Dear Friend,
Fellow Iowans, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we won’t be saddled with the cost of new nuclear reactor construction -- at least for another year.
Last Wednesday, the Iowa Legislature adjourned without passing a “cost recovery” bill that would have paved the way for MidAmerican Energy to charge ratepayers in advance to fund risky new nuclear reactors. The utility would have been allowed to keep the money even if construction was never completed.
While MidAmerican lobbied extensively for the bill, its failure is proof that the Iowa Legislature was listening to the people of Iowa. We owe a huge thanks to you -- our activists who mobilized against the bill.
For the past year, Friends of the Earth has been working with local and national groups including AARP, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Green State Solutions, Iowa PIRG, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Move to Amend, CREDO Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility to stop the cost recovery bill, taking out radio and TV ads, phoning more than 100,000 Iowans, and mobilizing thousands of activists who called and wrote their elected officials.
The victory in Iowa is a clear defeat for the nuclear industry, and it injects important momentum into the tough battles we’re facing all across the country to end reliance on dangerous nuclear reactors. In California, we’re working to keep the San Onofre nuclear reactors offline after damage to the reactors led to a temporary shut down. In North Carolina, debate has begun over a cost recovery bill similar to the one in Iowa.
The nuclear industry isn’t giving up. We will continue our work in Iowa, with the expectation that MidAmerican will try again next session.
We hope you’ll continue to be a part of the movement for clean, 21st-century energy.
Mike Carberry
Iowa nuclear campaigner, Friends of the Earth
P.S. Please chip in $5 or more to Friends of the Earth and help us continue our work fighting for people and the planet. |
