A Washington Post-ABC News poll released today shows broad disapproval of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to give corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence elections.
The Post’s Dan Eggen reports:
Eight in 10 poll respondents say they oppose the high court’s Jan. 21 decision to allow unfettered corporate political spending, with 65 percent “strongly” opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits.
Taxpayers are about to take another huge hit. President Obama’s announcement Tuesday of a “conditional” loan guarantee for corporate utility Southern Company to build two new nuclear reactors at its Vogtle site in Georgia will once again put taxpayers on the hook when they can least afford it. In addition, it takes us entirely in the wrong direction. Proven efficiency and renewable energy technologies that can benefit millions of households are more cost-effective public investments than financially risky and uncertified nuclear technology.
Initially authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the loan guarantee program was designed to back “innovative” energy technologies such as renewable wind and solar power, as well as new commercial nuclear reactors. While the program has finalized one $525 million loan guarantee for a solar power facility in California, the size and scope of proposed new nuclear reactors – with a price tag of roughly $10 billion per reactor – will overwhelm the public’s bank account. In fact, nuclear power cannot be financially viable without taxpayer support, which includes not only federal loan guarantees but also risk insurance and production tax credits that manipulate the cost of nuclear generated energy. Since 2005, Southern Company has spent nearly $70 million lobbying the federal government, including to ensure these industry-friendly subsidies.
In 2005, the nuclear industry estimated that building a new reactor would cost $2 billion. In the five years since nuclear power was included as a recipient of federal loans, costs have ballooned fourfold. To date, the cost estimates
“As we see it, every worker, public or private, should be able to report fraudulent spending, gross mismanagement and illegalities without fear of retaliation,” said Angela Canterbury, an advocacy director at Public Citizen, in her testimony before Congress.
Tonight, Canterbury’s work, along with that of Public Citizen and its partners, will be recognized at Anyone Can Whistle: The Essential Role of the Whistleblower in American Society, a gathering of whistleblowers, elected officials and civic leaders in New York City.
But you don’t need to be in New York to watch this event. From 7 – 8:30 p.m., you can watch a live webcast here or on Facebook.
