With some 27,00 subscribers to her blog she has been a comforting platform for many victims of the disaster.
With us today is Maureen Dauphinee from the Real Coastal Warriors activist group working to uncover the truth of the damage caused by the Gulf Oil BP Spill of 2010.
During this converstaion we discussed a variety of topics to do with how activists and professionals have been uncovering the truth. We discuss some of the main players who have dedicated their professional careers to collect data (ie Trisha Springstead and Scott Porter ).
“BP is not competent to be an oil company” she said
Some shocking facts are in this interview. Severe negligence by BP and their representatives to cover up the issue of toxicity for workers and locals due to the spill and clean up.
“bleeding while urinating!” is a qoute from one of her testimonial posts.
She describes the attempts to get honest research out to the media and scientists that are not subject to the restrictions that comes with corporate sponsored research from the likes of BP. The US CDC health department did not do their jobs to uncover toxicity damage to humans.
“Vibrio the flesh eating virus is appearing and this has been connected to the tar balls.”
Maureen gives us a quick breakdown of some of the strategy that the governments and corporations employed to quell dissent from the local communities effected. We draw some parallels with the Shell Oil controversy in Mayo Ireland and the TEPCO nuclear accident at Fukushima Daichi in Japan. We discuss how BP hired Ogilvey and Maher “managed” the media and PR services as well as the security and surveillance of the victims of the oil spill.
“Spraying over peoples homes”
Dolphins were aborted and the took them away from public site. The bodies are still not being worked on and the government put a gag order on research. Then BP bought the research on the Spill effects.Compensation “was pennies on the dollar” only 20 percent of dolphins in the gulf are giving birth.
“BP was controlling the whole situation”
Maureen also tells us of the battle with the social media companies trolls who tried their best to disrupt NGO`s progress. Maureen traced Wikipaedia entries to BP connected IP address`s
We discuss DNA damage to the wildlife and studies pointing to this problem.
Mareen explains how she enables people to fight back through information sharing. She explains the accomplishments that the Gulf activists have made.
This hour we are joined by Herve Courtois who is a prolific Anti-Nuclear Activist and blogger to discuss what is appropriate and what is not, when it comes to dealing with men and women who work for corporations. We are asking the question ” Is it reasonable to speak aggressively and in a threatening way to these individuals or is it more appropriate to attack the subject with room for the odd satirical snipe at individuals”.
A lot has been happening over the last few weeks. I have been called a troll. have you been called a troll too?
“Oh yes” he says in a rather cool tone as one who is well used to the term.
Should we support our Scientists even if we dont always agree with them?
Those Scientist that are qualified to bring us the data especially in the field of Marine Biology where there are maybe only 5 qualified scientists. So they need our support as much as we need them to bring out the facts. To attack these scientists is not constructive or productive. Herve sees it as our duty to reach out to these Scientists and work hand in hand with them.
Do you see it as our role as bloggers to act as a lobby?
We have to act on their individual conscionsciousness. they are human beings like us and one can wake them up. It has happened many time in the past.
How do you think the scientists could have responded in relation to Dana Durnford?
When you threaten them with violence and one may expect something coming back. Some of these bloggers have been threatening them and their families for a long time. they probably could no longer ignore it.
Herve continues with a list of names of Scientists who have been insulted by Dana Durnford and Kevin Blanch. Names like Dr Helen Caldicott, Arnie Gunderson, Chris Busby, Ken Westler and Tim Mousseau. Herve continues;
How can one insult Tim Mousseau? He works for us! He is bringing us the proof of the contamination!
Herve explains that Kevin Blanch is smarter because he doesn’t name names, where Dana is very pointed with his threats.
Jimmy joins in stating that we need to careful about attacking a race or individual. He states there is a lesson also to be learned from the Dana case, in that it can be used as an example of why one should be careful with our language to others. Jimmy and Shaun make some comparisons with the Chris Spivey case where Chris found himself in a similar situation concerning the Lee Rigby case.
Herve then says Dana’s work is not entirely non-constructive. Herve says Dana has awoken an interest in people concerning the Fukushima disaster, but that he didn’t like his sensationalist and threatening behaviour. Herve explains; that being the father of a potential Fukushima victim he doesn’t like the pro-nuclear shills (some names mentioned) but he also doesn’t like the sensationalist! The truth he believes is the only way to help the people affected by these disasters and help the anti-nuclear cause.
Herve says one has to view this both ways. First thing a person does when they have loved ones in a disaster zone after hearing sensationalist videos or articles is the panic involved, ringing contacts to see if there are any radiation spikes and ringing family to check with family if they are ok, so sensationalist posts can actually be heartbreaking.
Herve explains how YouTube is the worst culprit because lots of sensationalist posts are popping up all the time but that any comment dis-proving the posted video are removed and he thinks this is dangerous.
Herve also says not everybody on Facebook or such places is a critical thinker and some may be unstable and some of these sensationalist posts could be dangerous for some people.
Shaun follows on by saying Dana is not really part, or head of the Anti-Nuclear movement and has insulted most the the Anti-Nuclear movement at times..
Herve then explains that Kevin and Dana are making money out of their blogging. That they get funding through donation. Herve believes they are milking the people.
Shaun surmises Dana shouldn’t go to prison for 10 years but will probably be told not to mention 3 people with some basic restrictions.
Herve explains some folk are into this from an Anti-Nuclear view. Some are into it as a pastime, but some people are into it to make money and sensationalist posts brings in high traffic. The problem is how can these people keep impartiality when the money is affecting their impartiality to do the news.
Herve rounds up with the following;
“When it comes to the Nuclear stick to the facts. We have a responsibility to stick to the fact to stick to the truth for the victims and the future victims. There is no place for imagination or ego’s. Facts are being hidden from us and we need to work hard to bring those facts out.”
As the Paris conference comes closer, the US too has rallied behind the nuclear lobby. The move is driven by the interests of the country’s nuclear vendors as well as the larger agenda to scuttle any meaningful dialogue on climate change
Modi’s nuclear deal with Britain is hollow, but quite toxic, catch news, KUMAR SUNDARAM, 15 Nov 15 “……….. The nuclear lobby has been campaigning in recent years to re-fashion the industry as green and renewable – to ensure subsidies and state support as well as positive popular perception.
In the run-up to the Conference of Parties of the UN Framework on Climate Change in Paris next month, the nuclear lobby,such as EDF of France, is trying to sell nuclear power as climate-friendly energy. Under the expiring Kyoto Protocol, nuclear power is excluded from the list of green energy sources and rightly so.
Nuclear power leaves a huge carbon footprint – from carbon-intensive mining and refining of uranium ore to transport and fuel fabrication to manufacturing of high-density concrete and steel for nuclear reactors. And this is without even accounting for the continuous supply of cooling water and long-term handling of nuclear waste.
An assessment of greenhouse gases released from generating nuclear power, done by eminent energy and climate expert Benjamin K Sovacool, pegs the average carbon footprint at 66g CO2/kWh. This is above the limit set by the Committee on Climate Change.
Cheerleaders of nuclear energy, of course, conveniently ignore all this.
Nuclear energy being a solution to climate change is another myth. Those serious about tackling climate change know it’s a grave threat and requires immediate action. The time horizon for a real and meaningful response to change – stabilising global surface temperature at under 2 degrees above the pre-industrial average – can’t be stretched father than 2050.
Most assessments testify to this. A study by the MIT has shown that for nuclear energy to be a solution in this scenario, it would take no less than 1,000 nuclear power plants, each with a capacity of 1,000-1,500MW.
This is an impossible goal for two reasons. The nuclear industry is in terminal decline globally. And the much-touted “nuclear renaissance” is restricted to developing countries, where expansion would be much slower due to economic, social and technological reasons.
Also, nuclear reactors typically take 12-15 years to build, making investing in renewable energy much more attractive.
Paris attacks – COP21 and the war on terror, Ecologist Oliver Tickell 14th November 2015 Is it a coincidence that the terrorist outrage in Paris was committed weeks before COP21, the biggest climate conference since 2009? Perhaps, writes Oliver Tickell. But failure to reach a strong climate agreement now looks more probable. And that’s an outcome that would suit ISIS – which makes $500m a year from oil sales – together with other oil producers……
must also ask: Why Paris? And why now?
Yes, France has been especially active in its air strikes against ISIS in Syria. And yes, there there is a huge reservoir of discontent among the socially excluded youth of the banlieue, the concrete jungle of impoverished outer suburbs that surround Paris and other big cities – where ISIS can perhaps find willing recruits to its ranks.
But is that all? In just a few weeks time, the COP21 climate conference will take place, in Paris, the biggest such event since COP15 in Copenhagen six years ago. The event offers the world a desperately needed opportunity to reduce its carbon emissions and limit global warming to 2C.
And that’s surely something the attackers, or at least their (presumably) ISIS commanders, must know all about.
Could the attacks and COP21 possibly be related?
To answer that question we should first ask, what do the attacks mean for COP21? Continue reading →
In a time when many news outlets are cutting staff, slashing budgets and eliminating their investigative reporting, KNBC’s total commitment to this story is a testament to a mission of producing investigative journalism that matters.
The Story Behind Our Story: LA’s Nuclear Secret, NBC4 Southern California, 21 Sept 2015 To learn more about how this series came to fruition, we asked the producer of the series to share his journey from
the first tip to the completion of the stories By Matthew GlasserOur investigative series, LA’s Nuclear Secret, was a year in the making. One year to the night that the first part of our series aired on NBC4, the I-Team was asked to investigate why a
group of children and parents in Calabasas had come down with rare illnesses including brain tumors and cancers.
We wanted to find out why.
Worst nuclear disaster in US history is a secret
In September 2014, we reached out to the former UCLA lecturer who is now an instructor at UC Santa Cruz who helped NBC4 with a series of stories in 1979 exposing a nuclear accident at the Santa Susana Field Lab. At the time, it was believed that while there was an accident at the Lab’s largest nuclear reactor, no release of radioactive material occurred. That’s what the U.S. government said, and that’s what we reported.
We would eventually learn in the reporting of LA’s Nuclear Secret – that wasn’t true.
We learned that a growing number of people in the San Fernando and Simi valleys believed that the work done at the Santa Susana Field Lab resulted in on- and off-site chemical and radioactive contamination that may have made them or their family members sick. Continue reading →
LA’s Nuclear Secret: Camp Cover-Up Nov. 10, 2015. The popular 2,800-acre Southern California camp sits just over the hill from the Santa Susana Field Lab
Tens of thousands of children who attended a popular camp in the hills northwest of Los Angeles over the last 65 years may have been exposed to radioactive waste and toxic chemicals from a former nuclear and rocket testing facility right next door, the Santa Susana Field Lab, according to documents and scientific studies obtained by the NBC4 I-Team. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/I-Team-LAs-Nuclear-Secret-Camp-Cover-Up-344006382.html
LA’s Nuclear Secret: Part 1 Sept. 22, 2015. Tucked away in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys was a 2,800-acre laboratory with a mission that was a mystery to the thousands of people who lived in its shadow
The U.S. government secretly allowed radiation from a damaged reactor to be released into air over the San Fernando and Simi valleys in the wake of a major nuclear meltdown in Southern California more than 50 years ago — fallout that nearby residents contend continues to cause serious health consequences and, in some cases, death. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/LA-Nuclear-Secret-327896591.html
Extreme Radiation On California Beach Leads Nuclear Inspectors To Abandon Duties; Radioactive Waste Threatens Locals, Environment, health freedom alliance, 16 Nov 15Documents released as part of secret negotiations over the future of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Stations near San Diego reveal that the now-shuttered plant was lax with security, exposing workers to dangerous levels of radioactivity from leaks and improperly disposing of nuclear waste.
In January 2012, one of the two generators at San Onofre sprang a small leak, and the plant was shuttered. An investigation eventually revealed that the leak had been caused by vibrations in steam generators that occurred as a result of a flawed generator design. Plant operator Southern California Edison said it is pursuing a claim against generator manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as well as Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems.
In June 2013, plant operator Edison decided to permanently close the plant rather than incur the costs of safely restarting it. The future of the plant grounds and all of the toxic waste stored there remains up in the air.
“Probably worse than we think”
In September, an investigation by the NBC TV affiliate in San Diego, KNSD-TV Channel 7, revealed that radioactive equipment from the plant had been stored on both sides of Interstate 5, including along the beach. The investigation, which reviewed documents released to individuals negotiating with Edison over the future of the 25-acre site, also revealed that Edison had covered up evidence of radiation leaks from the plant.
The documents showed that radiation levels at the plant had regularly been so high that Nuclear Regulatory inspectors often refused to perform routine radiation surveys, fearing for their safety. Continue reading →
Iran continues removing centrifuges within nuclear deal commitments 15 NOVEMBER 2015, By Umid Niayesh– Trend: Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi once again emphasized that the Islamic Republic continues removing , in compliance with its commitments, as stated in the recently signed nuclear agreement.
Iran began removing inactive centrifuges at the Nataz nuclear site two weeks ago, Salehi said in statements to IRIB 3 state TV Nov. 14.
Iran has 20,000 centrifuges in Natanz, half of them inactive, Salehi noted, adding that Tehran has not yet begun removing centrifuges from Fordow.
“In line with our commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we have started removing centrifuges in Natanz,” Salehi said, criticizing some hardline politicians who questioned his earlier statements on the removal of centrifuges.
On Nov. 2, Salehi announced that Iran, for the first time, has begun shutting down centrifuges under the terms of the nuclear agreement which triggered disputes in the country.
According to the JCPOA, signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries made up of the UK, US, France, Germany, Russia, and China, Tehran is committed to reducing its number of centrifuges……..http://en.trend.az/iran/nuclearp/2456707.html
French Polynesia court hears nuclear test victims case http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/289755/french-polynesia-court-hears-nuclear-test-victims-caseThe Court of Appeal in French Polynesia has heard the case of two former nuclear test workers who claim they experienced health problems after being exposed to radiation from French nuclear weapons testing at Mururoa. The case has been subject to a number of appeals since the case was brought in 2009.
The head of the nuclear test veterans organisation Mururoa e tatou, Roland Oldham, says the process for the veterans has been very slow, and one the workers involved in the case has died.
He says he is confident the case will be found in favour of the victims.
“Because the Centre of Atomic Energy didn’t bring up any new proof. It is just the strategy of the French government as usual, to drag on and drag on and drag on and drag on. Because in between as I say, one of the workers is dead. The other one is still alive, but just.”
Roland Oldham says the Court of Appeal is expected to deliver its verdict in February.
He says of 900 workers who have been affected by nuclear testing, only 16 have been compensated.
Pakistan urges focus on India’s nuclear activities http://nation.com.pk/international/15-Nov-2015/pakistan-urges-focus-on-india-s-nuclear-activitiesNovember 15, 2015 NEW YORK – A Pakistani Embassy spokesman has called for shifting focus on India’s expanding nuclear programme and its aggressive posturing, while rejecting claims that Pakistan was irresponsibly building its nuclear arsenal.
“Pakistan was not the first to introduce nuclear weapons in South Asia; India was,” Spokesman Nadeem Hotiana said in a letter published in The New York Times on Saturday.
He was responding to a recent Times’ editorial claiming that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was growing “faster than any other country’s”, and that “Persuading Pakistan to rein in its nuclear weapons programme should be an priority.”
Hotiana, who is press attache at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, said, “Recent public reports confirm that India continues to grow its nuclear programme by testing missiles with longer ranges, working on coming fissile material production facilities, and investing in a nuclear triad that inevitably requires a larger nuclear arsenal. India also propounds war-fighting doctrines while being ascendant as one of the world’s largest importer of military hardware. A special waiver for India for nuclear trade is another destabilising step,” the letter said.It added, Pakistan has for decades offered proposals to India for nuclear restraint, including a strategic restraint regime that could address concerns raised in the editorial. As late as September, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan made fresh proposals for peace in South Asia in his speech at the United Nations. Sadly, India has refused to engage.
“Peace can be better served by focusing the world’s attention on India’s lack of constructive response to Pakistan’s proposals, its investment in destabilising technologies and its aggressive posturing,” it said. Meanwhile, the Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Ira Helfand, has urged India and Pakistan to join the growing international movement to ban and abolish nuclear weapons.
In a letter to The New York Times, she said, “Studies have shown that in addition to mass deaths from nuclear weapons, the use of less than half of the Indian and Pakistani arsenals would cause worldwide climate disruption and a global famine that could put up to two billion people at risk. But it will be hard to persuade Pakistan and India to get rid of their nuclear weapons as long as the United States and Russia continue to insist that nuclear weapons are essential for their security. Their arsenals are far more deadly and threaten the survival of humanity,” it said.
Modi’s nuclear deal with Britain is hollow, but quite toxic, catch news, KUMAR SUNDARAM, 15 Nov 15
The deal
Narendra Modi has just inked a nuclear deal with Britain
He called it symbol of “our resolve to combat climate change’
The deal comes when the British nuclear industry is in a crisis
The danger
Britain has little to offer India in terms of nuclear energy
It reinforces the myth that n-power is green, climate-friendly
India is missing the shift from n-power to renewable energy
More in the story
India is among the few nations on a nuclear shopping spree in the post-Fukushima world. Why?
Nuclear energy isn’t a solution to climate change. Why is the industry peddling this myth?
Keeping to the script, Modi has just announced a civilian nuclear agreement with Britain.
The pact is largely symbolic. But it’s dangerous.
Spent force
Britain has little to offer India when it comes to nuclear energy. Its nuclear industry is facing a terminal crisis. The two power plants planned in Hinkley Point have been plagued by escalating costs, forcing the investors to abandon the project, as well as serious design risks.
Britain’s new nuclear plants in Hinkley Point are plagued by escalating costs, serious design risks
Medical radioactive wastes — the nuclear industry fig leaf, Independent Australia, 17 Nov 15 With modern developments in the non-nuclear production of medical isotopes, perhaps it’s also time to shut down the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and stop producing dangerous radioactive trash, writes Noel Wauchope.
Watching the Australian media last week, you would be sure that the government’s hunt for a nuclear waste disposal site was solely to do with medical wastes. Rarely do they mention the real impetus for this hasty search, which is Australia’s current obligation to take back processed nuclear wastes from France. Later, we will have to receive similar wastes returning from UK. …..
it must be acknowledged that the medical radioisotopes produced at Lucas Heights do have their valuable uses in diagnostics and in the treatment of cancers.
However, it also must be recognised that all these radioisotopes can be produced without use of a nuclear reactor. This is happening increasingly and, rather like the distributed renewable energy boom, the world could be on the brink of a distributed medical radioisotope boom.
Canada and some in the USA certainly think so, judging by recent reports. The World Nuclear Association reports on University of British Columbia’s success in quadrupling the rate of production of medical radioisotopes using a (non-nuclear) cyclotron. Nova Scotia’s QEII Health Sciences Centre’s cyclotron was granted a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) from Health Canada in June 2015
The non-nuclear production of medical isotopes has it all over the centralised production by nuclear reactor. This is not just because it eliminates the obvious dangers of nuclear wastes, weapons proliferation, terrorism risks, disastrous accident, and radiation emissions.
It’s because the greatest uses of medical radiopharmaceuticals involve very short-lived isotopes…….That makes them much better suited to localised production, in or near hospitals. The delivery of pharmaceuticals to patients is much more secure. In addition, the risk of transport accidents is close to zero……..
Argentina says signs nuclear plant construction deals with China, Reuters, BUENOS AIRES Nov 15 Argentina has signed two nuclear power plant construction deals with China for about $15 billion, the Argentine government said in a statement on Sunday, calling the deals “a fundamental step toward diversifying our energy matrix.”…...”Between both deals we are talking about financing of close to $15 billion” over 18 years, the Argentine statement said. (Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Leslie Adler)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/15/argentina-china-energy-idUSL1N13A0GF20151115#0Y2dUv0yhLfBpo7L.99
Exxon climate revelations are just part of a long history of science misinformation, The Conversation, John Cook, November 16, 2015 A recent investigation by Pulitzer Prize winner Inside Climate News has uncovered damning activity by fossil fuel company Exxon. Long before they supplied millions of dollars to conservative think-tanks who misinformed the public about climate science, Exxon’s own scientists informed them of the scientific consensus that fossil fuel burning would cause disruptive climate change.
This echoes past activity of the tobacco industry, who knew from internal research about the health consequences of smoking but nevertheless funded misinformation casting doubt on the link between smoking and cancer. The same misinformation tactics employed by the tobacco industry are used by the fossil fuel industry.
Economist says Paris summit offers a decisive moment in history for investors to move out of the dirty fuels that put the ‘public’s wellbeing at risk’ Thomas Piketty has called for investors to move their money out of fossil fuels ahead of landmark UN climate change talks.
The French economist, along with ‘ecological economist’ Tim Jackson, authors of the respective bestselling books Capital in the Twenty-First Century and Prosperity Without Growth: economics for a finite planet, said that investors should divest from a sector with a business model “at odds with physical realities”.
In a letter to the Guardian, they wrote: “This is a rare and decisive moment in history. Science, ethics, and economics are intersecting to form a clear market signal: in the lead up to the COP21 climate talks, responsible investors should divest from fossil fuels.”
COP21 is a landmark UN summit in Paris opening at the end of November, where nearly 200 countries will attempt to reach a deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions post-2020.
The economists warned that public wellbeing was at risk from continued investment in oil, coal and gas companies whose products are driving global warming.
“Set against a backdrop of record-breaking climatic extremes and weather events, capital continues to flow into the exploration and future extraction of dirty energy. Those investments are wagers on a future in which vast potentials of carbon reserves are available to be processed – a bet against the public’s wellbeing.”
In the letter Piketty and Jackson cite the growth of a global divestment movementwhich has now persuaded more than 2,000 institutions and 400 individuals worth $2.6tn to divest from oil, coal and gas companies.
They add: “At a time when the fossil fuel industry should be shifting their businesses to focus on renewable energy they are doing the opposite, doubling down on coal, oil and gas … Meanwhile, clean, carbon-free energy is rapidly becoming cost-competitive with dirty energy. These recent political and market shifts are all being driven forward by a dramatic shift in the social zeitgeist.Climate change is now a primary social concern.”
The letter comes one week after Piketty, professor at the Paris School of Economics and the London School of Economics, published a proposal calling for the introduction of a tax on business flights to raise funds for countries suffering the impacts of climate change such as drought, sea level rise and flooding.
Fossil fuel divestment campaigners have previously won vocal support from the Nobel prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz and the UN, although other investors such as Bill Gates have criticised the movement as propounding an ineffective “false solution”.
nuclear-news 