Most or all the bills to protect us from dangers of Pilgrim and Seabrook nuclear power plants will die unless Democrats including Town Committees tell legislators to pass, before the end of June, the bills which were near-unanimously approved by the 2015 Democratic Convention.
Co-chairs Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Kate Hogan of the Joint Committee on Public Health need to be asked to favorably report H.2031 to provide radiation monitors up to 50 miles from the plants, also including Nantucket, which bill however needs funding. Senate Ways and Means chairperson Sen. Karen Spilka needs to favorably report S.1798 to bill Pilgrim owner Entergy to build the decommissioning fund and House Ways and Means Committee chairperson Brian Dempsey should report favorably H.2167 for emergency planning.
Sen. Danial Wolf withdrew S.1797 to incentivize Entergy to move spent fuel rods into dry casks, anticipating the company’s opposition.
The Secretary of State’s website reports an Entergy employee in 2015 opposed all the bills approved by the Convention. The site reports that various Entergy corporate entities have spent more than $1.6 million in lobbying salaries since 2005.
John Nichols
Orleans