This is a guest commentary about this very important issue. And the photos of the whales in Avila Beach, by Maryanne Avila, are used with express permission of the photographer. The commentary is used with permission of the author.
Radiation Nation
by joey racano
In a long ago, far away world, three judges -all of whom would later become infamous for other reasons- sat together on a Washington DC appeals court. That court ignored science, evidence and safety, and made the fateful decision to allow the construction of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant right on top of known, live, active earthquake faults.
For the record, those judges were Antonin Scalia, now a member of the United States Supreme Court and well known right wing ideologue who never met an oil refinery or nuclear power plant he didn’t like; Kenneth Starr, who overlooked nukes on faults but as special prosecutor found enough fault with then President Bill Clinton to prosecute him for the Monica Lewinsky affair, and Judge Robert Bork. Bork rose to infamy when Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Supreme Court. That appointment failed because Bork had protected Nixon by firing the special prosecutor, which the Attorney General resigned rather than do.
Suffice it to say that the Nuclear Power Plant built in Devil’s Canyon started out bad, grew worse, and is now quickly becoming a melodrama.
“What’s all this got to do with whales,” you ask? The answer is, plenty. As the years went by, not only did the hidden and ignored earthquake faults become public knowledge, but new faults were being found on an almost regular basis! The Diablo Cove fault apparently runs directly beneath Unit 1 reactor, the Shoreline Fault runs right out in front of the plant, and the San Simeon, Hosgri and San Gorgonio faults all line up together to form one enormous 250 mile fault line capable of generating an earthquake bigger than Diablo Nuclear Plant can ever be retrofitted to withstand.
Perfect Storm
When the new head of Chernobyl was asked recently his estimate on when people could again populate the area, he was quoted as saying, “About twenty thousand years.” Then, there is the black spectre of Fukushima, whose molten reactor cores now drench the coast of California with radiation. Tuna caught off San Diego have tested positive 14 out of 14 times. Radioactivity from Fukushima has been found concentrated in the kelp of Santa Cruz. In San Onofre, the Nuclear Plant there has been shut indefinitely because of worn out pipes! With this perfect storm, it is no wonder people are backing away from nukes.
But don’t expect Nukes to go gently into that good night, no sir.
Rather than do the obvious, which is shut all nuclear plants forever and start figuring out what to do with waste (accumulating at 500 pounds a day at Diablo alone) and stays deadly for a million years, instead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is out playing Public Relations Man for Pacific Gas & Electric (see photo of them at Farmers Market booth in San Luis Obispo).
In a misguided attempt to make inroads against Diablo Nuclear Power Plant, environmental groups sought to have seismic testing done offshore, to get a better look at the faults and the threat they pose to public safety. Then Assemblyman now State Senator Sam Blakeslee, a rare republican with an environmental ethic, wrote the bill (AB1730) in 2006 that moved the California Legislature to order seismic tests.
Unfortunately, the extreme destructive nature of such tests are only now becoming clearly understood, and it appears that much sea life -including Great Blue Whales- will be destroyed in the process. These tests involve carpet bombing the sea floor with 260db soundblasts every 13 seconds around the clock for about a month, and may have to be repeated again next year. The tests are scheduled from Nov – December, 2012, just a few short weeks away. This is further problematic because Humpback whales are in Avila and Port San Luis in numbers never before seen. The whales are here feeding on Krill, who are feeding themselves on nutrient-rich upwellings from cold waters below. Some say the whales, who are more intelligent than humans, somehow know of their impending doom.
When a member of the NRC public relations staff asked me if I thought it was really possible, I retorted with, “Well, my dog knows 15 minutes before I get home.”
Tainted Process
Thus far, the seismic project has passed the State Lands Commission, and must still clear the California Coastal Commission, and the Fish and Game Commission. But when the State Lands Commission voted, it was a vote not by the Commissioners themselves that moved the project ahead, but rather, the vote was taken only after they were all replaced temporarily with alternates, making for a shady decision that may not stand. Indeed, the press is now carrying the story of a man who drove from Redding to Sacramento to speak, only to be shut down when he questioned the validity of such a switcheroo. The Commission was forced to publicly apologize for muzzling the man, who was invited back up to finish his speech, which he did- but the damage was done.
Protected Areas
Finally, when this gets to the Fish and Game Commission, the question before them will be, how to put a price on a whale? An entire species of Harbor Porpoise? Otters? Fish? Lost economy? And how to put a dollar value on the loss of 9 years of hard work and science, having created the new series of Marine Protected Areas designated off our coast, including the Point Buchon State Marine Reserve, which is expected to be cleansed of all living things -including whales- by the sonic blasting?
Better to just remove the Power Plant.
Remember- seismic testing puts us all in danger, by allowing Pacific Gas and Electric to delay removal of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant which sits atop an earthquake fault.
Joey Racano
http://www.EarthSourceMedia.com
Joey Racano: ‘Weapon of mass discussion’
Scribd.com/joeyracano
http://littleshell.earthsourcemedia.org
Youtube.com/joeyracano1
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Excellent piece. I hope people are gradually waking up to the fact that if we do nothing, our way of life and Big Sur itself (as well as other coherent human communities all over Planet Earth will be gone, eaten by for and of the Unnatural Predators who wish to dominate and consume the Earth. One of the principles of the Big Sur Nation constitutional philosophy is Wu Wei, or the Action of Non-Action, which is a way and methodology to preserve the beauty and harmony that remains in our lives while still objecting to and acting against, for lack of a better word, "the forces of suppression", which action involves intelligent informed understanding, action, compassion and detachment. By acting thus, winning or losing are not important per se. What is important is the pure wind of action for the benefit of the Absolute. Much as I respect those who say, "let it be; just think positive and all will be well", I think that approach is just suicidal crap, an incomplete understanding like the new Advaita-Elitist people are not as enlightened as they think and I will elaborate upon that concept in this (Rarely, as I will try to spare my beloved Kate excessive aggro) and other forums that I am active in, hopefully in a non linear way which will require the reader to make some effort to assemble the pieces so that they may have coherence and utility. My main vehicle at present is my esoteric school, The Way of the Compassionate Warrior : Our slogan: "We don't know if it works, but it's free and it always will be and if you don't like it, you get triple your money back," Honestly, how can you beat a guarantee like that ? I also of course spend a great deal of time and energy insulting the various world leaders, politicians, despots, criminal corporate leaders and other frontal lobe free folk who think human dignity, education, freedom from war and corruption, environmental sanity, medical insurance. climate change and women's rights to control their own bodies are socialist plots that than can only be rectified by Mittbot the Weathervane, Boy Wonder Ryan and their prospective Secretary of the American Vagina (to replace Health & Human Services), Todd Akin.The next message in this series will appear soon in a post entitled: Reflections from the Ambassador, a new series on Sterling Doughty's FB site or elsewhere, like the archaic sterlingdoughty.com, or perhaps not anywhere at at all which is an extremely interesting subject for students, assuming there might be any, to contemplate.
By the way Kate, there is a special non-toxic epoxy resin that you can use to paint over any of the Ambassador's political statements and then use it as a fireproof wall or roof shingle which will last for generations. Let me know if you want to purchase any, (All profits for Big Sur Kate shingles made from Sterling Doughty rants go to the Pacific Valley School) Please note that other government and private entities who read these posts and are interested in applying the suggestions therein contained to the survival of their own communities are encouraged to do so. Any questions should be sent to : The Big Sur Nation Ambassador to the Helvetian Confederation : bigsurnation@gmail.com Hoka Hey
What course of action do you suggest.
As an involved employee of Pacific Valley School I'll look forward to all that $ coming in from the sale of the non-toxic epoxy resin!
BTW: love the rant for all it's useful information
Lisa
As a lover of Big Sur and the Central Coast and of the natural world in general, I appreciate the information on the seismic process and its ramifications. There's lots to monitor!
You know there are many courses of action at all levels, especially locally. - and please note I am not advocating any sort of violence: The US with 4% of the planet's population and over 40% of the world's spending on arms and wars takes care of that with our tax dollars and funds from the Chinese purchase of treasury bonds. You learn about something you think is harmful to the Harmonious Evolution of the Creation, find out the facts and devise a way to make your enlightened views known. Mostly we ordinary people will find it very hard to actually prevail against the forces of money and power and ego - those my teacher, Mr Gurdjieff called Hassnamuss - evil power-possessing beings (see definition here: http://digitalseance.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/definition-of-hasnamuss/). So , look around, and remember not to get too attached to the results, one way or the other. The danger is becoming The Bystander. "There's nothing I can do" mentality or "all is perfect" as in the Fake Advaita nonsense that is currently popular. I always find this to be an excellent "reminding factor" concerning the necessity and value of the action of non-action: "
First they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
As for the money for the Pacific Valley School, I don't know how much you will get from my fireproofed rants, but you will get something from another of my enterprises. Two years ago I started a little business selling T shirts and mugs etc, under the Big Sur Nation ™ and Big Sur - Another World ™ brands in local stores. It wasn't a great success, but my partner, Lois DeFord and I made a few bucks and are now winding down the business. We had planned, if it had done well, to donate 15% of profits to local socialist entities like Captain Cooper and Pacific Valley school , the Health Clinic, the Fire Brigade and the Big Sur Library. We didn't achieve our goal, but there will be some profit remaining after we close down and I am going to split my share between the two local schools. I know the idea of educated children flies in the face of the Neo Reptilican theory, but somehow it appeals to my warped sense of humanity. Anyway, PVS will get a small amount of cash and there are still a few products in stores in the central Big Sur Valley for any who might have interest.
Alles klar?
All that waste, lasting all those years.....sounds like IraQ and Afghanistan should be powdered with it.
So, the focus is on halting the seismic testing?