Greenwashing Nuclear Energy with Environmental Attorney Susan Shapiro

Breaking Green

With the catastrophic failures at Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power has been the cause of some the worst environmental disasters in history.
But, the realities of global warming have created an opportunity for this flagging industry to attempt a comeback by rebranding as a green alternative to fossil fuels.
This rebranding concerns those who have worked to reign in the troubled nuclear industry for decades as they now face one of the most ambitious examples of disaster capitalism that threatens to resuscitate nuclear power and its unique set of environmental hazards as a false solution to climate change.
In this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Susan Shapiro.
Susan Shapiro is a New York State environmental attorney..
As co-counsel she brought ground-breaking litigation against Indian Point’s violation of the Clean Water Act for thermal and radiation pollution of the Hudson River.
She also was the lead attorney on an Article 78 action against the New York’s Public Service Commission for diverting $7.6 billion dollars of ratepayers money to keep aging upstate nuclear reactors open instead of funding renewables.
Shapiro is a member of Leadership Council of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition), a board member of Radiation and Public Health Project and GRIP (Gender and Radiation Impact Project.
She is also in the process of writing a book about why nuclear energy is not "zero emissions” and why it is not a solution to climate change.
Shapiro is also an award winning filmmaker and artist. Her paintings can be viewed at susanhillary.com.
Radiation and Public Heath Project can be found at The Radiation Public Health Project.
To learn more about Cold War era nuclear contamination in St. Louis you can listen to this previous episode of Breaking Green, St. Louis Radiation Fire with Dawn Chapman.

This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.

Breaking Green is made possible by donations from people like you.
Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions. Simply click here to send a donation or text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

Chapters

1. Breaking Green Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Issue Introduction (00:00:27)

3. Introduction to Susan Shapiro (00:01:04)

4. The making of Studio 54 (00:02:02)

5. Litigation Against Indian Point Nuclear Reactors (00:04:05)

6. Inherent Dangers of Nuclear Power (00:11:59)

7. The Carbon Footprint and Waste Products of the Nuclear Cycle (00:15:09)

8. A Legacy of Disasters (00:19:25)

9. Break with Theresa Church (00:21:32)

10. Storing Nuclear Waste (00:22:40)

11. Nuclear Waste from Manhattan Project Still Effecting St. Louis (00:26:13)

12. Rebranding a Troubled Industry (00:28:28)

13. Money and Misdirection (00:31:05)

14. Current State of the Nuclear Industry (00:32:21)

15. Will this Rebranding Succeed? (00:35:45)

16. A Future of Dead Zones (00:38:36)

17. Outro (00:40:32)