7 ms·

Sen Feinstein: Why I changed my mind about Cali’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant

23 points by kdsudac 4y ago

scotuswroteus 4y ago
Senator Feinstein is perceived as low key corrupt and an entitled oligarch. Look at how she talks to kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIebWywFfNw&ab_channel=USATODAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIebWywFfNw&ab_channel=USATO... She's just not the person who has credibility to tell Californians not to fear nuclear power.
- threatofrain 4y ago
  That whole scene seems kind of gross. Whether those children are correct in their assessment or not, what such encounters call for is a bunch of fake words, as the kids are basically there as the mouthpiece of the adult in the room. A more skillful political handling would be to brush the children off by saying that she is doing everything and more. Any "green deal" can only happen if a sufficient majority is on board, and Feinstein is not the blocker here, and neither is California the king of the nation. If those children want to engage in the politics of energy and ecology in an effective way, then they need to find a platform which addresses the entire nation, especially those demographics which are yet to be convinced of any green deal whatsoever.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  >low key corrupt I think even many democrats know she is garbage. She regularly votes against the little guy and for the big business interest. She's a relic of the worst age of the democratic party, and her continued safe seat is basically one of the reasons America can't have nice things and has so many struggles.
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    Can’t do anything about it except wait for her to age out. Progress occurs one funeral at a time and all that jazz.
- ThrowawayR2 4y ago
  That video is delightful; Feinstein actually won my respect for that encounter for telling it like it is and indirectly giving the middle finger to whoever tried to manipulate her using a bunch of kids as sockpuppets.
  - hgazx 4y ago
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - aksss 4y ago
    OMG, I’m no fan of Feinstein’s position on many issues - and am not her constituent - but yes. That teacher should be ashamed of herself, not only for trying to use kids as a front to push her own agenda, but clearly she’s been preaching apocalyptic visions to these kids. Wonder why your kids have anxiety problems?? Because people they view as ultimate truthful authorities are telling them the world will literally end within their lifetime. There will be plenty of time for those kids to make their lives a stressful hell, but as adults there’s something to be said for sheltering children from the worldly issues that make our own lives hell. Try your best to insulate little children from stress, provide a solid sense of strategic security (along with freedom to make tactical mistakes, get injured and recover), and avoid passing on your own insecurities and daily anxieties to them. Above all, don’t use them for political gain. It’s one thing to teach them civics that young but you can just hear the fear in that little girl’s voice saying we only have 12 years and we’re impacted by you not voting for this shitty spending proposition we have no earthly comprehension of. Bad adulting! Bad!
- jmoak3 4y ago
  Thank you for sharing. I was not in support of her until I saw this video. She calmly handled a crowd of kids yelling what the one adult was telling them to repeat, and now I think she's an excellent leader. I donate to climate action regularly btw, the issue is more nuanced than whatever these bozos wanted from her.
mox1 4y ago
This is the same senator who is widely reported to be 'not all there' mentally. Not sure if her endorsement means much at the moment....
- frumper 4y ago
  My first memory of her is a speech she gave with Clinton in the early 90s at the Alameda Naval Air Station promising not to close it. Both her and Clinton soon supported closing it. I wouldn't say her endorsement has meant much to me ever
  - Overtonwindow 4y ago
    First time I remember seeing her was when she announced the death of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk.
  - russdill 4y ago
    Really? https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-21-mn-37499-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-21-mn-37499-... It's an empty promise anyway, there's a commission that was created for the sole purpose of preventing politicians from doing precisely what Feinstein was promising and attempting to do, continuing to fund a military base that no longer makes sense from a national level in order to provide funds for their district.
    - frumper 4y ago
      Someone that makes an empty promise sounds exactly like the kind of person I should ignore when they endorse things.
martin1975 4y ago
Closing down instead of building modern nuclear plants will prove to be the worst knee jerk/emotional decisions California's leaders have ever made. I hope she's serious about not only keeping Diablo Canyon open but restarting San Onofre as well as building new nuclear power plants. Nuclear is the best option, despite any perceived risks.
- quantified 4y ago
  You're getting downvoted, but the electricity shortfall would need to be made up for somehow. I'm in no way happy about nuclear because it's pretty clear humans don't know how to behave in large enough groups over long enough periods. But Californians as a whole can't even cut back on watering their lawns, certainly won't cut back on AC or ice cubes for their drinks, or industrial uses, and the climate change aspects are more immediately drastic.
  - mwint 4y ago
    Side topic, are ice cubes for drinks a significant use of power?
    - jonny_eh 4y ago
      No, it doesn't. Not unless we're expected to get rid of our fridges.
    - twelve40 4y ago
      No they are not. Just like watering the lawns is not a significant number relative to the rest - the entire landscape irrigation usage in CA amounts to less than 5%, so if all lawns got instantly destroyed tomorrow, it would barely move the needle.
    - quantified 4y ago
      No, lots of things are insignificant. My point is really that few are interested in doing anything at all except consume and say that other uses should be cut back before their own.
jmyeet 4y ago
Senator Feinstein ran for reelection at aged 85. A full term in the Senate is 6 years. So if she didn't die in that time (which is a very real possibility at her age) then she would be 91 at the end of her term. That's... ridiculous. She seems to be in clear mental decline now, so much so that she stepped down (some say was removed) from the senate Judiciary committee [1]. So what allowed her to get renominated? Simple she was good at the most important thing for a large blue state Democratic Senator: fundraising. For whatever reason, she was a massive rainmaker. You have to be to be nominated as a Demorat for Senate in California. kamala Harris was too. It's pretty much how she rose to being VP now. It's also why Chuck Schumer is the Senate Majority Leader and also why you will never see any serious Wall Street reform under the current system. It is the core of Schumer's fundraising base. So there's a fine line between fundraising and corruption (legally speaking). Unfortuantely this Supreme Court has decided that money is speech [2], which has made all this even more important. As polarized as things may seem, all that is on social issues. Both parties have class solidarity with the capital-owning class that has bought both sides. So we can look at Feinstein's "corruption" in isolation but that's really missing the forest for the trees. [1]: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/dianne-feinstein-step-down-senate-judiciary-439836 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/dianne-feinstein-st... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC#:~:text=Because%20spending%20money%20is%20essential,to%20speak%20on%20political%20issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC#:~:text....
- Fatnino 4y ago
  Why do you say "this Supreme Court"? The make up of the court has changed dramatically since. I don't think it's better now. Just different.
  - jonny_eh 4y ago
    Not different when it comes to this issue though. More of the current justices likely agree that money == speech.
    - Mountain_Skies 4y ago
yellowapple 4y ago
And what's stopping her from changing her mind again? It's great that she's finally against further kneecapping California's non-carbon-emitting energy, but how long until the fossil fuel lobbyists pay her to parrot their anti-nuclear bullshit again?

23 points by kdsudac 4y ago

Senator Feinstein is perceived as low key corrupt and an entitled oligarch. Look at how she talks to kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIebWywFfNw&ab_channel=USATODAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIebWywFfNw&ab_channel=USATO... She's just not the person who has credibility to tell Californians not to fear nuclear power.

threatofrain 4y ago
That whole scene seems kind of gross. Whether those children are correct in their assessment or not, what such encounters call for is a bunch of fake words, as the kids are basically there as the mouthpiece of the adult in the room. A more skillful political handling would be to brush the children off by saying that she is doing everything and more. Any "green deal" can only happen if a sufficient majority is on board, and Feinstein is not the blocker here, and neither is California the king of the nation. If those children want to engage in the politics of energy and ecology in an effective way, then they need to find a platform which addresses the entire nation, especially those demographics which are yet to be convinced of any green deal whatsoever.
mrguyorama 4y ago
>low key corrupt I think even many democrats know she is garbage. She regularly votes against the little guy and for the big business interest. She's a relic of the worst age of the democratic party, and her continued safe seat is basically one of the reasons America can't have nice things and has so many struggles.
- toomuchtodo 4y ago
  Can’t do anything about it except wait for her to age out. Progress occurs one funeral at a time and all that jazz.
ThrowawayR2 4y ago
That video is delightful; Feinstein actually won my respect for that encounter for telling it like it is and indirectly giving the middle finger to whoever tried to manipulate her using a bunch of kids as sockpuppets.
- hgazx 4y ago
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- aksss 4y ago
  OMG, I’m no fan of Feinstein’s position on many issues - and am not her constituent - but yes. That teacher should be ashamed of herself, not only for trying to use kids as a front to push her own agenda, but clearly she’s been preaching apocalyptic visions to these kids. Wonder why your kids have anxiety problems?? Because people they view as ultimate truthful authorities are telling them the world will literally end within their lifetime. There will be plenty of time for those kids to make their lives a stressful hell, but as adults there’s something to be said for sheltering children from the worldly issues that make our own lives hell. Try your best to insulate little children from stress, provide a solid sense of strategic security (along with freedom to make tactical mistakes, get injured and recover), and avoid passing on your own insecurities and daily anxieties to them. Above all, don’t use them for political gain. It’s one thing to teach them civics that young but you can just hear the fear in that little girl’s voice saying we only have 12 years and we’re impacted by you not voting for this shitty spending proposition we have no earthly comprehension of. Bad adulting! Bad!
jmoak3 4y ago
Thank you for sharing. I was not in support of her until I saw this video. She calmly handled a crowd of kids yelling what the one adult was telling them to repeat, and now I think she's an excellent leader. I donate to climate action regularly btw, the issue is more nuanced than whatever these bozos wanted from her.

mox1 4y ago

This is the same senator who is widely reported to be 'not all there' mentally. Not sure if her endorsement means much at the moment....

frumper 4y ago
My first memory of her is a speech she gave with Clinton in the early 90s at the Alameda Naval Air Station promising not to close it. Both her and Clinton soon supported closing it. I wouldn't say her endorsement has meant much to me ever
- Overtonwindow 4y ago
  First time I remember seeing her was when she announced the death of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk.
- russdill 4y ago
  Really? https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-21-mn-37499-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-21-mn-37499-... It's an empty promise anyway, there's a commission that was created for the sole purpose of preventing politicians from doing precisely what Feinstein was promising and attempting to do, continuing to fund a military base that no longer makes sense from a national level in order to provide funds for their district.
  - frumper 4y ago
    Someone that makes an empty promise sounds exactly like the kind of person I should ignore when they endorse things.

martin1975 4y ago

Closing down instead of building modern nuclear plants will prove to be the worst knee jerk/emotional decisions California's leaders have ever made. I hope she's serious about not only keeping Diablo Canyon open but restarting San Onofre as well as building new nuclear power plants. Nuclear is the best option, despite any perceived risks.

quantified 4y ago
You're getting downvoted, but the electricity shortfall would need to be made up for somehow. I'm in no way happy about nuclear because it's pretty clear humans don't know how to behave in large enough groups over long enough periods. But Californians as a whole can't even cut back on watering their lawns, certainly won't cut back on AC or ice cubes for their drinks, or industrial uses, and the climate change aspects are more immediately drastic.
- mwint 4y ago
  Side topic, are ice cubes for drinks a significant use of power?
  - jonny_eh 4y ago
    No, it doesn't. Not unless we're expected to get rid of our fridges.
  - twelve40 4y ago
    No they are not. Just like watering the lawns is not a significant number relative to the rest - the entire landscape irrigation usage in CA amounts to less than 5%, so if all lawns got instantly destroyed tomorrow, it would barely move the needle.
  - quantified 4y ago
    No, lots of things are insignificant. My point is really that few are interested in doing anything at all except consume and say that other uses should be cut back before their own.

jmyeet 4y ago

Senator Feinstein ran for reelection at aged 85. A full term in the Senate is 6 years. So if she didn't die in that time (which is a very real possibility at her age) then she would be 91 at the end of her term. That's... ridiculous. She seems to be in clear mental decline now, so much so that she stepped down (some say was removed) from the senate Judiciary committee [1]. So what allowed her to get renominated? Simple she was good at the most important thing for a large blue state Democratic Senator: fundraising. For whatever reason, she was a massive rainmaker. You have to be to be nominated as a Demorat for Senate in California. kamala Harris was too. It's pretty much how she rose to being VP now. It's also why Chuck Schumer is the Senate Majority Leader and also why you will never see any serious Wall Street reform under the current system. It is the core of Schumer's fundraising base. So there's a fine line between fundraising and corruption (legally speaking). Unfortuantely this Supreme Court has decided that money is speech [2], which has made all this even more important. As polarized as things may seem, all that is on social issues. Both parties have class solidarity with the capital-owning class that has bought both sides. So we can look at Feinstein's "corruption" in isolation but that's really missing the forest for the trees. [1]: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/dianne-feinstein-step-down-senate-judiciary-439836 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/dianne-feinstein-st... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC#:~:text=Because%20spending%20money%20is%20essential,to%20speak%20on%20political%20issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC#:~:text....

Fatnino 4y ago
Why do you say "this Supreme Court"? The make up of the court has changed dramatically since. I don't think it's better now. Just different.
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  Not different when it comes to this issue though. More of the current justices likely agree that money == speech.
  - Mountain_Skies 4y ago

yellowapple 4y ago

And what's stopping her from changing her mind again? It's great that she's finally against further kneecapping California's non-carbon-emitting energy, but how long until the fossil fuel lobbyists pay her to parrot their anti-nuclear bullshit again?