Texas and Vermont were part of the Compact), which was looking to bury radioactive waste from Vermont in Texas somewhere for some reason did have Jane Sanders on the board.
The host State's commissioners served six-year terms and Jane Sanders was an alternate so she would have attended all the meetings and been on salary as well. She fails to mention this in her bio.

[mhatrw]

89. LOL. What the do you think Brock has been doing with his tens of millions?

And Republicans are going to trash him for once trying to work with a Republican governor 20 years ago to do what all Republicans advocate?

[riversedge]

4. Glad to give it a big 5 REC

[livetohike]

5. Not so pure. It's about time Sanders' actions

are scrutinized. NIMBY.

[R B Garr]

6. "Shoving this down people's throats is not progressive politics. It was business as usual."

"Shoving this down people’s throats is not progressive politics. It was business as usual. It’s a classic case of rich people from a white state shifting something they don’t want to a poor minority community somewhere else.”

This is very telling. There are few big world concerns in a small state like Vermont that can't literally be dumped somewhere else. Sanders literally just hasn't had to deal with real issues politicians from other large, more diverse states have had to deal with. He has not been vetted.

[Blue State Bandit]

40. Like the Fraking Queen has been vetted?

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron

[R B Garr]

44. "Authority still went ahead and picked the site because the people living there

would be least likely to resist or make a fuss about it, since the majority of the residents are Spanish-speaking and poor."

Bernie and his supporters like to present him as some kind of saint who is above it all, but he's obviously not. LMAO at the desperation to make everything about Clinton.

[Blue State Bandit]

54. Nice job quoting Hillary backer as source. Lets talk about radioactive waste, and polution et al.

Hillary didn't seem to care much about raining depleted uranium over Iraq, poisoning our troops and generations of Iraqis, or voting against banning methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether which now lingers in the drinking water of over 15 million Americans.

And if she's soooo concerned about Michigan, why has she not confronted the Kochs? They are poisining Detroit with coal ash. Maybe because it doesn't help get her elected?

Tell me more about how Hillary is better for the environment.



http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-spotlighting-crisis-flint-michigan-voted-against-measure-prevent

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14321787/ns/us_news-military/t/armament-sickening-us-soldiers/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-responsibility-of-the-us-in-contaminating-iraq-with-depleted-uranium/15966

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2013/08/epa_confirms_coal_ash_pollutio.html

[Blue State Bandit]

60. You say that as if Hillary didn't vote to literally dump Nuke Waste on poor people.

Depletede Uranium is nuclear waste used in armor piercing bullets that exposes both the shooter and their target to high levels of radioactive dust and persists in the environment for generations.

And then there is the case of her "equivocating" on the Yucca Mountain facility in an interview w/ Jon Ralston.


Jon: Final question, I doubt I’ll get a yes or no on this either, but I’m going to try. Is Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump off the table in a Hillary Clinton administration?



Hillary: Well, it is off the table based on what I know right now. It’s off the table based on all of…



Jon: You’re equivocating now.

https://www.ralstonreports.com/blog/hillary-clinton-ralston-live-video-and-transcript

Just like TPP. Just like for-profit-prisons. Just like the Wall St. revolving door. Just like Tuition Free College (yes, Bubba now says she supports it). A true political opportunist.

[Blue State Bandit]

81. I tried, but I spit my milk when I read this on your pro-hill blog link...

"The MSM rhetoric has been highly pro-Sanders because they want to prolong this primary race for ratings."

Who you think you foolin'?

[R B Garr]

84. More typical and well-worn tactics

BBC These tactics are well-documented.Thanks

Thanks for kicking the thread about Bernue and toxic dumping.

[cannabis_flower]

82. Probably because

the entire community was 533 people and the area is VERY sparsely populated. It certainly isn't anything like what happened in Flint whrer something like 100,000 mostly minority people were affected. Also, exactly how far was this from the community. There's a lot of land out there. The population density of the county is .8 people per square mile. This was for low grade medical waste. It has to go somewhere.

The site the TLLRWDA selected is a 16,000 acre ranch the state bought from private owners located just outside of Sierra Blanca.

[R B Garr]

83. There are always "reasons', aren't there...

But only Bernie gets a pass. People know better.

[cannabis_flower]

109. It isn't that he gets a pass

It's that this nuclear waste has to go somewhere. I would suggest that anywhere it went, there would be people who would object to it.

[mhatrw]

90. Whose quoted words are those? Brock's or just one of Brock's paid minions? nt

[Armstead]

70. I suppose you're rather ruin all New England, NY, NJ and the millions of minorities who live therein

That's the kind of devil's choice that nuclear power has caused. Sanders opposes nuclear power.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/nuclear-power
Nuclear Power
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday questioned why federal regulators extended the operating license for the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear plant within days of a disastrous meltdown at a similar plant in Fukushima, Japan. Marking the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Senate committee that oversees the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing on the slow pace of efforts to strengthen safety at U.S. nuclear plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

"License extensions continue without accounting for lessons learned" and "without taking time to examine the implications of Fukushima," Sanders said at the hearing.

Sanders one year ago called for a moratorium on power plant license renewals in this country. Instead, the week after the Fukushima meltdown, the commission charged with ensuring safety at U.S. nuclear power plants gave Vermont Yankee a license to operate for another 20 years. The decision made Vermont Yankee - with a similar design to the Fukushima reactors - one of 71 U.S. plants to be granted extensions. In fact, no nuclear plant operator in the United States ever has been denied a license renewal by the industry-friendly federal regulators.

The Senate hearing occurred one week before Vermont officials had hoped to close the 40-year-old plant at Vernon, Vt. The state is appealing a decision last January by a federal judge who ruled that state lawmakers overstepped their authority.

"In my state there is a strong feeling that we want to go forward with energy efficiency and sustainable energy. I believe that we have that right. I believe that every other state in the country has that right," Sanders said. "If we want to move to sustainable energy and not maintain an aging, trouble-plagued nuclear power plant, I think we should be allowed to do that."

Sanders also questioned why the federal government sinks billions of dollars into federal subsidies for the nuclear industry. With a $15 trillion national debt, he questioned subsidies like taxpayer-backed insurance for major disasters and $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear plants.

"When it comes to taxpayer support for nuclear power there is no end in sight," Sanders said.

[R B Garr]

72. Bernie is not the saint he is sold as.

Politics as usual. Not fooling anyone anymore.

[Armstead]

73. Please answer my question

Yes the way those decisions are made is politics. And Sanders participated in that process. What SHOULD he have done?

We have stupidly created a form of power that creates dangerous and deadly and possibly catastrophic byproducts.

When the poo-bahs were pushing nuclear power through, did they ever stop to think "Gee where are we going to put all this crap?" Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. So we are stuck with it.

Vermont is not some isolated bastion. Its watershed and air affects one of the most densly populated and environmentally interconnected corridors in the US....And millions of people, including millions of minorities.

Can you suggest a place where the waste can be dumped that doesn't contain any risk to any people around it? Or with no possibility of wider environmental damage?

[mhatrw]

91. Nobody is a saint. Everybody has warts. All things are relative.

Sanders is definitely relatively saintly as a longterm politician, especially relative to the Queen of Frackingham.

[intheflow]

105. You have to credit him for evolving his nuclear action.

His position on nuclear changed from this action in 1996 to urging Obama "to declare a nuclear moratorium" in 2011. It looks to me like the more information he had on the subject, the more he was able to change his mind to work for a safer, nuclear-free world for everyone.

I congratulate him for opening his mind to enlightenment. That's the kind of president I want.

[stonecutter357]

7. K&R!

[lunamagica]

8. K&R!!!

[Barack_America]

9. Orders appear to have been given with respect to Jane Sanders.

It's been noted. Gosh, I wonder if I might be able to dig up something on Bill Clinton?

[BlueMTexpat]

11. No, if "orders had been given with respect

to Jane Sanders," there are other issues that could have been raised. But thanks for trying to deflect.

This issue is a political, economic, and environmental one that seems to involve Bernie more than Jane.

[ladjf]

13. Bill signed the bill that sent the waste to Texas. nt

[mhatrw]

92. LOL. BUT SANDERS ONCE DID THE SAME THING CLINTON DID!!!

And he's supposed to be so much better than that. Sanders needs to be measured against perfection rather than his primary adversary! Clintons just need to slightly better than slimy Repukes!

[TrueDemVA]

68. Hillarians are so silly.

These weak "vetting" stories are cute. When does the insanity stop. You see what I did there. I responded to a Hillary post the same way Hillary supporters go into posts that are pro Bernie. You know what I am talking about. Some of you folks go in and try to insult instead of back up any argument.

Also, you should be ashamed for thinking it is appropriate to attack Jane Sanders. I already know what you're going to say, "you are attacking Bill..." well, he happened to be a President, one who actually pushed laws and policies that aided in the continuing destruction of the lower and middle classes.

GO BERNIE!!!

[Armstead]

10. I guess you don't like Ann Richards either....She pushed the idea

Nor does anyone dispute that the nuke dump is almost certainly a done deal. When Ann Richards was governor, she championed Sierra Blanca as the ideal place to safely store nuclear waste for 10,000 years, and George W. Bush has endorsed the project as well. -
See more at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/dumped-on/#sthash.neYKY6vH.dpuf

[Fla Dem]

12. Liked Ann Richards, but she was a politician just as BS is a politician

Ann Richard supported this as it favored the energy companies who we know rule Texas. Politicians will do things that are in their or their constituencies favor even if it conflicts with their stated political ideology. Just pointing out that Bernie's hand aren't as clean as his supporters make him out to be. He didn't care if this polluted the environment around a poor Hispanic community. He just didn't want it in his back yard.

[Armstead]

16. Nobody (not most anyway) are claiiming he's Simon Pure ot denying he's a poltician

But He's about 75 percent cleaner than most -- and he owns his actions, unlike certain other candidates.

[ladjf]

21. The disposal of nuclear waste is a terrible problem.

Jacques Cousteau tried to warn us about it 60 years ago. We should not be using nuclear technology to generate electricity.

But, as long as we are producing electricity with nuclear, the waste problem exists. It had to go somewhere. The question boiled down to whether sparsely populated sites such as the one in Texas would be preferable over the middle of New England, a heavily populated area.

Bernie didn't produce the waste, he didn't promote nuclear power, but he approved the bill.


I believe interest is this bill was revived by an op ed in the Harvard Crimson Newspaper that was posted yesterday, written by a 19 yr. old Harvard undergraduate. "You Can't Trust Sanders".
He said that he was "shocked" that the bill had passed. How shocked would he have been if the waste had been sent to the Vermont area?

This post is simply a strategic hit piece which tries to make Sanders appear to be just another political hack.

The real bottom line is that we've got to get out of the nuclear energy power plants business as soon as possible. Talk to the oligarchs about that. You can choose between Clinton or Sanders to be your main spokesperson.

[LittleGirl]

47. +1 n/t

[ladjf]

48. LittleGirl has a BigMind . nt

[LittleGirl]

88. My head

is large, ha ha. hopefully my brain isn't fried by age yet.

[jwirr]

61. I am from MN and our iron range was also looked at as a

dumping site. Many sparsely populated areas were concerned. And the truth is that we still have not found a site. Most of the waste is sitting in our back yards until someone finds a solution to this mess.

Also this idea that you set on a board because you support their actions is a bunch of bull. I have been a member of the county social services board for years because I am poor. When they get into trouble with clients I am the one expected to represent the client. To demand the needed change.

[ladjf]

99. That indicates two good things: 1. the people from Vermont

are intelligent and 2. The people didn't allow the money to force the plant on them.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. Here's the 08 version of 'Hillay's horrid rival dumps nuclear waste on the poor':

"One of the things that, you know, they keep talking about, the progressive candidates, you know, Hillary Clinton voted against the nuclear waste dumping in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, while on the other hand Barack Obama actually took money from the company that was creating the nuclear waste and wanted to dump it in Nevada."-Dolores Huerta.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/1/democratic_presidential_nomination_could_hinge_on


Barack Obama, Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump...Then and Now:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4312155

[BernieforPres2016]

30. Dirty tricks are all Hillary's campaign and supporters know

Hillary is so widely despised that all she can do is try to drive the negatives of other candidates up.

[Bluenorthwest]

69. Well sure but they should work up some new ones because no one likes reruns, it's bad dynamics

Template dirty tricks become predictable then they are not tricks they are just dirty.

[mhatrw]

93. LOL. Always going back to the same hypocritical poisoned wells! nt

[okasha]

104. Ann made mistakes.

This was one of them, and there is no excuse for it. No excuse for Sanders, either. Vermont made the mess, Vermont cleans it up. Simple.

[Snotcicles]

14. Wasn't this topic brought up before?

[link:http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251763012|

[Arazi]

18. I believe this is the 4th time its come around

Its actually more amusing watching the HRC regulars here act as though they've never seen it

[Snotcicles]

22. Dose it count as environmentalism? It is recycling, right? lol. nt

[MoonRiver]

24. Yes, but some might have missed it.

Bernie needs to be vetted!

[Snotcicles]

28. That's fine with me, especially when it exposes the hypocrisy of Clinton supporters. nt

[MoonRiver]

49. Hypocrisy?

[mhatrw]

95. Hypocrisy in raking Sanders over the coals for a supporting a law Bill Clinton signed

and Texas Dems who support Hillary co-sponsored.

[NCTraveler]

15. Take a look at the timeframe.

How soon after Sanders stumped for Shumlin was it that Shumlin appointed Jane to the commissions?

[Armstead]

17. Bernie made a yuuuuuuggggeee amount of money from that -- NOT

[NCTraveler]

19. That's what it's about? Nt

[Armstead]

20. That's what cronyism is about -- What did the Sanders gain personally from any of this?

[NCTraveler]

26. Influence which does often lead to money.

You are the first person I have seen argue that cronyism is solely cash based. It's a new one for me and I don't buy it on face value.

[Armstead]

63. First it isn't cronyism

Okay since we're all being so sensitive to sexism, can the wives of public officials never receive appointment to boards or otehr public service positions. You had better tell the Clintons that.

2nd, Sanders was not actively promoting that out of some desire to have a feather in his cap or pad his resume. It was, as he has stated, the least worst alternative to a problem that he would rather not have seen in the first place.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/nuclear-power
March 15, 2012
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday questioned why federal regulators extended the operating license for the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear plant within days of a disastrous meltdown at a similar plant in Fukushima, Japan. Marking the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Senate committee that oversees the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing on the slow pace of efforts to strengthen safety at U.S. nuclear plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.



"License extensions continue without accounting for lessons learned" and "without taking time to examine the implications of Fukushima," Sanders said at the hearing.

Sanders one year ago called for a moratorium on power plant license renewals in this country. Instead, the week after the Fukushima meltdown, the commission charged with ensuring safety at U.S. nuclear power plants gave Vermont Yankee a license to operate for another 20 years. The decision made Vermont Yankee - with a similar design to the Fukushima reactors - one of 71 U.S. plants to be granted extensions. In fact, no nuclear plant operator in the United States ever has been denied a license renewal by the industry-friendly federal regulators.

The Senate hearing occurred one week before Vermont officials had hoped to close the 40-year-old plant at Vernon, Vt. The state is appealing a decision last January by a federal judge who ruled that state lawmakers overstepped their authority.

"In my state there is a strong feeling that we want to go forward with energy efficiency and sustainable energy. I believe that we have that right. I believe that every other state in the country has that right," Sanders said. "If we want to move to sustainable energy and not maintain an aging, trouble-plagued nuclear power plant, I think we should be allowed to do that."

Sanders also questioned why the federal government sinks billions of dollars into federal subsidies for the nuclear industry. With a $15 trillion national debt, he questioned subsidies like taxpayer-backed insurance for major disasters and $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear plants.

"When it comes to taxpayer support for nuclear power there is no end in sight," Sanders said.

[NCTraveler]

79. You are the one that said cronyism in this conversation.

I was simply pointing out your error in thought with respect to cronyism being cash based only. I did nothing moe. While I think the case for cronyism can easily be made this is more pay to play politics than anything else.

[Armstead]

80. Or simply someone being appointed to a post because appointers think she might be good for the post

[Bluenorthwest]

27. It's also good to know what really did get dumped in Sierra Blanca and by whom....

" SIERRA BLANCA, Tex.— There is not much here anymore, if there was ever much of anything to begin with. The town's main street is coated in dust, and the old movie house is long shuttered. The one sign of activity -- the traffic moving along elevated Interstate 10 -- is a reminder that the modern world rarely stops here.

It is hard to imagine places more different than New York and Sierra Blanca, and the contrast has always underscored the mercenary marriage between the nation's largest city and the small town where it has dumped its sewage since 1992. That year, after Congress had prohibited the city from dumping its sludge in the Atlantic Ocean, New York signed contracts with several companies to treat and transport its sewage. One of them was a Long Island joint venture, which began shipping up to 250 tons every day on the 2,065-mile journey to West Texas. The Texas Observer, the political journal, recently called it ''the poo-poo choo-choo.''

The Long Island company, Merco, had first sought a site in Oklahoma, but after meeting resistance there learned about a failed resort called the Mile High Ranch in Sierra Blanca. The company purchased the 81,000-acre area so that the treated sludge could be spread on ''application areas'' as if it were fertilizer. The company rotates the areas of land chosen to absorb the sludge."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/27/us/new-york-s-sewage-was-a-texas-town-s-gold.html

[magical thyme]

29. Clinton's unwavering stance on nuclear power and nuclear waste

Clinton stated, "I think nuclear power has to be part of our energy solution... We get about 20% of our energy from nuclear power in our country... other countries like France get much much more, so we do have to look at it because it doesn't put greenhouse gas emissions into the air."

Let's figure out what we're going to do about the waste and the cost if we think nuclear should be a part of the solution."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Hillary_Clinton


I voted against Yucca Mountain in 2001. I have been consistently against Yucca Mountain, looking at all the reasons why Yucca Mountain is not workable. The science does not support it.
Source: 2008 Democratic debate in Las Vegas , Jan 15, 2008
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Hillary_Clinton_Environment.htm


Clinton fundraised with Yucca Mountain contractor
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clinton-fundraised-with-yucca-mountain-contractor/article/2575675

When I asked Clinton five months ago about Yucca Mountain being off the table, she answered thusly: “Well, it is off the table based on what I know right now.”

Oh? I suggested she was equivocating, and Clinton retorted: "No, I’m not because I was against it based on the research that was made available. We do need to figure out what we’re going to do with nuclear waste and therefore I would look to leaders who are independent of certain industry pressures or certain political or geographic pressures."

And then this: “Well, it’s off the table now based on what I know. I think science is always changing. But based on what I know, where it is, the geology of where it is, it’s off the table.”
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/college/2015/11/03/ralston-reports-hillary-firmly-anti-yucca-now/75132884/

[Fla Dem]

51. And this is damaging to HRC how? She oppsed the Yucca site because environmentally it

wasn't proven to be a safe site.

[magical thyme]

59. in 20008. Now she's taking their money and suddenly not so opposed, and in the meantime

is ready to increase our dependency on nuclear.

[Fla Dem]

74. I'm certainly not reading that into the links you posted.

MT, I've always enjoyed your posts about your life and your horses, but I have to take issue with your conclusions.

First the Washington Examiner is a RW publication, well known for twisting Democrats' word to fit the scenario they want to push. For example "Clinton walked back promises to shutter the site during a swing through Nevada this summer, Jon Ralston reported Tuesday in the Reno Gazette-Journal." No where in the article did she say she was in favor of the Yucca site. What she said was

"It is off the table based on what I know right now," Clinton said of the nuclear dump.

This has been her position since ever. She has said repeatedly the current science does not support using that site as a nuclear waste dump. Now if at some time the mechanics and safety measures of using that site for N/W are improved, then yes she may have a different opinion.

Again in the Reno-Journal Gazette, Mr Ralston (who was being quoted in the Washington Examiner piece)takes HRCs words and uses them to draw his own conclusions, which he is certainly entitled to do. But I do not get anything other than what she has said all along.

When I asked Clinton five months ago about Yucca Mountain being off the table, she answered thusly: “Well, it is off the table based on what I know right now.”

Oh? I suggested she was equivocating, and Clinton retorted: "No, I’m not because I was against it based on the research that was made available. We do need to figure out what we’re going to do with nuclear waste and therefore I would look to leaders who are independent of certain industry pressures or certain political or geographic pressures."

And then this: “Well, it’s off the table now based on what I know. I think science is always changing. But based on what I know, where it is, the geology of where it is, it’s off the table.”

What more does she have to say? Does she need to do a pinkie awear?



And she is not ready to increase our dependency on N/E.

Q: Would you rule out expanding nuclear power?
A: No, but it would not be one of the options that I favor, unless, number one, the cost can get down for the construction and operation; number two, that we have a viable solution for the nuclear waste. I voted against Yucca Mountain. I’ve spoken out against Yucca Mountain. I think that recently the discovery--there’s an earthquake fault going under the proposed site at Yucca Mountain--certainly validates my opposition. So there are a lot of very difficult questions. But we’re going to have to look at the entire energy profile, in order to determine how we’re going to move away from our dependence upon carbon-based fuels. And I will look at everything, but there are some tough questions you’d have to answer with respect to nuclear.

Q: What about nuclear power as an alternative energy source?
A: I’m agnostic about nuclear power. Until we figure out what we’re going to do with the waste and the cost, it’s very hard to see nuclear as a part of our future. But that’s where American technology comes in. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do about the waste and the cost if we think nuclear should be a part of the solution.

http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Hillary_Clinton_Energy_+_Oil.htm

HRC's position on Climate Change and Clean Engery
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/climate/

[Armstead]

64. There are no safe sites

[Fla Dem]

78. I totally agree. nt

[retrowire]

31. and Hillary's better?

since I compare candidates, its still better to vote for Bernie.

[Fla Dem]

43. Not saying what BS did was wrong, but he voted for his constituents against his progressive

ideology. Didn't want Vt's waste to stay in their backyard. No different than Hillary voting in favor of her constituents.

[Armstead]

65. Vermont's backyard and water system and wind patterns includes MILLIONS of people....

in one of the most densly populated and environmentally fragile sections of the country.

YOU CAN'T HAVE a nuclear waste dump there without threatening all of New England, Much of New York, Boston, NYC, Albany and many other large cities and densely populated suburban areas.

Nuclear energy is a disaster, bernie opposes it. But since we've got it he was among MANY who were trying to find the least worst solution.

[SoapBox]

32. Old, old, old story...this was tried MONTHS ago to portray Bernie

as some kind of polluting monster.

And including his wife in this version???

SLIMY, SLIMY, SLIMY tactic used by Hill supporters!

Such desperation.

[nc4bo]

34. It's all they've got to work with. They must tear down Sanders to HRCs septic tank level

I almost feel sorry for them.

Almost.

[bvf]

36. They're ramping up the rotation again.

Witness the same crap being exhumed for the nth time around here wrt that whole $15T canard.

Truly retro, and stupid as hell.

[Fla Dem]

39. It may be an old situation, but no older than some of the crap brought up on HRC.

And these articles are recent, within the last 2 weeks. Means people are finally holding Berine's feet to the fire.

[ladjf]

67. An undergrad from Harvard floated a new hit piece

"Don't Trust Bernie". This nuclear waste item was included in his piece. (Don't bother reading is piece. It was naive and biased.)

[dana_b]

97. that whole site is nothing but one big pro Hillary, anti Bernie propaganda

in other words, it's not NEWS and they're touting a VERY old story as NEWS.

Take everything from there with a tiny grain of salt.

Btw - if the OP comes back and says "you're not talking about the issue" - which is rich coming from them because they rarely if EVER come to defend Hillary on all of the nasty crap that she pulls - I will say that I do NOT believe that everything that Bernie does/says is good. I think he was wrong here. It should not have been done. He needs to work on his environmental stances and figure out how to handle nuclear waste in a responsible manner. I am not for nuclear power anyway. Look at Fukushima!! Anyway, but I still believe that he is a much better candidate than any running right now and I will not back down from that. He is not perfect, but he's better than all of the others combined!

[navarth]

33. Another post by Hillary supporters who want us to 'come together now'. nt

[Fla Dem]

57. So we should just give up while you continue to bash HRC. Coming together

means both sides, not one continuing to hit while the other curls up in a ball. Seriously? LOL!.

[navarth]

106. Bashing = bad. Pointing out facts = fair. IMO

I don't see anybody curling up in a ball. There does seem to be an effort underway to get everybody to move on like it's all over. I'd prefer to see everybody vote. LOL's are not necessary.

[angstlessk]

37. Bernie wasn't the only co-sponsor, there were 23...many dems from TX

Rep. Hall, Ralph M. (D-TX-4)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Baldacci, John Elias (D-ME-2)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Sanders, Bernard (I-VT-At Large)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Allen, Thomas H. (D-ME-1)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Archer, Bill (R-TX-7)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Bentsen, Ken (D-TX-25)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Combest, Larry (R-TX-19)* 02/06/1997
Rep. DeLay, Tom (R-TX-22)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Edwards, Chet (D-TX-11)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Granger, Kay (R-TX-12)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Green, Gene (D-TX-29)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D-TX-18)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D-TX-30)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Johnson, Sam (R-TX-3)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Sessions, Pete (R-TX-5)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Smith, Lamar (R-TX-21)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Stenholm, Charles W. (D-TX-17)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Thornberry, Mac (R-TX-13)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Turner, Jim (D-TX-2)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Norwood, Charles W. (R-GA-10)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Burr, Richard (R-NC-5)* 02/06/1997
Rep. Tauzin, W. J. (Billy) (R-LA-3) 03/13/1997
Rep. Sandlin, Max (D-TX-1) 04/16/1997

[Fla Dem]

41. Yes because it benefited the Texas energy companies. The Maine senators voted

because their nuclear waste would go to Texas as well.

[Armstead]

66. And Gov. Ann Richards was a major champion of it.

[Autumn]

38. Saturday in the park.

[Eric J in MN]

42. 'President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law'

https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/texans-defend-sierra-blanca-community-against-nuclear-waste-disposal-1996-1998

[Fla Dem]

46. His veto would have been overturned. nt

[Eric J in MN]

50. Bill Clinton could have vetoed and urged Congressional Democrats to oppose

...the bill the next time it came up.

Maybe that would have stopped the bill, maybe not, but he vetoed other bills knowing his veto might-or-might-not be sustained.

[Loki]

45. Just like the worst environmental situation in Texas is

in predominately black and hispanics cities. Port Arthur, Pasadena, Texas City. Garbage dumps away from the nice white people.

[Thinkingabout]

52. You have a point here.

[Armstead]

75. Did Ann Richards agree with Bernie when she was pushing for the site involved?

[Vinca]

53. Hey . . . Texas wanted it.

In any case, I find the horrors of a "nuclear waste dump" kind of amusing having lived within 10 miles of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant ever since it was built in the 1960's. Nuclear waste has been stored on the site for decades. There is nothing wrong with consolidating the stuff in one place where it can be safely stored and properly guarded. If the area is poor, the presence of the storage facility would probably be a boon to the economy with good-paying jobs and a need for small businesses to serve the workers. If I were a Texan - rich or poor - I'd prefer this type of facility over fracking operations or exploding fertilizer plants.

[MisterP]

58. they're very good at hiding and dismissing the effects

http://www.plutopia.net/

[SunSeeker]

55. K & R for exposure. nt

[mcar]

76. K&R

[HassleCat]

77. That was wrong, a case of environmental racism.

It's one of the very few examples of Sanders being on the wrong side of an issue. When you consider the enormous effort of the other camp to dig up damaging information, its remarkable they have found so little.

[George II]

86. As of today, there are nine Commissioners (one of them an alternate) on TLLRWDA....

....(the "T" being TEXAS), six of them are from Texas (logically) and three of them are from Vermont!

To borrow from my Brooklynese, "how come is that"?

[mhatrw]

96. Who is more pro-nuke power and who is more anti-nuke power of Clinton and Sanders?

Last edited Sat Mar 5, 2016, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

LOL at castigating Sanders for trying to figure out the best way to dispose of the toxic waste pro-nuke power assholes created.

"There is no good way to dispose of it, so let's just leave it in that there shed." Right, pro-nuke power people?

[George II]

98. Sure, just dump it in a town with a large Hispanic population and...

....just a few miles from the border with Mexico, who had nothing to say about nuclear waste being dumped near them.

[mhatrw]

102. Where is the radioactive waste now? Did those right next to where it is now get any say in this?

If Clinton gets her way on nuke power, there will be a lot more of this waste with no good place to put it.

[George II]

103. Its all in the linked article.

[DesertRat]

100. k&r

[itsrobert]

101. Thanks. Missed this. Bernie is just another not in my backyard politician

Shameful.

[Jitter65]

108. Just this. Bernie has truly not been vetted yet. Clearly not like Hillary has. nt

[MadamX2016]

110. Jane "made-off" Sanders still sits on the board - Warning to California Residents

2014 Tax Return : "Jane Sanders, Bernie Sanders’s wife, is also listed on his 2014 federal tax return. She made $4,900 for her role as “TLLRWD Commissioner." (Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission). Apparently, she was promoted since 1998.

Video of Jake Tapper & Tad Devine : (paraphrase): TLLRWD just opposition research. Yet Bernie resurrects "Super-Predator" as a 'racial contrast' when questioned in Harlem NY at the Apollo Theatre? Checkmate. Match.

HRC SuperPAC - Great video for California Media Markets!!!

Fact checking Bernie Sanders' commitment to so-called minority communities and environmental racism & justice: Voted to dump Vermont’s nuclear waste in a majority Latino community in Sierra Blanca, Texas -

In 1998, the House of Representatives approved a compact struck between Texas, Vermont and Maine that would allow Vermont and Maine to dump low-level nuclear waste at a designated site in Sierra Blanca, Texas. Sanders, at the time representing Vermont in the House, cosponsored the bill and actively ushered it through Congress.

Located about 16 miles from the Mexican border, Sierra Blanca’s population is predominantly of Mexican ancestry. At the time, the community was about two-thirds Latino, and its residents had an average income of $8,000, according to the an article in the Bangor Daily News.

(I wonder what Pope Francis would think? How about the Catholic voters Senators' is trying to wrap-up?)

The low-level nuclear waste would include "items such as scrap metal and worker’s gloves… as well as medical gloves used in radiation treatments at hospitals," according to the Bangor Daily News. Clinton, then the First Lady, did not have a vote on the matter.
--
H.R.629 - Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act105th Congress (1997-1998)
--
Federal Government
President: Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) - 1993 to 2001
Vice President: Al Gore (D-Tennessee)
Chief Justice: William Rehnquist (originally from the U.S. state of Wisconsin) [1]
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia)
Senate Majority Leader: Trent Lott (R-Mississippi)
Congress: 104th (until January 3), 105th (starting January 3)
Governor of Texas (1997) George W. Bush

We can see why Senator Sanders' was reluctant to release his tax returns. Does anyone think Bill Clinton does not know where his skeletons and Senator Sanders' are buried?

-------JANE "made-off" SANDERS : Vermont, Maine and Texas (1998[?]-2016) ---------

"A factoid one should note here was that at this time, the governor for whom the TLLRWDA was working was none other than George W. Bush. Oh, and Jane Sanders, Bernie's wife, sits on the Board of this wonderful Texas authority."

And how did they come to a decision to pick that town? Fighting the passage of bill H.R. 629 in the senate, Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) spoke on the matter in great length and detail. In short, it was a case of environmental injustice. Despite the findings of the consultants that Sierra Blanca was not a good site due to its “complex geology” and also a history of earthquakes in the past due to tectonic faults in El Paso and Hudspeth counties, the Waste Authority still went ahead and picked the site because the people living there would be least likely to resist or make a fuss about it, since the majority of the residents are Spanish-speaking and poor. They had tried to pick other locations for the site, but was met with either lawsuit or fierce opposition. So, finally, the Waste Authority just gave up and chose the path of least resistance, procedures and recommendations be damned. Texas legislature also gave a helping hand by passing the Box Law and stripped the rights of the residents in Sierra Blanca from suing. The only recourse they could take was to obtain an injunction from the state Supreme Court, which means they would have to make the 500-mile trip to Austin just to be heard.

----------------------Jane Sanders -.http://www.tllrwdcc.org/about-the-comission/ --------
Governor of Minnesota Arne H. Carlson (I-Republican-MN) 1991-1999
Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
Gover of Maine Angus King (I-Me) 1995-2003
Governor of Vermont - Howard Dean (D-V) 1991-2003
Governor of Texas - George W. Bush 1995-2000
The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission, Alternate Commissioner Jane O’Meara Sanders, Ph.D., VT

---https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ236/PLAW-105publ236.pdf

PL 105-236 The U.S. Congress ratified a Compact between Texas, Maine and Vermont for disposal of low-level radioactive waste with the passage of the Compact Consent Act, PL 105-236 in 1998.

“Sierra Blanca is a small town in Hudspeth County about 90 miles southeast of El Paso, TX and only 16 miles north of the Mexico border. There are about 900 residents, 60% of whom are mostly Hispanic. 30% of the roughly 430 housing units are vacant. Sierra Blanca is an extremely poor town where almost a third of the households live below the poverty level of $15,000. The town’s per capita income is about $10,500 but the entire county’s is only $8,000.”

For weeks, they spoke in front of committees, with Vermont residents unaware of what was going on, and gained compassion and even apologies from them. Finally, they met with Bernie Sanders on the issue. What was his response? Drop dead:

“Before the rally Sanders invited the three West Texans to meet with him privately, and the Texans eagerly agreed. The meeting was no longer than Sanders’ attention span - when it comes to Sierra Blanca. “He didn’t listen,” Curry said. “He had his mind made up.” Afterward, Bernie was giving his pro forma campaign speech, never mentioning nuclear power or nuclear waste. Sierra Blanca activist Bill Addington, who’d arrived just that morning to join the march, along with his neighbor María Méndez, had had enough, and he yelled from the crowd, “What about my home, Bernie? What about Sierra Blanca?”

Several others joined in. “What about Sierra Blanca, Bernie?”

Sanders left the stage, which surprised no one in the small Texas delegation. Earlier, he had told them,

“My position is unchanged, and you’re not gonna like it.”

When they asked if he would visit the site in Sierra Blanca, he said,

“Absolutely not. I’m gonna be running for re-election in the state of Vermont.””
---
Yeah, your hero. Where was his fight for racial injustice? On the side of Caucasian Vermonters. Where was his fighting for environmental justice? Read the previous answer.
----
"He could also have supported the proposed amendments to the bill by Senator Wellstone to give rights to sue back to the residents of Sierra Blanca. But seeing as to how those amendments might jeopardize the tri-state Compact, he vehemently opposed it. In the end, all he cared about was to find the easiest way to rid Vermont of its nuclear toxic waste, instead of choosing to stand up for what is right and just."

The outskirts of Sierra Blanca was the location of a sludge dump that received 250 tons of treated sewage each day from New York City. The practice was discontinued in 2001.[12]

[12] Yardley, Jim (2007-07-27). "New York's Sewage Was a Texas Town's Gold" : http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f.... The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
------
Two sides to every result:

(1) “It reflects very poorly on him,” said longtime environmental justice activist Dr. Robert Bullard, dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and the author of Dumping in Dixie. “Shoving this down people’s throats is not progressive politics. It was business as usual. It’s a classic case of rich people from a white state shifting something they don’t want to a poor minority community somewhere else.”

(2) “Bernie made a big mistake, but this country has a lot bigger problems than what happened 20 years ago,” Addington said. “Not that that gives him a free pass, not that it makes him right, but we’ve moved on."

Bill Addington: "In 1992, local Bill Addington responded by forming the foundation “Save Sierra Blanca,” which opposed the establishment of the disposal site and rallied support among the primarily Spanish speaking population, who did not have access to information about disposal. In 1992, Texas agreed to dispose of nuclear waste from Maine and Vermont in exchange for $55 million, which caused outrage in the local group. The group then allied with the Nuclear Responsibility Network to form the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund (SBLDF)."
https://nvdatabase.swarthmore....

2016 Texas Democratic Primary -
Clinton 65.2%, Sanders 33.2%

Mrs. Clinton won Texas even though her husband, Bill Clinton was the president who signed HR 629. It seems the people forgave THEM but not Bernie. California is next.
----
FYI - Approximate travel time from Santee, California to Sierra Blanca, Texas is: 1 hrs, 37 mins (675 miles)

Santee, California
Total Population: 53,413
Male Population: 25,823
Female Population: 27,590

2008 California Primary
Clinton 51.5%, Obama 43.2%

2016 April Poll: The nonpartisan poll of likely voters in California’s June 7 primary showed Clinton leading Sanders 47 percent to 41 percent.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/clinton-711451-sanders-percent.html

Here is where #IAmWithHer SuperPAC comes into play.

Feel free to share this research to get the truth out about Bernie Sanders ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth.

#anarchy2016 : I wonder what Pope Francis would think of this?