[imc-st.louis] Fwd: Happy Earth Day, Time to Make Your Voice Heard on CWIP, Ameren Greenwashing & More

Wed Apr 22 07:20:13 PDT 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Missourians for Safe Energy <mail at mosafeenergy.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:39 AM
Subject: [MSE_Eastern-Mo] Happy Earth Day, Time to Make Your Voice Heard on
CWIP, Ameren Greenwashing & More
To: MSE Eastern-Mo List <MSE_Eastern-Mo at midmopeaceworks.org>

 Hello friends,

Earth Day greetings to all. As we observe the official Earth Day on April
22, or upcoming Earth Day Festivals this Sunday, April 26, it’s a great time
to focus on making our  energy economy sustainable.

We need to share with our fellow citizens a clear message that we can’t go
on like this, and that there is a better way available to us, now. Finite
and polluting fuels are not the answer. Rather, we must insist on the rapid
transition to a carbon-free and nuclear-free future. A viable future has at
its foundation energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources.

We hope you will join us in helping put these basic concepts at the center
of the debate on energy policy and climate change.

*THIS MONTH’S ISSUE INCLUDES:*

1)  Time for Action on CWIP.

2)  Join MSE at StL Earth Day.

3)  Two Mid-Mo MSE Events.

     a)  Bonnie Raitt Opportunity, Tuesday, May 5.

     b)  Sol-a-bration, Saturday, June 20.

4) Ameren Greenwashes CWIP Bill--Analysis from Erin Noble.

*TIME TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD RE: CWIP:*

AmerenUE is trying to pull a fast one. Now is the time to stop them.

They want our state legislature to act against the will of Missouri voters
and against what the polls say is the opinion of 82% of our state’s
citizenry. They not only want to have the ability to charge for a power
plant before it’s built and to charge for a power plant if it is partially
built and then canceled,  but they want to dramatically overhaul the way
that rates are set in our state to their benefit and their customers’
detriment.

If you do nothing else about this issue, please take less than two minutes
to let your legislators know your feelings. The easiest way to do this is to
click here:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5639/t/4118/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2519
and take just a few seconds to e-mail your state rep and state senator.

You can also take just another few seconds to send a message to Gov. Jay
Nixon urging him to stand firm against this anti-consumer,
anti-environmental measure. Just click here:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5639/t/4118/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2581

Those are the fastest actions you can take. If you want to make sure you’re
heard, you can call their offices. You can find your rep’s phone number by
going to www.house.mo.gov and clicking on House Members. If you don’t know
your rep’s name, you can click on the Legislator Look-up on this same page.
You can find your senator’s number through a similar process at
www.senate.mo.gov.

You can call Gov. Jay Nixon at 573-751-3222.

Your calls need not be lengthy, just a quick opportunity to let them know
your concerns about Senate Bill 228 and House Bill 554.

If you want to read a little more before contacting them, check out
www.nocwip.org and read the analysis piece by Erin Noble below.

If you want to do a little more, please forward this e-mail to all your
friends in Missouri who you think might be interested.

*SEE YOU AT EARTH DAY:*

This coming Sunday, April 26 is the date for St. Louis Earth Day. Thousands
of environmentally concerned citizens will gather between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
in Forest Park on the Muny Grounds. To find out more about this great, free
event, please visit www.stlouisearthday.org.

MSE will once again have a booth at StL Earth Day. We will have No CWIP
petitions, literature, free bumperstickers, displays, books and more. We
have a crew of StL area volunteers lined up to staff the booth, but would
welcome more help. If you'd like to volunteer for a couple of hours, please
send us an e-mail ASAP to mail at mosafeenergy.org.  We are hoping for a
beautiful day and hope even if you can't volunteer, that you will come visit
us at the MSE booth.

*TWO MID-MISSOURI EVENTS:*

We know that Columbia is a significant distance, but here are two events
going on there that might be of interest:

*HEY BONNIE RAITT FANS, HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO MEET BONNIE & BENEFIT MSE:*

As you've possibly heard, Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer Bonnie Raitt is coming
to Columbia on Tuesday, May 5. Bonnie is a longtime advocate of safe,
sustainable energy, and, when she tours, she does what she can to support
local energy activist groups. Missourians for Safe Energy has been invited
to come and set up a lit table in the lobby of Jesse Hall for Bonnie's
concert. But there's more:

*SUPPORT MSE BY BUYING THESE SPECIAL TICKETS:*  Bonnie is providing a very
limited number of special benefit tickets with the full price going to MSE.
These tickets are either $150 or $250 each. They are for front and center,
row B, seats. The Gold Tickets also provide for a backstage visit with
Bonnie after the show. MSE has the opportunity to raise nearly two thousand
dollars if these tickets all sell, money we can really make good use of in
our energy advocacy work.  If you have the means to do this, please go to
http://www.novoiceunheard.org/GuacFundTicketsBonnie to check this out. If
you can't, but you are planning on attending the show, stop by our table,
say hello and sign our petition. Thanks.

*SOL-A-BRATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 20:*  Missourians for Safe Energy will hold
our second annual Sol-a-bration, a Summer Solstice Celebration of
Sustainable Energy at Courthouse Sq. from 4-9:30 p.m. Details TBA.

*AMEREN GREENWASHES CWIP BILL--COMMENTARY FROM ERIN NOBLE:*

Have you been following the drama over electricity rate legislation playing
out at the state Capitol this year? It's often more shocking than daytime
soaps, complete with corporate buy-outs, name calling, and outright lies.

We anticipated that AmerenUE's effort to overturn the voter-enacted ban on
charging rate payers for Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) was going to
garner a lot of attention, but who knew their efforts to pass the
legislation would be this dishonest?

*In a recent TV commercial, Ameren "greenwashes" the CWIP bill with images
showing wind and solar technologies. *This ad is doubly misleading: wind and
solar projects do not require CWIP financing to be built and Ameren's most
recent resource plan does not include wind or solar projects.

In reality, overturning the ban on CWIP is for one purpose only - to force
ratepayers to assume the risk and expense of a second nuclear reactor at
Callaway before the plant delivers any electricity to the ratepayers and
with no guarantee the plant will ever produce electricity. It is deceptive
to name the bill "the Clean and Renewable Energy Construction Act" and to
actively mislead the public into thinking its passage will increase the
usage of solar and wind in Missouri. In fact, the CWIP bill does just the
opposite because investing $10 billion or more into Callaway 2 leaves little
money for investment into renewable sources.

My frustration increased when Tom Voss, president and chief executive of
AmerenUE, pointed to the November passage of Proposition C as proof that
Missourians favor a new nuclear reactor. Prop C explicitly excluded nuclear
power because of its expensive price tag and its public health and
environmental impacts.

Beyond Ameren's greenwashing of the bill, the utility company is also
misleading the public with blatant miscalculations of the actual price tag
of Callaway 2 and the rate impact CWIP will have on consumers. *A study by
the Missouri Office of Public Counsel reports the CWIP legislation would
likely lead to a 40% increase in electric rates,* well above the number
Ameren officials are telling legislators and the public.

Beyond rate increases, the CWIP bill also requires ratepayers to finance a
plant without a guarantee the plant will ever come online. If costs soar or
if the project is abandoned after billions are invested, ratepayers would
end up paying the bill. It would authorize quarterly rate hikes and
dismantle other oversight and rate payer protections.

*If Missouri legislators approve CWIP, Missouri is locked into a nuclear
future rather than allowing Missouri to transition to proven alternatives
that are cleaner, cheaper, and more quickly available.* In a free market,
nuclear power could not survive because investors won't touch it. The
industry is largely reliant on enormous public subsidies. Without the
federal government assuming liability risks and a huge portion of the costs
for research, processing, storing, and moving radioactive materials, there
would be no nuclear industry.

If the General Assembly overturns the ban on CWIP, Missouri ratepayers will
be forced to subsidize the nuclear industry even further, delaying the more
prudent use of renewable technologies for decades to come. During that time,
other states will invest in efficiency improvements and make the transition
to renewable energy, and will gain a competitive edge, and attract business
and jobs while supplying cheaper and cleaner energy (without producing
nuclear waste).

CWIP underwrites a foolish commitment to obsolete technology that simply
cannot compete in a free market when wind, solar, and other renewable
sources are readily available. If the CWIP boondoggle passes and Callaway 2
is built, Ameren will be the only beneficiary at the expense of consumers,
thanks to our state legislators.

In 1976, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative that
prohibited CWIP charges that was aimed at stopping just such corporate
giveaways. *Today, polls shows that 82% of Missourians are opposed to
overturning the ban on CWIP.* CWIP is a corporate bailout for Ameren at the
expense of Missouri families already struggling to make ends meets.

Use this form [
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5639/t/4118/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2519
] to email your legislator and ask him or her vote no on CWIP. Meanwhile,
Ameren should rethink its misleading communication tactics.

Erin Noble

Missouri Coalition for the Environment   email: enoble at moenviron.org  phone:
314-727-0600  web:
http://www.moenviron.org<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102556045835&s=397&e=001bb7TIlALaoyNOb81KwOPWHaym--IM7Co0fdLWkj9QqGwOTEYybyWzBlIGmTZlvccZ4YWZesoUjNTVSMBPvX_FvmQqgOfHWmv_OsCYnCOrCI=>

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 Missourians for Safe Energy
804-C E. Broadway
Columbia, MO 65201
573-875-0539

E-mail: mail at mosafeenergy.org
Web site: www.mosafeenergy.org

“The availability of Federally guaranteed loans, and/or a guarantee of the
ability to charge ratepayers (often during construction) for the costs of a
new facility, are no substitute for prudent business judgment. Simply
shifting the burden of risks from the utility’s shareholders and executives,
to the taxpayers and ratepayers does not make any risks go away. It simply
sets up yet another situation where profits are privatized while risks are
socialized, allowing those who make bad decisions to walk away from the
effects of their own imprudence. After hundreds of billions of such outcomes
this year alone, the public has no stomach for more of this.”  Craig A.
Severance, “Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power”  January 2, 2009
http://climateprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/nuclear-costs-2009.pdf

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_______________________________________________
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-- 
Ben West
westbywest at gmail.com
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