When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state’s freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.
Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was “the only nuclear legislation that I’ve passed.”
“I just did that last year,” he said, to murmurs of approval.
A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.
Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama’s comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate.
“Senator Obama’s staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, and we could see it weakening with each successive draft,” said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Ill., where low-level radioactive runoff had turned up in groundwater. “The teeth were just taken out of it.”
2 comments:
"getting weaker on each draft"
this sounds like a problem of a lack of support to pass the bill. the revisions had to keep happening to get the votes and approval of interests tied to those votes. eventually the bill becomes almost ineffectual... happens all the time sadly
while i see the error of proclaiming a passed bill to evoke a clear nuclear stance to voters on the campaign trail, this situation may be a symptom of the system more than a fault of mr obama. its pretty hard to pass progressive legislation in the senate, and with money tied to every move, its hard to get anything done at all.
maybe if he was, say president, he could do what his heart tells him is right, and with the support of the people rather than big business, change could actually happen... (this is when you CHEER, clap and say "YES WE CAN!....)
yea yea...just like throwin it out there
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