SNAKE RIVER ALLIANCE
IDAHO’S NUCLEAR WATCHDOG
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 25, 2007
CONTACT INFORMATION
Jeremy Maxand, Executive Director
Snake River Alliance
(208) 344-9161 office
(208) 850-9334 cell
Elliott Negin, Media Director
Union of Concerned Scientists
(202) 331-5439
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TELL ALTERNATE ENERGY HOLDINGS TO REMOVE NAMES FROM WEBSITE
Three of the largest environmental organizations in the US this week told Alternate Energy Holdings Incorporated, the Virginia-based company proposing to construct and operate a 1,600 Megawatt commercial nuclear plant near Bruneau, Idaho, to remove their names from AEHI’s website. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and Environmental Defense (ED) all told AEHI to remove the organizations’ names from a webpage that listed them as supporters of nuclear power. AEHI maintains that nuclear power is a viable solution to global warming, and is listing these groups as supporters of nuclear power to this end.
In a letter to AEHI, UCS wrote: “… the use of UCS’s name as you have displayed it is recklessly false, intentionally misleading, and done with the intention of harming our good reputation. We demand that you immediately remove any reference to UCS from your site.” The NRDC, meanwhile, wrote: “NRDC’s name is listed by you without citation, attribution, explanation, or permission. Most important, the listing of NRDC for this purpose is inaccurate. We demand that you immediately remove our name from your website.”
In addition to removing leading environmental organizations’ names from its website, AEHI this week removed repeated displays of the Great Seal of the State of Idaho from its pages. In a letter to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, Alliance Executive Director Jeremy Maxand had said AEHI’s use of the state seal seemed to indicate Idaho supports the proposed nuclear plant, when in fact the state has not taken a position.
“Proposing a nuclear power plant in Idaho or anywhere else is a very serious matter,” Maxand said. “Idahoans have a right to expect a developer to be more careful than to appropriate the names of respected national organizations and the Great Seal of the State of Idaho without first checking the facts.”
Fact Sheets on Nuclear Power and Climate Change:
http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/plants/plants.pdf
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/npp.pdf
Alternate Energy Holdings Incorporated Idaho Energy Complex:
http://www.idahoenergycomplex.com
The Snake River Alliance is an Idaho-based grassroots group working through research, education, and community advocacy for peace and justice, the end to nuclear weapons, responsible solutions to nuclear waste and contamination, and sustainable alternatives to nuclear power.