Ohio Energy Matters: Welcome to a new blog

Ohio 

A New Local Blog, and Why Local Blogs Matter

This post welcomes a new local blog, started by Will Davis.

Ohio Energy Matters
This blog's motto is:
Reporting on Ohio energy matters because Ohio's energy MATTERS

This blog is in the grand tradition of local nuclear blogs...well, I think that there are only five local nuclear blogs in North America.  Still, five can be a grand tradition, right?

The five local blogs that I know about are:
Ohio Energy Matters
Canadian Energy Issues
Atoms For California
Northwest Clean Energy
Yes Vermont Yankee

All politics is local. 

Local blogs can influence local actions by providing local information and linking to ways to use that

information (hearings to attend, newspaper articles that may have comment sections on-line, etc.)  The local blogs are adapted to their areas, and feature different types of information.

• Steve Aplin of Canadian Energy Issues has a running sidebar on his blog of how much clean energy is being produced in Ontario, that hour, by nuclear, gas, wind and other energy sources. 
• Andrew Benson of Atoms for California analyzes the California Energy Commission response to nuclear, among other things, including renewable sprawl.
• Northwest Clean Energy writes about new records set by Columbia Generating Station, challenges nuclear opponents inaccurate scare stories, and describes a utility demand response initiative. (This blog has several bloggers: I am one of them.) 
• Will Davis at Ohio Energy Matters describes local hearings and local news reports.  He also has local news sources in his blog rolls.
• At Yes Vermont Yankee, I have quoted from testimony and court cases concerning the plant. I also have local news on my blog rolls.

The blog posts at these blogs are  not always of national interest.  Yet they are tremendously important.  Local people want to link to legislative reports, hearing records and so forth. They want to refer back to something that happened six months ago, without trying to comb through the archives of a newspaper.  As a matter of fact, newspaper and radio reporters often (not always) read the local blogs when they want "the other side" of the nuclear story, and are pressed for time to find it.

All politics is local.

The Opponents Go National and We Must Go Local

Many nuclear opponents have nationwide reach.  For example, one of the men who was most active in closing Vermont Yankee is now "crisscrossing  (Ohio) labeling the power purchase agreement a “bailout” for the utility and specifically for Davis-Besse." From a   Dan Yurman blog post on activism against nuclear plants.  This man is determined to close down Davis-Besse next.

To defend the nuclear option, I believe we need both national and local blogs. A recent post at Ohio Energy Matters shows exactly the type of impact that a local blogs can have.

Nuclear Energy Institute did a report on the financial contributions of Davis Besse to the Ohio economy.  In his blog post,  Economic Impacts of Davis-Besse, Will Davis summarized the report and linked to the report.  But he went farther.  He compared this report to the report of economic devastation that is happening in Vermont due to shutting down Vermont Yankee.  In other words, he put the Davis-Besse report in context.

In the comment section, someone asked how to comment to agencies in favor of Davis Besse.  By having a local blog, Davis was able to both receive this comment (who you gonna ask?) and to answer it.  

Welcome the new local blog: Ohio Energy Matters!

Will Davis, Blog Author

Will Davis has an outstanding track record as a pro-nuclear energy communicator.  Davis has his own blog, Atomic Power Review, with over 800,000 page views. He writes for the industry newsletter, Fuel Cycle Week. He is one of the organizers and editors of the American Nuclear Society blog ANS Nuclear Café. Davis is also Communications Director for the Nuclear Ship Savannah Association.

So Davis is not just a nuclear communicator, he is a very busy and very sought-after nuclear communicator.  And yet, Davis has started this new, local blog.  Because local blogs are important.

Welcome to New Blog: Atoms for California

 Another Local Pro-Nuclear Blogger!

Welcome to the blog Atoms for California!

Okay, Meredith, I can just hear my readers say---California is not "local" to Vermont.   What are you talking about with "another local pro-nuclear blogger"?

California is indeed across the country from Vermont, but I want to welcome another locally-focused blog.  Every pro-nuclear blogger has his or her own area of interest and expertise--our blogs are not interchangeable. My blog list includes an amazing group of powerful pro-nuclear voices.  We need all these voices.

That said, I believe that locally-focused blogs can be particularly strong and effective. Local people know the history, background, issues, and chief players of their own locality.  For example, I am authoritative about what happens (and is likely to happen) at the Statehouse in Montpelier.  It would be hard for me to know very much about which type of reactor the Czech Republic is most likely to buy.

Atoms for California

Atoms for California is very impressive pro-nuclear blog, written by a man who truly knows the situation in California.  In the Author Disclaimer section of the blog, we learn that the blog author's father works as a senior nuclear engineer at San Onofre, and he himself works for the California Energy Commission.  The blogger makes it very clear that this is his personal blog, and has nothing to do with the Commission.

The Table of Contents provides a wealth of material, including a history of the Electric Program Investment Plan (EPIC) in California.   The "Objectives of this site" page is not a quick mission statement, but a nine-point program with statements such as Challenging the exclusion of nuclear power from California’s Loading Order.

This is a blog to read!

Advantages of Local Blogging

Local bloggers can grow local followings. Local bloggers can be well-enough known to be interviewed repeatedly by the local press.  I have often thought that every locality with a nuclear facility needs a local pro-nuclear blogger.  Every such locality has at least one anti-nuclear group with a web presence.  The reporters know where to find the anti-nuclear quotes.  We need to give the reporters a place to find the pro-nuclear quotes.

(The facilities themselves are like any big business--the press releases go through a LOT of review.  Which means the press releases are often dry, evasive and late to the party.  Bloggers have more fun, are usually more readable, and can give reporters a straight story in snappy sound bites.)

So--hats off to the local pro-nuclear bloggers! Hats off to Atoms for California,  Steve Aplin at Canadian Energy Issues, and Ben Heard at DecarboniseSA.  These blogs are not strictly local--after all the world is interconnected.  But they start with their local issues, and they have powerful local impacts. 

Think globally, act locally.  I hope more people will start blogging.

----
Update: I rearranged this post a little in order to do a better job of featuring the Atoms for California blog.

And a hat-tip to Rod Adams for his welcome to Atoms for California. Rod got his post up first, as he often does.

I don't know where any of us pro-nuclear bloggers would be without Rod!

LocalVolts plus the Legislative Process

Day lily in my garden
Plant received from a friend

A summer's day, and I thought I would cover two separate issues, in a not-too-organized fashion.  So here goes.

LocalVolts

The horrendous rail crash in Quebec has added fuel (so to speak) to Vermont's usual summer protests. Pat Bradley of WAMC interviewed several people in the radio segment: Disaster Spurs Debate Over Energy Transport in Region.   Protests against gas pipelines and tar sands pipelines are planned for the near future. Quitting the use of all fossil fuels is a major goal of the pipeline protestors.  In Bradley's  interview with me, I noted that we are dependent on fossil fuels, and no-fossil-fuels is not something we can accomplish quickly.   A three-minute radio segment.

President Obama's message on what we need to do about climate change might be described as "all of the above" (natural gas, cleaner coal, conservation, nuclear, renewables).  However, around here the general message is "none of the above."  Tim McQuiston,  editor of Vermont Business Magazine, spoke about energy on VPR yesterday.  (Another three-minute radio segment).

McQuiston noted that people in Vermont are protesting everything: gas, oil, nuclear, wind, pipelines, transmission lines.  His conclusion is that we should be looking at "localvolts."   He expects that "Vermont Yankee (may) get a second look here once Governor Shumlin steps down..." McQuiston concludes that "Just as with the localvore movement, where we take responsibility for our food supply, maybe we should initiate a 'localvolt' movement to take more responsibility for our electric supply."

I agree.

Note: Kenyon Webber spoke at the Public Service Board hearings last fall.  Her statement is similar to this "LocalVolts" idea: Buy Local and Help Your Community.

Getting Inside the Legislative Process

Howard Shaffer

In a recent post at ANS Nuclear Café, my friend Howard Shaffer explains how he was invited to speak about nuclear fuel storage to a Vermont legislative committee.   This committee has a history of inviting people such as Arnie Gundersen and Robert Alvarez. As a matter of fact, these were the other people who testified about spent fuel.  Indeed, it sometimes strikes me that the Vermont legislature is Rick's Cafe Americain for nuclear opponents: everybody comes to our legislature!

I was very pleased that Shaffer was asked for his opinion. Shaffer's post includes the history of the invitation, and ways people can make similar invitations more likely.

After his testimony, the committee clerk thanked Shaffer for his clear communications. His post at ANS Nuclear Café includes the text of his testimony. Shaffer supplied a package of information to the legislators and the media, and I link to pdfs of that packet at the Energy Education Project website.

 An inspiring story.

Summer!

We are finally having some lovely weather here, after weeks of muggy weather, rain, and flooding. I plan to enjoy the good weather. I took the picture of my day lily this morning.

Have a good weekend!

Proudly Made in America: Guest post by Evan Twarog

Proudly Made in America

Evan Twarog
November 7 Public Service Board meeting

America is the greatest nation on the planet. Period. When we’re out shopping and see those three words “Made in America”, there is a small bit of pride that we get out of knowing we are supporting jobs right here at home. Small mom and pop store or multibillion dollar corporation, an American business is still an American business. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is run by one of those American businesses, and supports more than 620 jobs right here in our local community.

Many workers who run the facility are veterans who have proudly served our nation in uniform. Some started off in the Coast Guard defending our shores, and saving those who fall into harm’s way. Some started off serving in our nation’s Navy, keeping waters across the world safe from hostile enemies. Some started off protecting the skies in our nation’s Air Force. Still more served in our Army and Marine Corp, defending our freedom both in times of national crisis and war. We must salute these men and women who selflessly defended our nation and are now working in our community.

As the legal battle over Vermont Yankee’s future has played out, there has been a near complete disregard by the State of Vermont to realize the fact that Vermont Yankee supports well-paying AMERICAN jobs, and there is no rational economic reason for shutting down the facility. Governor Shumlin, a long-time critic of the facility, once said “We’re doing all we can so that Vermont can move on from this old plant and move towards an energy future that sends Entergy Louisiana back to Louisiana.” Governor Shumlin, in case you didn’t realize, we are all Americans. We all salute the same flag. We all are part of the same nation. Frankly, I am disgusted by your inability to realize that by shutting down the facility, you will gain nothing but force 620 AMERICANS out of a job.

Vermont Yankee should be a symbol of pride for the community and region. Here, 620 skilled Americans produce clean, cheap, and reliable electricity, while supporting dozens of non-profit organizations with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations each year. The facility produces power right here in Vermont. Not in Massachusetts. Not in New York. Not in Canada. Vermont. Wouldn’t you rather have your hard-earned money stay local and support local American jobs?

When we buy products with those words “Made in America”, we know we are supporting jobs right here at home in these rough economic times. So why is it that we can’t as a community, as a state, and as Americans, support the Americans who work at Vermont Yankee and are such an integral part of our community?

Evan Twarog, Age 15
112 Ridgewood Ave.
Keene, NH

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Evan Twarog has been an articulate and effective supporter of Vermont Yankee for several years.  This letter also appeared in True North Reports, The Commons, the Brattleboro Reformer, and other local newspapers.

Evan Twarog has two other guest posts at this blog:

• A Teen's View of Vermont Yankee (November 2011) 
• Testimony at the Public Service Board meeting: Vital for the Region and My Family.  (November 2012)

Evan's mother, Cheryl Twarog, testified at the November 2012 hearing and has a guest post at this blog: When Did Nuclear Become a Four-Letter Word?

I am proud to know the Twarog family!