The state is pushing nuclear on us
Dr. Danielle Endres, Ph.D., had an excellently written piece in the Salt Lake Tribune, addressing that nearly $2 million has been put into a public relations campaign to promote nuclear energy to Utah citizens.”
She writes, “Initiating a PR campaign seems to have bypassed a public participation process about whether nuclear energy is what the people want in favor of a campaign to persuade them that it is right for the state. Although there is no one agreed upon definition, a key element of energy democracy is ensuring that citizens and energy users have a say in decision-making about energy extraction, production, use and waste management choices that affect them. As a representative democracy, the role of the government is not to spend tax dollars on a PR campaign, but to represent the views of its citizens. Furthermore, science communication research tells us that a deficit model of communication — one in which publics are viewed as empty vessels who merely need to be educated about the values of nuclear energy — rarely works.”
“The state’s PR campaign is focused on selling nuclear to Utah citizens. The goal of the state’s nuclear energy PR campaign is “to provide a marketing and communications campaign that will educate the public, policymakers, and stakeholders about nuclear energy and the role it could play in Utah’s future energy mix.” Topics to be covered by the campaign include “why nuclear energy is a valuable and necessary resource,” “how nuclear energy can help Utah meet its economic and environmental goals” and “economic benefits of creating a nuclear ecosystem in Utah.”
Just a few weeks ago, a local pediatrician spoke out regarding Utah’s plans to store radioactive waste from another country in Tooele County. A few weeks before that, Governor Cox announced rather vague plans to build a nuclear power plant and a training center for nuclear workers in Brigham City. Every phase of the nuclear fuel cycle, from the mining of uranium to the storage of toxic waste and decommissioning of the reactors releases radioactivity into the broad environment, i.e. our air, water and soil, even without any accidents.
Utahns deserve transparent, science-based decision making, not million dollar persuasion campaigns. Keep speaking up, ask hard questions, and don’t let a $2 million PR effort drown out public health, environmental realities, or your voice.