Nuclear Power for Environmental Justice? Uh… No!
Posted by Sonja Ebron
The Howard University School of Law hosted the second annual State of Environmental Justice in America Conference in May. Topics on the program included efforts at state and federal agencies, tribal perspectives, potential traps of Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), technical advances in monitoring hazards, case studies of remediation, and other thought-provoking subjects. The discussion on nuclear options caught my eye.
Organized by my good friends at the African American Environmentalists Association, the workshop highlighted the lack of minority ownership of firms working in the nuclear industry and a number of ways for Blacks to get in. Many industry analysts expect a renaissance in nuclear power because of the focus on climate change and the fact that nukes have no emissions. But I found it strange that this discussion would take place at a conference on environmental justice. Where’s the tie-in? Would a more diverse industry really change the calculations that decide the siting of power plants?
Engineers Are Lazy Bloggers
Posted by Sonja Ebron
We started this blog last December, and I have managed a grand total of six posts since then. That’s just lazy, right? In truth, I’m one of the hardest working women in energy, and I have too much to do. Ramping up a new sales program for our utility services, developing a training module for our summer interns, maintaining inventory and getting the right stuff timely shipped to the right people, driving traffic to our website for More Money, and the list goes on… got a sista burning both ends of the candle.
But this blog is important for lots of reasons, mostly because I get to remember — and tell you –what we’re all about. So I’m committing myself to more frequent posts, starting now. Of course, I also remember why I became an engineer: I want to work smart, not hard, so I always try to think of ways to get the job done with the least effort. In that vein, I’m re-posting a piece I wrote three years ago on the need for Black leadership in the energy field. How’s that for lazy? Anyway, it’s about a speech I gave on the topic to the American Association of Blacks in Energy. I was preaching to the choir. Here goes:
