It sure was nice of Virginia Uranium, which wants to dig a mine in Pittsylvania, to offer to fly just about every member of the General Assembly to France, at an estimated cost of $10,000 a pop. The company made the offer so lawmakers could see what an actual mine looks like, which — presumably — might help them decide whether to lift Virginia's statutory ban on uranium mining here.
Of course, the lawmakers didn't need to fly all the way to Bessines to see a uranium mine. The U.S. and Canada have several. Maybe they were all booked. But what about the uranium mine in Pulivendula, India? Or the Krasnokamensk mine near the Russia-Chinese border? Or the Tsentralnoye mine in Kazakhstan? Why not visit one of those operating mines, instead of the one in Bessines, which is closed?
Well, by astounding coincidence, the geography around the Bessines mine just happens to be remarkably similar to the geography of Pittsylvania. "One of the things we consistently hear is that uranium has not been mined anywhere like Pittsylvania … [and] there are a lot of similarities," says a rep from Virginia Uranium. Isn't that convenient?
No doubt lawmakers who say they cannot be bought speak the truth. But going on a junket such as this one inevitably will open them up to the accusation if they decide, based on pending scientific analysis, that they should indeed repeal the ban on mining and allow Virginia Uranium to proceed. As we have said before, the science should decide the issue — not environmental scaremongering on the one side or corporate Panglossianism on the other.
A few of the lawmakers who were approached wisely declined. Didn't the rest of them realize the trip would be politically radioactive?
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement