The gift is to Joieau. Look below for the explanation.
This is no exaggeration. House committee chairman, Darryl Issa (R-CA) along with GOP puppets of the 1% who occupy four of the seats at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are corruptly shilling for the world nuclear business, particularly its US players. The sort of water that these sellouts are carrying for their masters isn't anything anyone would want to drink: its toxic, radioactive waste.
Whether anyone likes it or not, toxic, radioactive waste, by the ton, comes inevitably from operation of nuclear power generation plants even when they work like they are supposed to.
After suffering the political effects of 3 Mile Island, the industry lost political power. But since, they have parleyed their political power and money influence on the issue into a formidable force, particularly growing it during the Bush years. It wasn't that long ago that there was widespread talk of a nuclear renaissance for the industry.
Soon, expansion plans proliferated around the World and US plants received extensions of their operating permits beyond the originally estimated operational lives of the facilities as originally licensed. These folks were riding high and loving their tax improvements and privileges at the expense of the 99%.
Then came Fukushima.
Galvanized by the Fukushima disaster, these Commissioners and other Republicans began a campaign of damn the science. Contrary to all sense and bizarrely, given the data and science involved, they set out to prevent the NRC from effectively drawing any conclusions or considering improving policy on expansion of U.S. Nuclear power in reaction to anything at Fukushima.
It is the job of the corrupt influence peddlers to see to it that their masters get to build more plants and delay the inevitable abandonment of others. They don't care that this will despoil more of the country with places that, for safety, are forever off limits, areas that are invisibly poisonous. Republicans and other industry minions have used every tool in their kit to limit and impede the efforts of some very good NRC public administrators, scientists, engineers and health professionals to properly address the lessons of Fukushima. If they were allowed to do their job it would only show that Republican policy is insane.
Republicans want to stifle the lessons of Fukushima in order to maintain, and even increase nuclear power generating in this country. Just as with so many other issues, Republicans are oblivious to scientific demonstrations of unacceptable risk. They are blinded by the green of the money and can't see how this is a monumentally stupid way to boil water on an industrial scale.
All of this is now being exposed publicly. The heavy lifting on this issue is being done by very gifted and well informed Kossack, Joieau. The gift, aforesaid, went to this wonderful voice of knowledge and reason on nuclear power issues. This diary that Joieau posted earlier today both exposes Issa's venality and links to her entire, deeply researched analysis of Freedom of Information Act documents released in recent weeks. The diary also links to Joieau's series of 9 diaries that link to and cite various document releases that are now better understood as having resulted from this corrupt influence. This story is worth knowing, worth retelling, recommending, tipping, etc. and there is no better source than Joieau's diaries. Do not attribute my remarks and characterizations to anyone but me, but instead check out these wonderful diaries and learn a thing or two about what the dark underside of Washington D.C. looks like when Republican talons are out.