Wow. There is, actually, one elected official with the intelligence and determination to pull the curtain down on one of the biggest scams relating to FPL's nuclear power at Turkey Point: the fantasy of evacuation in the case of a nuclear emergency. Mayor Philip Stoddard recently met with county emergency management officials and strongly differed with the agency's assumptions about evacuation; requesting a follow-up and proof of calculations Miami-Dade is using to protect citizens in the case of a nuclear emergency. County Commissioner Xavier Suarez briefly attended the meeting, too. Congratulations to Commissioner Suarez, who said "this matter was very serious".
But special congratulations to South Miami voters for electing Mayor Stoddard. Without his clarity and purpose, issues relating to FPL's expansion plans at Turkey Point-- like transmission lines running through highly populated communities and transit corridors-- would remain buried nuggets of the non-stop influence peddling by FPL, one of Florida's most powerful corporations, its lobbyists and facilitators on the county commission who-- over decades-- have permitted the issue of evacuation planning to languish in a pool of lies.
Stoddard, who is the most informed and eloquent critics of FPL, sets an example for elected officials too timid to apply the lessons of Fukushima to South Florida. With nuclear power, there is no such thing as "it can't happen here." The questions Stoddard has posed, backed up with a simple calculator applying population densities to evacuation routes, is what happens next? How does Miami-Dade get residents and taxpayers, children and seniors, doctors, lawyers and Indian Chiefs out of harm's way? Eyeonmiami has also asked these questions, and we have been particularly keen to know, as is Mayor Stoddard: why aren't South Floridians given medications as are other residents where nuclear emergencies could occur? I suspect it is realtors, speculators, and developers who control the builder associations and Chamber of Commerce who have halted distribution of potassium iodide pills.
4 comments:
Suarez is a natural when it comes to evacuation. Every time there is roll call on a difficult vote the guy disappears.
Everyone in the cities of Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay should be very concerned that their own elected officials are not engaged in this critical issue. The residents of both these cities are located much closer and they are therefore more vunerable to the FPL disaster in waiting. Why are mayors Cindy Lerner and Philip Stoddard the only city officials fighting for our communities against FPL? Weak leadership in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. Very weak leadership.
Elected officials come in all sizes the two I am most familiar with are intellectual giants and intellectual midgets. Classify as you see fit. Cindy and Phil great job. Keep up the good work.
You should download the evac plan and put it in a file. Your schools should have meetings to tell parents what will happen. New homeowners should get booklets when they buy houses. There is a shared responsibility living near one of those plants. We are fooling ourselves if we don't embrace this. It would just be stupidity. You can't gloss over this stuff.
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