Just trust the feds

Posted on by Susan Oehler

Heck of a job, Brownie! I was at the Asheville City Council meeting on Nov. 25. I was there to support the group Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads in their efforts to stop the transportation of high-level nuclear waste through our mountains. Currently, this waste is stored at the nuclear power facilities. It is my opinion that this is very dangerous stuff, and an accident with this material could render surrounding areas uninhabitable.

Councilwoman [Robin] Cape brought the issue up for discussion, and she was supported by Mayor [Terry] Bellamy and Councilwoman [Holly] Jones. But other Council members—[Brownie] Newman, [Jan] Davis and [Bill] Russell—did not even want a discussion on this important issue. Newman did not feel that directing high-level nuclear waste away from Asheville was “the right thing to do” and seemed to be saying that if the federal government wanted to direct high-level nuclear waste [this way], then we should trust them to do it safely.

It seems to me that our federal government cannot be trusted to do anything safely. It has ruined our financial security, destroyed our standing in the world, authorized wars of aggression that have likely killed over a million innocent souls, engaged in kidnapping, engaged in torture and violated the Bill of Rights. And I am only talking about the last 10 years! To not even want to discuss the possible effects of high-level nuclear waste on our highways is truly unbelievable to me. To choose to remain uninformed is surely an abysmal way to run our city.

By the way—are they ever going to finish Pack Square and City County Plaza, or will it remain an eyesore forever?

— Susan Oehler
Asheville

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