Clear and present danger–requires energy investments on safe, clean, renewable sources like wind and solar

Dear Kevin,

Heed Japan’s Warning

Nuclear power carries catastrophic risks.

Ask Congress and the White House to review the safety of our nuclear power plants and focus energy investments on safe, clean, renewable sources like wind and solar.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan as they deal with the unbelievable loss and destruction wrought by the massive earthquake and tsunami while they struggle to contain the worst nuclear crisis the world has witnessed since Chernobyl.

Events are moving too quickly to draw any final conclusions about what will or will not happen at Japan’s damaged power plants. We hope that they are able to avoid full meltdowns.

However uncertain the outcome, the crisis in Japan has made one thing crystal clear – nuclear power carries catastrophic risks. The tragedy unfolding at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima brings those threats into heartbreaking focus.

We here in the U.S. are far from immune to the type of horrific crisis taking place in Japan.

In fact, many of our nuclear reactors are the exact same type as the ones that are currently in crisis in Japan. Unfortunately, they’re also at a similarly advanced age – most of them are now operating beyond their initial 40-year license period.1

Experts and policy-makers have also raised red flags about inadequate planning to deal with nuclear emergencies.2

That is why we would like your help convincing Congress and the White House to conduct a thorough review of the safety of our existing nuclear power plants, put a hold on approving new plants while the implications of events in Japan are assessed, and focus investments on safer, cleaner forms of renewable energy like wind and solar power.

Please join us in urging the White House and Congress to heed Japan’s hard lesson by taking these immediate next steps to prevent future disasters.

If you would like to support the disaster relief efforts, Doctors Without Borders and The Red Cross are both trusted organizations helping to respond to the crisis.

Thank you for your help and support.

Sincerely,

Michael Town
Director, SaveOurEnvironment.org
info@saveourenvironment.org

NOTE

Dear President Obama and Leaders of U.S. House and Senate,

The tragedy unfolding at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan is a heartbreaking reminder of the fact that nuclear power carries catastrophic risks.

I am all too aware that we here in the U.S. are equally vulnerable to those risks.

Many of our nuclear reactors are the same type (and advanced age) as the ones that are currently in crisis in Japan. Most of them are now operating beyond their initial 40-year license period.

Experts and policy-makers have also raised red flags about inadequate planning to deal with nuclear emergencies.

That is why I urge you to push hard for the following steps:

* Conducting a thorough review of the safety of our existing nuclear power plants;
* Putting a hold on approving new plants while the implications of events in Japan are assessed; and
* Focusing investments on safer, cleaner forms of renewable energy like wind and solar power.

We must heed Japan’s hard lessons by taking these immediate next steps to prevent future nuclear disasters here in the U.S.

Thank you in advance for your leadership on this truly critical issue.

Sincerely,

KEVIN STODA