Company Hype as News?

Yesterday's 40th anniversary of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo, downwind of us & north of Cedar Rapids, was an occasion of much back patting & self-congratulation bv NextEra, the owner. Naturally, the ole Gov Branstad got into the act lauding the place as a “terrific asset. . .delivering clean, emissions-free energy. . .”

A press release you can read at www.marketwarch.com touts a 2011 study showing that Duane Arnold has a $250 million impact on the local economy providing high-paying, high tech jobs, undeniably a good thing, while providing 8% of Iowa's energy.

Though “emissions-free” is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Sure, there are no airborne emissions, but the 500-lb gorilla in the place is spent nuclear fuel, which lasts practically to perpetuity. And is not even alluded to in any of the reports.

Such discrepancies make a critical eye cringe. But news these days seems so often such company hype. Ronald McDonald comes to grade school to talk about qualities that count—trustworthiness, respect, responsibility & fairness. Yeah, the company largely responsible for the obesity epidemic! That one often hears defrauding workers of their wages—as if $7.25 is a fair wage! Come on, Ronnie, give us a break!