Sister Bette Ann Jaster of the Dominican Sisters of Hope has compiled a compelling letter and video asking the Governor to release the tax payer funded risk assessment of a gas pipeline running close to high level radioactive waste at Indian Point. Don’t miss the January 25 vigil. It is another way to try to move the Governor to do the right thing. Details for the vigil are in the article.
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We are in the midst of a worldwide crisis and climate change is its name. Drought, floods, fire and winds wreak havoc on soil, air, water. For too long we have used and abused the planet we call home.
An attack on our nation’s air and water is already here; fracked gas and the pipelines that carry it are proliferating. They offer false hope and financial gain to those promoting deadly fossil fuel projects around the state, including the Algonquin expansion, the CPV and Cricket Valley gas power plants and more.
Here in Westchester County, Enbridge’s (formerly Spectra’s) Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline is located adjacent to the Indian Point nuclear power plant. Though Indian Point is projected to close by 2021, the danger of a pipeline explosion remains because of the 2,700 tons of radioactive spent fuel rods stored indefinitely on the site. The huge fireball would release more radioactivity than Fukushima and poses a threat to the 20 million people who live in the 50-mile radius of the plant.
For more than two years, our group, Healing & Protecting Our Land Together: A Call to Prayer, has been gathering for interfaith vigils to pray for clarity, purpose and to call on our governor to be a climate leader. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a risk assessment of the AIM pipeline at Indian Point a full two years ago. The status of this important study is unknown. How can any decommissioning plans be made without the risk assessment? How can we protect our families, friends and neighbors before it is too late?
We are committed to supporting 100 percent renewable energy and call on our governor to “Walk The Talk” and to be a climate leader. Please join us, along with other area faith leaders, on Sunday, Feb. 25 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Gov. Cuomo’s home in Mount Kisco. Meet at the Mount Kisco train station at 3:30 p.m. for a shuttle to the house. Join us as we gather together for meaning and strength, insights and answers while we pray for our governor, our earth and ourselves. Our survival may depend on it!
The writer is a Dominican Sister of Hope, and co-founder of Healing & Protecting Our Land Together: A Call to Prayer.
Source: https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/contributors/2018/02/19/coumo-indian-point-pipeline-risk-view/349528002/
