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GREEN PARTY OF MISSISSIPPI
707D McLarty Road
Oxford, MS 38655
greenpartyms.us@gmail.com
www.greenpartyms.org
February 4, 2005
NEWS RELEASE
GREEN PARTY OF MISSISSIPPI CALLS FOR A NEW STATE ENERGY POLICY
The Green Party of Mississippi calls for a phase-out of existing nuclear
power plants, no new site permits for construction or expansion, and an
intensive, focused program to bring Mississippi forward from dependence
on foreign oil to reliance on renewable energy.
It is important that these measures be taken.
Radioactive waste contains substances that are among the most toxic and
long-lasting of poisons. We have no way to safely store these extremely
dangerous waste products. Fifty years of nuclear energy have given
us Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl catastrophe, as well as many
near-misses. Furthermore, reliance on nuclear power is disastrous for
taxpayers. For example, Entergy has applied for millions of dollars in
taxpayer subsidies to support planning for a second nuclear reactor at
Grand Gulf near Port Gibson in Claiborne County.
Nuclear energy, when all costs are considered, is
unaffordable.
We call on the state to take immediate steps to
reduce Mississippi's dependence on oil through conservation and
renewable energy. A comprehensive program of positive incentives for
energy conservation including low-embodied-energy construction methods
makes economic sense for Mississippi homeowners and the homebuilding
industry. Our state lags behind states like New Mexico that have
cutting-edge building codes that permit new construction technologies
like straw-bale, rammed-earth, and light clay. We call on the state to
shift subsidies from nuclear energy to cleaner, renewable energy:
small-scale hydropower, solar energy, and wind power generation. These
measures will help put Mississippi's economy on a sound footing
regardless of action or inaction by the federal government in
Washington.
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