TV Ad Challenges Iowa’s Radioactive Rate Hike Bill
Friends of the Earth’s ad encourages public to call state senators
Des Moines, Iowa—The watchdog group Friends of the Earth today released a TV ad opposing legislation that would allow MidAmerican Energy to raise electric rates in order to pay for new nuclear reactors—and allow MidAmerican to keep the money regardless of whether the new reactors are actually constructed.
The ad, which begins with stirring images of the disaster at Fukushima and is titled “Iowa’s Nuclear Risk,” can be viewed online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGssvYkTla0
“The bill is nothing more than a handout to MidAmerican for reactors that would endanger Iowans,” said Damon Moglen, director of the Climate and Energy Project at Friends of the Earth. “MidAmerican knows that with the historic default rate of reactor projects and the often exponential cost overruns, it can’t get investors to back these plants, so it needs consumers to pay for a service they won’t receive for years—if ever.”
The 30-second ad, which will air in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets over the next week, explains that the bill “isn’t just unfair; it’s dangerous.” Friends of the Earth opposes nuclear reactor construction because of the risks of a nuclear accident, highlighted recently by the ongoing disaster in Japan, and the deadly waste produced by the irradiation process, as well as the high financial and economic costs.
“Investors won’t take the gamble, so MidAmerican wants you to foot the bill,” an announcer says in the ad. “What’s worse—they’d keep your money even if they abandon the project.”
Friends of the Earth has also mobilized its members in Iowa to write to their state legislators about the bill. Members of the public can send Iowa legislators messages via http://action.foe.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6490.
Contact:
Matthew Cain, 202-222-0751, [email protected]; Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, [email protected]
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Friends of the Earthis fighting to defend the environment and create a more healthy and just world. Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change, keeping toxic and risky technologies out of the food we eat and products we use, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.