Environmentalists are hailing a ban on uranium mining around the Grand Canyon. The 20 year mining ban, announced by the Obama administration, protects 1 million acres of land around the iconic gorge. The ban follows calls from Arizona officials for a mining moratorium and two temporary bans on mining claims imposed by the Department of the Interior.
About 2,500 protesters marched before the Tokyo Electric Power Company headquarters today to mark the six month anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami which struck Japan's east coast. Demonstrators then created a "human chain" around the Trade Ministry which regulates the nuclear industry. Protesters called for a shift towards alternative energy sources as well as an end to nuclear power in the country. Reuters reports that similar protests and prayer vigils were held across the country.
Activists from all over Missouri and the surrounding states continue to protest a nuclear weapons plant that is being built in Kansas City. Mother Jones reports:
The proposed plant, a 1.5 million-square-foot, $673 million behemoth, would replace an aging facility, also in KC, where 85 percent
(PDF) of the components for nation's nuclear arms are produced. The new
plant would be run by the same government contractor as the old
one—Honeywell—and proponents say the only major change will be more jobs
and city infrastructure. But there will be another big difference: The
federal government will sublease the property from a private developer,
who in turn will lease it from the city for 20 years…after which the
developer will own it outright.
...
The
developer that could ultimately own its very own nuclear weapons
plant, Centerpoint Zimmer (CPZ), didn't even exist until the deal for
the Kansas City facility.
"It's one thing to be concerned about nuclear proliferation," Ed
Ford, a Vietnam-era conscientious objector and the only city councilman
to oppose the plan, told theKansas City Business Journal. "It's another thing to have your city be an active partner."
