Thursday, December 16, 2010

Watch out for robo call Lies about Uranium Mining in VA

Residents in Southside and South Central Virginia have been receiving automated message calls fromAmericans for Prosperity. The calls originated from AFP's Richmond office. AFP claimed that Virginia Uranium, Inc.'s dangerous project will generate up to 500 jobs. It is a LIE.
According to the Energy Informaion Administration, in 2009, the entire uranium production industry employed 1,096 people.
In the same year, there were 20 operating mines in the U.S. and one operating and one developing mill. No single mining and milling operation can employ one half of the number of employees being currently employed by 22 uranium production operations.

4 comments:

J. Tyler Ballance said...

500 jobs is probably overly optimistic, if you are counting just the mining and processing operation. History does show that a successful mine does generate a lot of collateral jobs, and sometimes whole towns, for at least the time when the mine is in operation. If you go out West, you can find many old towns that used to be booming, due to a local mining venture. Surely some of those towns have diminished with the closing of their mine, but during the time of prosperity, thousands of families were raised and prospered there.

There is no question that jobs will be created by the uranium operation. It is highly doubtful that more jobs will LEAVE the area because of the site.

I want to have good environmental stewardship, but I also want Americans to be able to support their families.

We cannot continue the practice of banning every endeavor because it might harm the snail darter fish, or some other esoteric, or imagined, environmental impact.

We need mining and we need energy independence for this nation.

Take an honest look at other American mines and they are being operated relatively safely and with an acceptable level of risk.

Increasingly, we see a cadre of Americans who already have achieved a level of economic comfort, working to deny others who badly need work, the opportunity to have jobs, because the farm, the factory, or in this case, the mine, may produce some sort of imagined change to the local scenery.

Stop this NIBY attitude.

Our Democratic Party must return to being the champion of the working man. Our mission must again be, to create real economic opportunity for our citizens, with an eye on maintaining environmental impact and risks to an acceptable level.

Anonymous said...

FACT--uranium is NOT scarce and our power plants already have a steady supply of uranium.

FACT--Water is more valuable...it's now the blue gold. IT WOULD BE FOLLY TO RISK A SCARCE VALUABLE RESOURCE--WATER--FOR A PLENTIFUL ABUNDANT RESOURCE LIKE MINING.

500 Jobs is "overly optimistic." What a nice euphemism for a baldfaced lie. 50-100 jobs is a far different picture than 300-500.

I notice you bring up mining operations in desert states. In spite of arrid climates and low populations you don't mention the contamination that occurred and the health problems from radiation sickness.

Also it's NIMBY not NIBY....

The truth is THAT URANIUM MINING IS NOT SAFE. IF IT WAS SAFE WE'D ALL BE FOR IT EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY A FEW JOBS.

No one is anti-jobs. But this mining project will make a few people rich at the expense of millions of people.

We will lend up losing many jobs if this uranium mining moratorium is lifted. More business will leave VA then will come to VA WHEN (not if) the water supplies become radioactive.

Cargosquid said...

Obama killed thousands of jobs with the drilling moratorium. So, I beg to differ about no one being "anti-job."

Star Womanspirit said...

Sometimes a job is not worth your life. Have you seen the Al Jazeera expose (American corporate media is NOT reporting on this) on the illness from toxic exposure occurring to folks living on the gulf? How can you not be alarmed at the mammals, fish and birds that were killed during the initial spill and are continuing to die in large numbers?

Remember these "consequences" affect our health and quality of life. IF the honeybee goes extinct millions of people will starve.

I'm for jobs that don't kill us.