[CPEO-MEF] U.S. Energy Secretary's record

[marylia@earthlink.net]

Meet the New U.S. Secretary of Energy

by Inga Olson and the Idaho "snakes"
from Tri-Valley CAREs' March 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Before assuming his new post, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was head of
the Michigan Republican Party, a top aide to Vice President Dan Quayle, and
a one-term Senator from Michigan (defeated in 2000). Looking at a slice of
his voting record on issues that are of particular interest to us shows:

* In 1995, he voted for substantial cuts in the Environmental Protection
Agency's budget to enforce air, water, and wetland regulations.

* He voted to weaken a community's right to know about toxics by voting to
eliminate up to 90 percent of the chemicals that industry currently must
report.

* He helped successful efforts to block high fuel-economy standards for
sport-utility vehicles and supported unsuccessful efforts to suspend the
federal gasoline tax.

* He joined last year's unsuccessful effort to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.

* While in the Senate, he consistently voted to move irradiated reactor
fuel to Yucca Mountain under the "Mobile Chernobyl" bill.

* He supports a "Star Wars" missile defense system.

* He twice co-sponsored legislation to abolish the Department of Energy.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Secretary Abraham accepted
$90,171 from 35 oil and gas political action committees in 1999 & 2000.

We were successful in helping to educate the former Energy Secretary, Bill
Richardson, on some critical issues including cost overruns and schedule
delays involving the NIF.

So, while it does not appear that Tri-Valley CAREs and Secretary Abraham
share similar views on many key issues, we will be ready to meet with him
none-the-less. We would hope to explore, for example, whether his "budget
hawk"  philosophy will include NIF.

With the new administration in place, we also want to make certain that our
well-researched and community-supported approach to nuclear weapons  issues
receives a full hearing.

Thus, we will continue to be a voice for disarmament -- and for
improvements in  the health, safety, and quality of life in communities
around the nuclear weapons complex.

(Thanks to the Snake River Alliance for the info on Abraham's record.)

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
Abolition 2000 global network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, the
U.S. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Back From the Brink
campaign to get nuclear weapons taken off hair-trigger alert.



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